National Anthropological Archives

Photographs of William Henry Holmes at Piney Branch Quarry, circa 1889-1894

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.86-12
Dates:
circa 1889-1894
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
3 Copy prints
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Images of William Henry Holmes and others, probably archeologists, at the paleoindian Piney Branch Quarry site in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
William Henry Holmes (1846-1933) was an artist, geologist, and archeologist who spent most of his career with the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, United States Geological Survey, Bureau of American Ethnology, and Department of Anthropology of the Smithsonian. From 1894-1897, he was the head of anthropology at the Field Columbian Museum (Field Museum of Natural History) and on the staff of the University of Chicago. Holmes later served as head curator for the US National Museum Department of Anthropology from 1897-1902 and head of the BAE from 1902-1909.
From 1889 to 1894, shortly after his appointment to the Bureau of American Ethnology, William Henry Holmes conducted excavations of the quartzite and steatite quarries in the Rock Creek Valley. Based on these investigations, Holmes found a series of rejected blade forms, proving that they represented early stages of a manufacturing process and not an earlier native presence in North America.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Existence and Location of Originals note
Originals in Smithsonian American Art Portrait Gallery Library in William Henry Holmes's "Random records of a lifetime, 1846-1931 [i.e. 1932] Cullings, largely personal, from the scrap heap of three score years and ten, devoted to science, literature and art".

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation note
Photo lot 86-12, Photographs of William Henry Holmes at Piney Branch Quarry, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
Reports and photographs relating to the Piney Branch Quarry site can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4695 and Photo Lot 4.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Correspondence by Holmes can be found throughout the National Anthropological Archives in MS 7206, the records of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the records of the Department of Anthropology.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Manuscripts and notes by Holmes can be found throughout the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4698, MS 2125, MS 7112, and MS 7570.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The William Henry Holmes Papers, 1870-1931 (SIA RU007084), are held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 86-12

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photographs published in David J. Meltzer, First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009 .


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Washington (D.C.) -- Antiquities Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Excavations (Archaeology) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Holmes, William Henry, 1846-1933 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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