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National Anthropological Archives
Laurence R. Blair and Mary Ellen Blair photographs relating to Nampeyo and Thomas V. Keam, circa 1915, 1984-1986
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NAA.PhotoLot.87-35
- Creators:
-
Blair, Laurence R. (collector and photographer)
- Dates:
-
circa 1915, 1984-1986
- Languages:
-
Undetermined.
- Physical Description:
-
5 Copy prints5 Color prints4 Color slides
- Repository:
Scope and Contents note
Scope and Contents note
Photographs relating to Nampeyo and her pottery, and Thomas V. Keam's life. Includes photographs made by Laurence Blair in the church graveyard at Truro, England, where Keam was buried; the house in Truro where he died; and a copy of a portrait, possibly the last made of Keam. The collection also includes images of the birthplace of A. M. Stephen in Edinburgh and his grave in Keams Canyon, Arizona. Two photographs show pottery made by Nampeyo, which is now in the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, and an additional photograph depicts Nampeyo with members of the Polacca family at the Tom Polacca Memorial at Hopi Pueblo. There is also an image of Nampeyo's eldest daughter Annie Lesou Healing with three other women (Rachel Healing Namingha, Priscilla Namingha Shamie, and Lydia Healing).
Biographical/Historical note
Biographical/Historical note
Laurence and Mary Ellen Blair were historical researchers and authors. In 1999, they published a book on Nampeyo, entitled The Legacy of a Master Potter: Nampeyo and Her Descendants. The book detailed the life and work of Iris Nampeyo (ca. 1860-1942), a potter who lived at Hopi in Arizona. During the 1870s and 1880s, she sold her work at a local trading post operated by Thomas Keam, an English-born trader who worked with both Hopi and Navajo craftspeople.
Administration
Author
Sarah Ganderup
Custodial History note
Donated by Laurence and Mary Ellen Blair, 1987.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access note
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Copy prints of photographs held by Royal Cornwall Art Institute and Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art cannot be copied. Copies may be obtained from these repositories.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 87-35, Laurence R. Blair and Mary Ellen Blair photographs relating to Nampeyo and Thomas V. Keam, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Location of Other Archival Materials
Location of Other Archival Materials
Photographs of Nampeyo can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 59, and the BAE historical negatives.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum of the American Indian, and Department of Anthropology hold examples of Nampeyo pottery.
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds correspondence from Thomas Keam regarding his pottery collection (SIA RU000189).
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Peabody Museum at Harvard University and the Cline Library at Northern Arizona University hold photographs and artifacts donated by Keam.
More Information
Local Call Number(s)
Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 87-35
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Hopi Pueblo | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
England | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Photographs | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Hopi Indian Reservation (Ariz.) | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Arizona | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Blair, Mary Ellen | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Hood Museum of Art | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Keam, Thomas V. | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Nampeyo, ca. 1856-1942 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Stephen, Alexander MacGregor, d. 1894 | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu