National Anthropological Archives

H. Scudder Mekeel photographs, circa 1920-1947 (bulk 1930-1933)

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.94-21
Creators:
Mekeel, H. Scudder (Haviland Scudder), 1902-1947
Dates:
bulk 1930-1933
circa 1920-1947
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
1 Print
photochrom
443 Negatives
nitrate
235 Prints
silver gelatin
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
The photographs primarily document ceremonies, people, and lands of Native Americans in the Plains and Southwest, taken during Mekeel's field research from 1929 to 1936. A large portion of the collection depicts Mekeel's research during the early 1930s among the Oglala of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Another large portion of the collection includes personal photos depicting Mekeel's homes and children.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
H. Scudder Mekeel (1902-1947) was an anthropologist who studied social and psychological aspects of Native American cultures. Educated at Harvard University (BA, 1928), the University of Chicago (MA, 1929), and Yale University (PhD, 1932), he was a member of the 1929 Laboratory of Anthropology (Santa Fe) ethnological field school led by Alfred L. Kroeber. In 1929-1932, he carried out three field expeditions to the Sioux communities of South Dakota, working mainly on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Director of Applied Anthropology under Commissioner John Collier in 1935. Two years later, he was appointed Director of the Laboratory of Anthropology at Santa Fe and continued there until 1940, when he accepted a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Custodial History note
Transferred by Nicolette Bromberg at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1993.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Original nitrate negatives are in cold storage and require special arrangements for viewing.
Conditions Governing Use note
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation note
Photo Lot 94-21, the H. Scudder Mekeel photographs, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
The National Anthropological Archives holds copies of Mekeel's Field Notes from the summers of 1930 and 1931 in the White Clay District of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota (MS 7088). Originals of these field notes and Mekeel's population notes on the White Clay District are held by the American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology Archives (.M454).
Location of Other Archival Materials
The Human Studies Film Archives holds Mekeel's film footage of a Lakota Sioux Sundance from 1930 (HSFA 92.8.1).
Location of Other Archival Materials
Correspondence from Mekeel held in the National Anthropological Archives in the William Duncan Strong papers, Raoul Weston LaBarre Papers, and Bureau of American Ethnology Administrative File.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 94-21

Bibliography

Bibliography
Photographs published in Kniffen, Fred, et al. Walapai Ethnography, edited by A.L. Kroeber, Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association 42, Supplement to American Anthropologist 37, no 1, part 2. Menasha, Wisconsin: American Anthropological Association, 1935.

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Chippewa
Walapai
Sioux


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Taos Indians Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pueblo Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hopi Pueblo Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Northeast Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oraibi (Ariz.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (S.D.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sioux Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Osage Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hualapai (Walapai) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Laboratory of Anthropology (Museum of New Mexico) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rise, Carl H., 1888-1939 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Collier, John, 1884-1968 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fiske, Frank Bennett, 1883-1952 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
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