National Anthropological Archives

Ales Hrdlicka collection of photographs of Native Americans for the Panama-California Exposition, 1912

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.9
Creators:
Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943
Dates:
1912
Languages:
Undetermined
.
Physical Description:
1 Copy negative
135 Prints
circa
silver gelatin and albumen
2 Copy prints
Repository:

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Front and profile images of Apache, Kiowa, Omaha, Osage, Teton, and Yankton people made for Ales Hrdlicka's use in preparing busts and physical anthropological exhibits for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. Accompanying the photographs are notes produced under the supervision of Lucile Eleanor St. Hoyme; these include the tribe, age, sex, name(s), photographer, and number of corresponding bust. Photographers represented in the collection are Frank Micka, a sculptor hired by the exposition to make busts, as well as photographers Frank Bennett Fiske, De Lancey W. Gill, and others.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) was born in Czechoslovakia and came to the United States at the age of thirteen. Originally trained in medicine, he developed an interest in physical anthropology while working with the New York State hospitals and researching with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals. Hrdlicka joined the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and made his own expeditions to study physical characteristics of Southwest tribes. In 1903, he was appointed head of the United States National Museum's newly-formed Division of Physical Anthropology.
In 1912, Hrdlicka planned and directed seven expeditions, gathering information that helped him prepare physical anthropology exhibits for the Panama-California Exposition at San Diego, California (1915). During this process, he hired sculptor Frank Micka to make busts of people from around the world. While in the field making casts, Micka also took front and profile photographs of subjects. Hrdlicka made his own trip to photograph the people in Urga, Mongolia, making 360 images of Mongolians and some Tibetans for use in the exposition.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup
Custodial History note
Images collected for the United States National Museum by Ales Hrdlicka as part of accession 61302.

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 9, Aleš Hrdlička collection of photographs of Native Americans for the Panama-California Exposition, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Location of Other Archival Materials

Location of Other Archival Materials
The National Anthropological Archives holds original negatives for many of these photographs (Photo Lot 73-26B) and images of resulting busts (Photo Lot 88-25).
Location of Other Archival Materials
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Ales Hrdlicka Papers ca. 1887-1943.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Material from Hrdlicka, mostly correspondence, is held in the National Anthropological Archives in the papers and records of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, Frank Spencer, the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution).
Location of Other Archival Materials
Hrdlicka photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 8, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 70, Photo Lot 78, Photo Lot 97, Photo Lot 73-26B, Photo Lot 73-26G, Photo Lot 83-41, and Photo Lot 92-46.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 9
,
USNM ACC 61302

Addl. KW Subj

Addl. KW Subj
Apache
Sioux
Standing Rock Reservation


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sioux Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jicarilla Apache Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kiowa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Osage Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Omaha Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yanktonnai Nakota (Yankton Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Micka, Frank Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gill, De Lancey, 1859-1940 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fiske, Frank Bennett, 1883-1952 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu