National Museum of the American Indian

Ford-Bartlett East Greenland Expedition photograph collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.005
Creators:
Ford-Bartlett East Greenland Expedition 1930
Bartlett, Bob, 1875-1946
Dates:
1928-1930
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
7 Photographic prints
5 Copy negatives
Repository:
The photographs and negatives consists of views of the Ford-Bartlett expedition to East Greenland.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Ford-Bartlett East Greenland Expedition collection consists of photographic prints and negatives directly and indirectly related to the 1930 expedition. Included are two toned silver gelatin (DOP) studio portraits of Captain Robert (Bob) Bartlett, leader of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation-sponsored expedition like taken sometime in the 1920s. The photographs from the Ford-Bartlett expedition itself include images of Captain Bartlett trading with Tunumiit (Ammassalimiut Eskimo) men as well as several views of Tunumiit men in kayaks, both pulling up to and fishing near the expedition schooner. The photographer is unknown. The collection also contains a World Wide Photo Co. negative and print from it of Bartlett's schooner, the Effie M. Morrissey. The negatives are copy negatives made by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation during a large photograph conservation project in the 1960s.
Scope and Contents
Prints: P09530-P09531, P09832-P09835, P11455. Negatives: N18774-N18775, N36485-N36487.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Prints are arranged in two folders; Ford-Bartlett expedition (Folder 1) and Portraits of Robert Bartlett (Folder 2). Negatives Arranged by catalg number.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
For more than 50 years and on more than 40 expeditions, Captain Robert "Bob" Bartlett sailed, explored, and mapped the Arctic. During the Great Depression, in order to finance his cruises, Bartlett frequently collaborated with scientific institutions, including with the Museum of the American Indian for the 1930 Bartlett East Greenland Expedition. Led by Bartlett and financed by Museum trustee James B. Ford (1844-1928) for the Museum, the expedition allowed anthropologist Junius Bird (1907-1982) to conduct archaeological excavations of Eskimo ruins on Shannon Island and Clavering Island. Co-authored by Bartlett and Bird, "The Bartlett East Greenland Expedition" appeared in the July 1931 issue of Geographical review.

Administration

Author
Heather Shannon, Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most of the photographs were part of the field collection received by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1930. It is unlear when the two portraits of Bartlett arrived at the museum, it was likely around the same time.
Processing Information
Processed by Heather Shannon, Photo Archivist in 2012. Updated by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, in 2019.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Conditions Governing Use note
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Preferred Citation note
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ford-Bartlett East Greenland Expedition photograph collection, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Greenland Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ammassalimiut Eskimos -- Fishing -- Greenland -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tunumiit (East Greenland Eskimo) [Ammassalik] (Angmagsalik Eskimo) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- Silver gelatin prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
nmaiarchives@si.edu