National Museum of the American Indian

Thomas T. Waterman negatives and photographs, 1921-1924

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.021
Creators:
Waterman, T. T. (Thomas Talbot), 1885-1936
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation
Dates:
1921-1924
Languages:
No linguistic content; Not applicable
.
Physical Description:
12 Photographic prints
black and white
12 Negatives (photographic)
black and white
Repository:
These images were shot in California, Alaska, Washington, and Guatamala and feature images of Tolowa, Haida, Salish, and Quiché Maya (Quiché) Indians. Images include group portraits, daily activities, village scenes, and petrogylphs.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Waterman collection consists of photographic materials made by Waterman from 1921 to 1924 in California, Alaska, Washington State, and Guatemala. He made the bulk of the materials on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation while working in 1921 in California among the Tolowa and in Washington State among the Southern Coast Salish and Duwamish (Dwamish) and in 1922 in Alaska at Kasaan (Haida) village. Of particular note are the series of photographs of a Tolowa fisherman. The few remaining photographs date from 1923 and 1924 and depict Quiché Maya (Quiche) Indians in the Quetzaltenango Guatemalan highlands and an illustration from Waterman's contribution to the 1924 Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Negatives: organized in envelopes; arranged by negative number
Prints: organized in folders; arranged by print number

Arrangement

Arrangement
Negatives Arranged by negative number (N07288-N07289, N07291, N07295-N07300, N10859, N35256, N35848)
Photographs Arranged by photograph number (P04035-P04040, P04428-P04429, P05515, P05521, P37455, P37456)

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Born in Hamilton, Missouri, in 1885, Thomas Talbot Waterman grew up in Calfornia and was expected, like his father, to become an Episcopalian clergyman. After taking courses in phonetics and fieldwork with P.E. Goddard, Waterman instead chose to study anthropology and in 1913 received his Ph.D in anthropology at Columbia University under the direction of Franz Boas. From 1907 to 1921, he held both teaching and curatorial positions at the University of California and the University of Washington and from 1921 to 1922 briefly joined the staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation as a field collector. Waterman went on to hold positions at the National Museum of Guatemala, Fresno State College, University of Arizona, Territorial Normal College (Hawaii), and University of Hawaii. He is best known for bringing Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi people, from the town of Oroville, California, to the University of California Museum of Anthropology. Waterman died in Honolulu at the age of 50.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Historically, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation managed all photographic and related manuscript collections separately. This collection description represents current management practices of organizing and contextualizing related archival materials.
Processing Information note
NMAIA Review

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Preferred Citation note
Thomas T. Waterman negatives and photographs, 1921-1924, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
Conditions Governing Use note
Copyright: National Museum of the American Indian

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Haida Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Duwamish (Dwamish) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tolowa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coast Salish Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guatemala Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Petroglyphs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
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Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
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