National Museum of the American Indian

Joseph K. Dixon photographs from the 1909 Wanamaker Expedition

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.111
Creators:
Dixon, Joseph K. (Joseph Kossuth) (1856-1926)
Wanamaker, Rodman, 1863-1928
Dates:
1909
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear feet
17 Photographs
Repository:
Container:
1
This collection consists of seventeen photogravures from Joseph K. Dixon's 1913 published book,
The Vanishing Race
. These images are part of the larger work of Rodman Wanamaker in his expeditions (1908-1913) to document the lives and cultures of Native American peoples.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection consists of seventeen photogravures from Joseph K. Dixon's 1913 book,
The Vanishing Race
. Although published in 1913, the 80 photogravures in Dixon's work were taken in 1909. These images are part of the larger work of Rodman Wanamaker in his expeditions (1908-1913) to document the lives and cultures of Native American peoples, whom he viewed as a "noble, though vanishing race." Wanamaker's first and second expeditions (1908 and 1909) both took place in the Valley of the Little Bighorn, Montana, portrayed Native American men and women from throughout the United States, and included extensive photographic and moving picture footage. Wanamaker's third expedition (1913) was broader in scope, visiting and symbolically granting citizenship to over 250 Native American communities across the country. As with the first two expeditions, the third expedition, known as the "Rodman Wanamaker Expedition of Citizenship to the North American Indian," was photographed and filmed by Dixon.
Among the seventeen photogravures in this collection, many of note include portraits of tribal leaders Chief Koon-Kah-Za-Chy (Kiowa-Apache), Chief Two Moons (Northern Tsitsistas/Suhtai [Cheyenne]), Chief Pretty Voice Eagle (Ihanktonwan Nakota [Yankton Sioux]), Chief Plenty Coups (Apsáalooke [Crow/Absaroke]), Chief Brave Bear (Southern Tsisistas/Suhtai [Cheyenne]), Chief Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota [Oglala Sioux]), and Chief Red Whip (A'aninin [Gros Ventre]). Other images include group portraits of the 1909 "Last Great Indian Council," as well as Native veterans of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn. Image titles created by Joseph K. Dixon.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The photographs in this collection are organized into folders.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Rodman Wanamaker (1863-1928) was the sole surviving heir of Philadelphia-based department store magnate, John Wanamaker. Rodman, among his other philanthropic endeavors with the arts, believed that Native Americans were a "noble, though vanishing race," whose lives needed to be recorded before they disappeared. Because of this belief, he funded three expeditions (1908-1913) to "perpetuate the life stories of the first Americans." In addition, he also strove, and ultimately failed, to create a National Indian Memorial to be situated in New York City which would rival the Statue of Liberty.
Joseph K. Dixon (1858-1926) was born in New York, and received a bachelor of divinity degree from the Rochester Theological Seminary before becoming a lecturer for the Eastman Kodak photographic company in 1904. Two years later he was hired to work in Wanamaker's department store, and by 1908 he was chosen to lead the three Wanamaker expeditions (1908-1913) to document the lives and cultures of Native peoples of the United States. For the remainder of his life, Dixon frequently lectured on and continued to photograph the lives of Native Americans.

Administration

Author
Nathan Sowry
Processing Information
Processed by Nathan Sowry, Reference Archivist, in 2017.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Museum Purchase, 2017.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 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
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 to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, 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. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph K. Dixon photographs from the 1909 Wanamaker Expedition, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
Other photographic collections of Joseph K. Dixon's work and Rodman Wanamaker's expeditions exist in the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropological Archives, and the Mathers Museum of World Cultures at Indiana University.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Yanktonnai Nakota (Yankton Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Great Plains Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Montana Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Northern Tsitsistas (Northern Cheyenne) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kiowa Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
A'aninin (Gros Ventre) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
nmaiarchives@si.edu