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National Museum of the American Indian
McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America folios and lithographs
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAI.AC.115
- Creators:
-
McKenney, Thomas L. (Thomas Loraine), 1785-1859Hall, James, 1793-1868
- Dates:
-
1836-1844
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
20 Volumes120 Lithographs
- Repository:
This collection contains all 20 original folios of Thomas Loraine Mckenney and James Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. The folios were published and sent to subscribers between 1836-1844 and include 120 hand-colored lithographic plates. As Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1824-1830, McKenney commissioned and collected portraits of Native American leaders, the majority painted by Charles Bird King. These portraits, along with biographical text by James Hall, form the basis of History of the Indian Tribes of North America.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
This collection includes all 20 folios of Thomas Loraine Mckenney and James Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs in their original wrappers. Each folio includes six hand-colored lithographic plates along with biographical essays on Native American leaders, both men and women, from the early 19th century.
Native Communities represented in these volumes include—Sauk, Meskwaki (Fox), Shawnee, Osage, Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa), Mississippi Choctaw, Mdewakantonwan Dakota (Mdewakanton Sioux), Eastern Band of Cherokee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Oto, Seneca, Chaticks Si Chaticks (Pawnee), Yanktonnai Nakota, Muskogee (Creek), Omaha, Iowa, Sac and Fox (Sauk and Fox), Oklahoma Cherokee, Lenape (Delaware), Numakiki (Mandan), Euchee (Yuchi), Potawatomi, Seminole, Mohawk, Menominee (Menomini), Quatsino Kwakwaka'wakw, Odawa (Ottawa), Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Powhatan, Kaw (Kansa).
The lithographs were cataloged individually with P (print) numbers P27694-P27813, though not physically separated from their volumes.
Scope and Contents
Please note that the language and terminology used in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Arranged by foilio number.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Thomas Loraine McKenney was born in 1785 to a family of Quakers in Hopewell, Maryland. Following the abolition of the U.S. Indian Trade program in 1822, McKenney (1785-1859) was appointed to the new position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs, which he held from 1824-1830. During his time as Superintendent of Indian trade in Georgetown, McKenney hired the painter Charles Bird King and began developing a governmental collection of portraits of prominent Native chiefs and elders who visited Washington. Between 1821-1842, King painted over 100 portraits with some assistance from friend and student George Cook.
Following his dismissal from the War Department by President Andrew Jackson in 1830, McKenney moved to Philadelphia to begin the process of getting his collection of portraits reproduced as lithographs with original hand coloring. The publication would document the extensive collection of King paints, many of which were later lost in a fire that destroyed part of the Smithsonian castle in January 1865.
This process was aided by Edward C. Biddle, a Philadelphia printer, who published the first volume (parts 1-6) in 1836 of what would be a three-volume set of 20 folios. James Hall (1793-1868), a judge and known writer, was hired to write text based on McKenney's research. Later parts were published between 1836-1844 by Frederick W. Greenough (parts 7-13), J.T. Bowen (part 14), and by Daniel Rice and James G. Clark (15-20). Several octavo editions were later published.
Administration
Author
Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Provenance is unknown, part of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation collection when the MAI became the NMAI in 1989.
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2022.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archives 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 Archives 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); McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America folios and lithographs image #, NMAI.AC.115; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Keywords
Repository Contact
National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
nmaiarchives@si.edu
