National Museum of the American Indian

Richard and Hannah Maynard photographs from British Columbia

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.087
Creators:
Maynard, Hannah, 1834-1918
Maynard, Richard, 1832-1904
Dates:
1870-1890
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
82 Photographic prints
gelatin silver
31 Copy negatives
black and white
5.x 7 inches.
Repository:
Photographic prints and copy negatives made by Richard and Hannah Maynard between 1878-1890 in British Columbia, Canada. The communities photographed include Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Nuxalk (Bellacoola), Lekwungen (Songhees), and Esquimalt among others.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Series 1: Richard Maynard Colonial administration field photographs includes photograph prints and copy negatives made by Richard Maynard on various excursions across British Columbia and Alaska. This includes—The 1873 trip with Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the province of British Columbia, Israel Wood Powell; several trips to Alaska between 1879 and 1882; and a government commission with American explorer Captain Chittenden to Haida Gwaii, formerly Queen Charlotte Islands.
These photographs depict landscape views, village scenes, fishing, and oil processing made in these various locations. Numerous totem poles, funerary poles and other carvings are depicted from the Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Nuxalk (Bellacoola), Lekwungen (Songhees), and Esquimalt communities.
Series 2: Mrs. R. Maynard's Photographic Gallery photographs includes studio portraits made by Hannah Maynard in her studio, "Mrs. R. Maynard's Photographic Gallery" which was located in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia in Canada. The portraits which depict members of Esquimalt, Haida, Coast Salish and other indigenous communities from British Columbia were marketed and produced as commercial products (rather than documentary) and many do not include the names of the sitters.
Scope and Contents
Photographic prints: P08897-P08949, P11342-P11370.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Intellectually organized into two series. Series 1: Richard Maynard Colonial administration field photographs and Series 2: Mrs. R. Maynard's Photographic Gallery photographs, and then by catalog number within each series.
The photographs are physically arranged in folders by catalog number.

Biographical Note: Richard Maynard

Biographical Note: Richard Maynard
Richard Maynard (1832-1907) was a well-known British Columbia photographer, prospector, and business owner originally from Cornwall, England and based in Victoria, British Columbia. Primarily a field photographer, Richard was known for his field and landscape photography. He made many trips in the Colony of Vancouver Island and the mainland. In 1873 and 1874, Richard travelled on the vessel the HMS Boxer touring Coast Salish and Interior Salish Indigenous communities as the photographer accompanying government officials including Israel Wood Powell on tours of inspection. In the spring of 1884, Richard Maynard traveled to Haida Gwaii (then referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands) as a photographer with the American explorer Captain Newton H. Chittenden.
During the 1880s, Richard Maynard documented the construction of the transcontinental railway in British Columbia and Alberta through multiple tours. In 1885, both Richard and Hannah Maynard appear to have photographed the Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.) along its route through British Columbia. These trips crossed both Coast Salish and Interior Salish Indigenous territorial regions and produced images of both colonial and Indigenous settlements and communities at a time of intense change and oppression that significantly affected Indigenous lifeways, rights, resources and lands in British Columbia. Maynard C.P.R. related photographic "views" were available for order or purchase at the Maynard Studio and other commercial operations in Victoria and on the mainland during the 1880s. In the late 1870s and 1880s, Richard also made several trips further up the continent to Alaska. For his work, Richard Maynard received acknowledgements including those representing museum and photographic communities. During his lifetime, Richard Maynard's photographic works appear to have been collected by a number of museum institutions in the United States.
Full biography can be found at the Royal BC Museum, BC Archives: https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/maynard-richard-1832-1907

Biographical Note: Hannah Maynard

Biographical Note: Hannah Maynard
Hannah (Hatherly) Maynard was a well-known photographer, photographic artist, and business owner originally from Cornwall, England. She ran a successful commercial photography business, Mrs. R. Maynard's Photographic Gallery (1862? – 1912) in Victoria on Vancouver Island, a business that was in operation for 50 years. Richard Maynard was a well-known British Columbia photographer, prospector, and business owner originally from Cornwall, England also based in Victoria, British Columbia. Hannah and Richard married in 1852 in England and they immigrated to Bowmanville (Ontario). Hannah and Richard had several children in Bowmanville and later in Victoria.
Full biography can be found at the Royal BC Museum, BC Archives: https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/maynard-hannah-hatherly-1834-1918

Administration

Author
Rachel Menyuk
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Photographic prints P08897-P08949 were acquired by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation around 1927, with no known original source. Photographic prints P11342-P11370 were purchased from Albert H. Maynard through William Newcombe in 1934.
Processing Information
Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2024.

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).
Some photographs are restricted due to cultural sensitivy.
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); Richard and Hannah Maynard photographs from British Columbia, image #, NMAI.AC.087; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Maynard family collection (Collection PR-1559), which includes many of Richard and Hannah Maynard's original glass plate negatives is located in the Royal BC Museum, BC Archives. https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/maynard-family-fonds
Related Materials
Photographs by Richard Maynard can also be found in the following NMAI Archives Center collections: Charles L. Rau photograph collection (NMAI.AC.149) and David T. Vernon photograph collection (NMAI.AC.216).

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Haida [Skidegate] Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Haida [Masset] Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
K'omoks (Comox) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interior Salish Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wrangell (Alaska) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
British Columbia Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ktunaxa (Kootenai) [British Columbia] Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saanich Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gelatin silver prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stó:lo (Lower Fraser River Salish) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nlaka'pamux (Thompson River Salish) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lytton Nlaka'pamux (Upper Thompson River Salish) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coast Salish Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Esquimalt Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tlingit Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tsimshian (Ts'msyen) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nuxalk (Bellacoola) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Songhees (Songees) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Central Coast Salish Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Powell, Israel Wood, 1836-1915 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
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Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
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