Ludwig Winternitz photograph collection

Scope and Contents

This collection contains 69 photographic prints and 31 copy negatives taken and collected by Ludwig Winternitz between 1920-1930. Copy negatives include N36225-N36248; N36342-N36345; N36475; N36482-N36483. Photographic prints include P08224-P08269; P08374-P08384; P08983-P08987; P09412; P09745; P09759-P09764.

The collection depicts various indigenous communities within the United States, including Seminole communities in Florida taken circa 1920, Michigan Chippewa communities taken in Charlevoix, Michigan in August 1927, Payómkawichum (Luiseño) communities in California taken in 1930, Odawa (Ottawa) communities in Michigan taken in 1926, and unidentified individuals in Oklahoma taken circa 1930. The photographs depict candid photographs, posed outdoor portraits, and indoor portraits. Identified individuals include Jose Bill (Seminole), Sam Huff (Seminole), Cypress Charlie (Seminole), Chief Frank Greenleaf (Odawa), Chief Shomin (Odawa), George Pontiac (Odawa), James Walker (Odawa), and Charlie Tommie, also known as Shirttail Charlie (Seminole). Identified non-Native individuals include Reverend. F. Ignatius of Pala Mission, California (non-Native). Also included are several portraits (P09759-P09764) taken circa 1930 by an unknown photographer depicting a man identified only as "Redwing," likely Oklahoma Cherokee, in an unknown location.

Arrangement

Arranged by catalog number.

Biographical / Historical

Ludwig Winternitz, who later anglicized his name to "Louis," was a professional photographer born in Prague in 1854. In 1884, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he married Clara Kadish in 1885. Between 1920 and 1930, Winternitz traveled across the United States and photographed Native American communities in Florida, California, Michigan, and Oklahoma. Some of his photography work, such as the photographs of Seminole communities taken in Florida, was carried out for individual contractors. In 1924, Winternitz gifted his photograph collections to the Chicago Field Museum, parts of which subsequently went to the National Anthropological Archives and the National Museum of the American Indian. He died in San Diego, California in 1933 at age 79.

Related Materials

Negatives related to the photographs taken in Fort Myers, Florida can be found in Photo Lot 89-8, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. Additional related negatives can be found in the Field Museum of Natural History, Photography Department, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496. Prints corresponding to 61 of the copy negatives within this collection are held in the William C. Sturtevant papers, 1952-2007, NAA.2008-24.