Alfred Tamarin photographs for "We Have Not Vanished"

Scope and Contents

The Alfred Tamarin photograph collection consists of negatives and contact prints shot by Tamarin during research for his publication We Have not Vanished: Eastern Indians of the United States. In addition to Tamarins own photographs there are also 8x10 black and white prints from other sources used in the same publication.

Series 1: Reasearch Negatives includes photographic negatives made by Tamarin which were shot on 35mm film and 120 (6x6) film and have accompanying contact sheets. Most of the negatives were shot in 1971 along the east coast of the United States in Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia as well as in Ontario, Canada and at the Heard Fair in Phoenix, Arizona. Tamarin made photographs among the Passamaquoddy, Mashpee Wampanoag, Narragansett, Cayuga [Six Nations/Grand River (Brantford, Ontario)], Mohawk [Akwesasne (St. Regis), Hogansburg, New York], Seneca, Lenape (Delaware), Nanticoke, Pamunkey, Chickahominy and Eastern Band of Cherokee communities, capturing both events and craftspeople at work.

Events of note photographed include--the Monroe Powwow sponsored by Lenape (Delaware) Chief Earl Two Bears and a Narragansett anniversary celebration. There are also several photographs featuring Chief Jake Thomas (Ha-da-jib-ghen-ta [Descending Cloud]/Jacob Ezra Thomas) and his daughter Donna Thomas during a mask making demonstration in Brantford, Ontario. At the time, Chief Thomas was a museum preparator at the Mohawk Indian Woodland Indian Cultural.

Series 2: Publication Prints includes 65 8x10 black and white photographic prints and copy prints. Subseries 2.1 includes 19 prints from Tamarin's negatives that can be found in Series 1. Subseries 2.2 includes copy prints requested from outside photographer and institutions for use in We Have Not Vanished. These include photographs from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Florida News Bureau, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Maine State Highway Commission, and National Anthropological Archives (Smithsonian Institution).

Arrangement

Arranged in two series. Series 1: Research Negatives and Series 2: Publication Prints.

Biographical / Historical

Alfred Tamarin (1913-1980) was born in New York to parents Abraham and Fannie. Tamarin worked in publicity and advertising for theatre and film until the 1960s. During that time he worked for the Theatre Guild, United Artists Corporation and was also a founder and vice president of In Flight Motion Pictures Inc. After marrying his second wife Shirley Glubok in 1968, Alfred began his second career as a photographer for a series of art books written by Shirley. Alfred also wrote several books himself including We Have not Vanished: Eastern Indians of the United States (1974). We Have not Vanished was illustrated with photographs taken by Alfred in 1970-1971 among several Native American communities along the East Coast of the United States. Other books written by the Tamarins include Ancient Indians of the Southwest (1975), The Art of the Plains Indians (1975), Voyaging to Cathay (1976), among many others. Shirley Glubok Tamarin donated Alfred's materials related to We Have not Vanished to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye foundation in 1985 following Alfred's death in 1980.