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National Museum of the American Indian
Joseph K. Dixon lantern slide collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAI.AC.419
- Creators:
-
Dixon, Joseph K. (Joseph Kossuth) (1856-1926)
- Dates:
-
1870s-1926
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
168 Lantern slides8 Photographic prints.2 Linear feet
- Repository:
This collection consists of 168 glass lantern slides depicting Indigenous groups throughout North America. It also includes a small number of photographs, newspaper clippings, and publications written by and about Joseph K. Dixon, and his work as a photographer working with Native Americans during the early decades of the twentieth century.
Content Description
Content Description
The Joseph K. Dixon lantern slide collection consists of Lantern Slides, Photographs, and Printed Materials. Series 1: Lantern Slides, 1870s-1920s, includes 168 glass lantern slides, many hand-colored. The lantern slides were used by Dixon in lectures to promote his advocacy work on behalf of Native American citizenship. While Dixon himself was a photographer of many important photographs of Native peoples, the majority of the images for these glass lantern slides were not taken by Dixon, but rather collected by him for use in his lectures as he traveled around the country. Series 2: Photographs, 1870s-1920s, includes 8 photographs collected by Dixon and perhaps used in research for his lectures. Series 3: Printed Materials, 1905-1926, includes a small number of early twentieth-century publications and news clippings either written by Dixon or written about his work with the Indigenous peoples of North America.
Scope and Contents
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology.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
This collection is arranged into three series. Series 1: Lantern Slides, 1870s-1920s, Series 2: Photographs, 1870s-1920s, and Series 3: Printed Materials, 1905-1926.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
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 Philadelphia-based 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. His expedition work for Rodman Wanamaker resulted in the 1913 published book,
The Vanishing Race
. For the remainder of his life, Dixon frequently lectured on and continued to photograph the lives of Native Americans.Administration
Author
Nathan Sowry
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from the family and descendants of Joseph Kossuth Dixon in 2022.
Processing Information
Processed by Nathan Sowry, Reference Archivist, in 2023.
Using the Collection
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.
Conditions Governing Use
Some photographs in this collection are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph K. Dixon lantern slide collection, NMAI.AC.419; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Materials
Related Materials
The NMAI Archives Center collections include two related collections on Joseph K. Dixon: NMAI.AC.111 Joseph K. Dixon photographs from the 1909 Wanamaker Expedition, and NMAI.AC.309 Corcoran Gallery of Art collection of Joseph K. Dixon Wanamaker Expedition photographs. 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
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| American Indians | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Lantern slides -- Lectures | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Diné (Navajo) | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Havasupai (Coconino) | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Hopi | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Osage | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan) | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| White Mountain Apache | Cultural Context | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| World's fairs | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| World War, 1914-1918 | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) | 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
