This collection is comprised of photographs collected by William W. Brill to document his personal collection of African art objects, which primarily contains masks, sculpted figures, and tools.

Photographs taken by Roy Sieber. Images of African textile and the dyeing and weaving processes. Objects depicted include Asante Kente cloth, Hausa embroidered pants, Jukun tie-dye waist cloth, a Kuba hat, Yoruba indigo dye and a Zulu cloak, as well as akwete cloth from Nigeria, an appliqué dress from Cameroon, an appliqué robe from Ghana, cloth from Dahomey (now Benin) and dye pots from Ede. People portrayed include a Dogon dancer, Kajiado warriors with spears and shields, a weaver making cloth, and women dyeing cloth with indigo.

Photographs taken by Chris Hubbard in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1969-1970, which primarily depict the funeral of Kuba Nyim Mbopey Mabiintsh ma-Kyeen.

Photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon in Africa and in European and American museums and collections during his extensive travels from 1942 through 1972. African kingdoms and peoples represented include Afo, Anyi, Asante, Atie, Baga, Bamana, Baule, Bembe, Benin, Bobo, Boki, Bozo, Chamba, Chokwe, Dan, Dinka, Dogon, Ebrie, Efik, Ejagham, Hausa, Ibibio, Idoma, Ife, Igbo-Ukwu, Ijo, Jenne, Jukun, Kamba, Kissi, Kom, Kongo, Kono, kota, Kpelle, Kuba, Kuyu, Kwele, Lega, Lobi, Loma, Lozi, Luba, Lulua, Lunda, Mambila, Mende, Mossi, Nalu, Ndebele, Ngbaka, Ngoni, Nok, Nupe, Nyamwezi, Pende, Suku, Susu, Tabwa, Teke, Temne, Tetela, Tiv, Tuareg, Urhobo, Vai, Woyo, Yaka, Yoruba, and Zande.

Peoples and kingdoms whose art works are shown include the Asante, Baule, Benin, Boki, Dogon, Fang (Pahouin), Ijo, Kuba, Lumbu, Mama, Mende, Mpongwe, Punu and Yoruba. Objects depicted include garments, doors, fly whisks, gold weights, headrests, jewelry, masks, musical instrument such as bells and rhythym pounders, power figures, pipes, staff finials, stools and wood sculptures of men and women.

Photographs made and collected by Alexis B. McMullen documenting peoples and culture in West Africa. The images created by McMullen and Captain D. B. McCloskey depict ceremonies at Kibib honoring Ofori Atta, a chief in the Central Province of the Gold Coast; a dance to the god of the sea …

These original (64) magnetic audio tapes and reels were created for the Black African Heritage television series, produced by Eliot Elisofon and Group W (Westinghouse Broadcasting Company) in 1972. These correspond with the film outtakes and original work prints held in the EEPA 1973-001 Collection.

This collection is comprised of the professional papers of Gordon D. Gibson. The collection contains his correspondence, field notes, research files, museum records, writings, photographs, sound recordings, and maps.The bulk of the collection consists of Gibson's southwestern Africa research. This includes his field notes, film scripts, photographs, sound recordings, and grant proposals he wrote in support of his fieldwork in Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. In addition, the collection contains his research notes, maps, drafts, publications, and papers presented at conferences. While most of his research focused on the Herero and Himba, the collection also contains his research on the Ovambo and Okavango and other southwestern African groups. In the collection is a great deal of photocopies and microfilms of literature on southwestern African ethnic groups, many of which are in Portuguese and German and which he had translated for his files. He was also interested in African material culture, especially Central African headgear. His research on African caps is well-represented in the collection, and includes photos of caps at various museums, source materials, research notes, and textile samples of knots and loop work. Gibson's files as the curator of African ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History also make up a significant portion of the collection. Among these records are his files for the museum's Hall of African Cultures and other African exhibits; his files on the museum's African collections, early donors and collectors of the collections; his personnel files; documents relating to his committee work; department and museum memos; meeting minutes; and his records as head of the Old World Division and acting chair of the department. The collection also documents the efforts to establish the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Film Center, now the Human Studies Film Archives, as well as his work on the planning committee to establish the Museum of Man at the Smithsonian. Memos and minutes relating to the Smithsonian's Center for the Study of Man are also present in the collection. In addition to Gibson's field photos, the collection also contains African photos taken by others. Among these are Herbert Friedmann's photos of Kenya; Hausmann's Libya photos; photos by Ralph Kepler Lewis during the Morden Africa Expedition in Kenya; and photos by Lawrence Marshall, Volkmar Wentzel, Alfred Martin Duggan Cronin, and Father Carlos Estermann. There are also photos of the exhibit cases from the Hall of African Cultures; photos of Smithsonian and non-Smithsonian African artifacts; and copies of photographs he obtained from different archives, including the National Anthropological Archives. Other materials in the collection include his files as film reviews editor for the American Anthropologist during the 1960s and 70s and his activities in different organizations.

Photographs taken by art gallery owner James W. Lankton in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to document Kuba art and culture. Images are primarily from Mushenge, the Kuba capital. Activities documented include house building, wood carving, coffee drying, embroidering, hat making, drum playing, hair styling and basket weaving. Images of objects include a loom, a mask, musical instruments, royal costumes, road signs and textiles. Architecture includes an art school; village houses; king's palace and reception area; a mission church including altar, doors and interior; market shops; and a weaver's house. Portraits include the Kuba king, the king's retainers, his sons and a weaver.

The photographs document William Fagg's extensive survey work in Nigeria and his trips to Benin, Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zaire. The photographs illustrate African cultures and works of art, especially those of the Yoruba in Nigeria. Nigerian artisans portrayed include a blacksmith in the town of Jebba, a craftsman casting brass at Ijebu-Ode, and a potter at work in Nok. Celebrations and ceremonies documented include the igue oba and itue ceremonies and the festival of leaves in Benin. There are also images of dances of the Bargesh in northern Nigeria and a masked dance at Nok. Architecture documented includes altars and shrines in Benin and in Oyo, Nigeria; a Birom settlement; Brazilian-style houses in Porto Novo, Republic of Benin; an emir's house in Nigeria; a Jarawa village in Nigeria; the mosque in Keffi, Nigeria; and palaces of Yoruba kings. Most of the photographs show sculpture including Benin bronze plaques and hip masks; Esie stone sculpture; Ifa divination boards, drums, and figures; a Kuba ndop (royal statue) in the Kinshasa Museum; Nok terra-cotta and wooden figures; and Tada bronze figures. There also are images of epa (masquerade) masks; gelede (men's society) masks; a head of Olokun (a male Yoruba divinity) from Ibadan, Nigeria; and Yoruba edan ogboni (bronze staffs) and ibeji (twin figures) from Nigeria. Images of objects by identifiable artists include a palace pillar, post and sculpture by Agbonbiofe; a door and epa mask by Areogun; and a house post and lidded bowl by Olowe of Ise.