The Department of Anthropology records contain administrative and research materials produced by the department and its members from the time of the Smithsonian Institution's foundation until today.

The papers of painter, teacher, and writer Hans Hofmann measure 29.92 linear feet and 5.00 GB and date from circa 1904 to 2011, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1945 to 2000. The majority of the papers were created after 1932 and document Hofmann's life and professional career after settling in the United States. Among his papers are personal and professional correspondence; records of his schools in Munich, New York City, and Provincetown, Mass.; writings and notes; financial records; photographs; printed matter; estate records; and a small number of personal papers of his second wife, Renate Schmitz Hofmann. Hofmann's personal papers are augmented by a large selection of printed matter, including exhibition catalogs, articles, news clippings, and monographs about Hofmann and modern art, as well as documentary projects including Tina Dickey's compilation of oral histories and records of Hofmann's students, and research materials, sound and video recordings, digital material, and motion picture film created and gathered by Madeline Amgott during the production of two video documentaries about Hans Hofmann released in 1999 and 2002. Hofmann's Library was acquired with his papers; inscribed/annotated volumes have been retained with the collection.

The records of the Perls Galleries measure 79.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1997. Founded by Klaus Perls in 1937 and operating until 1997, the gallery dealt primarily in modern French art and the artwork of Alexander Calder. Found within the records are extensive correspondence (circa 44 linear feet) with artists, dealers, galleries, museums, and collectors; photographs and negatives of inventory and other artwork; exhibition files, scattered financial records; and exhibition catalogs and clippings.

The papers of abstract expressionist painter and playwright Paul Jenkins measure 11.1 linear feet and date from circa 1915 to 2010. Jenkins's career in New York and Paris is documented through biographical material, family papers, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed material, photographs of Jenkins in his studio and at various events, and original artwork by Jenkins and others.

This collection was created by combining two separate accessions of biographical information on and photographs of entomologists. Series 1 consists mostly of biographical materials on dipterists (entomologists who specialize in the study of flies) but also includes information about other entomologists and scientists in general. The material, which dates between 1797 and …

The Scurlock photographic studio was a fixture in the Shaw area of Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1994, and encompassed two generations of photographers, Addison N. Scurlock (1883-1964) and his sons George H. (1920- 2005) and Robert S. (1916-1994). Subseries 4.6 consists of black and white silver gelatin negatives. An overview to the entire Scurlock collection is available here: Scurlock Studio Records

The papers of art historian, curator, and educator Patricia Hills measure 47.5 linear feet and 0.113 GB and date from circa 1900-2022, bulk 1968-2009. Central to this collection are project files documenting professional work that resulted in lectures, publications, exhibitions, art history courses on numerous artists including Alice Neel, Jacob Lawrence, May Stevens, Rudolf Baranik, and John Singer Sargent. These files and files documenting Hills's tenure at the Whitney Museum of American Art include planning documents, research files, correspondence, manuscripts and accompanying publications, as well as other printed materials. Some of this material is in digital format. The collection also contains correspondence with art historians, artists, curators, and others, notably Lawrence Alloway, Lowery Stokes Sims, Lucy R. Lippard, T.J. Clark, Leon Golub, and Donald Kuspit; professional files documenting grants and residencies awarded and consulting work; artist and subject files; other writings; and printed and digital material. Membership and affiliation records document Hills' service to the profession, including Women's Caucus for Art and the Visual Culture/Art History Caucus of the American Studies Association. There is an 8.4 linear foot unprocssed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes Patricia Hills' research material regarding Eastman Johnson, consisting of biographical information; professional correspondence; printed material; institutional, exhibition, subject and genre files for Eastman Johnson's works of art; photographs of works of art; writings and lectures; catalog cards; and files regarding works not by Johnson.

This collection contains the professional papers of William Curtis Sturtevant and documents his activities as Curator of North American Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, his work as the editor-in-chief of the Handbook of North American Indians, his research among the Seminole and Iroquois people, and other professional activities. The collection is comprised of books, sound recordings, research and field notes, realia, artifacts, clippings, microfilm, negatives, slides, photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, memorandums, card files, exhibition catalogs, articles, and bibliographies.

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.