LC-USZC4-8803

Edward S. Curtis Collection Photographs of Native Americans

Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 20540-4730

Collection digitized? A portion of the Curtis photographic prints have been digitized and are available in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Selected images are included here to give a sample of the collection.

Jump to: Biography and Background | Collection Scope | Arrangement | Access |
Ordering Reproductions | Permissions and Credits | Related Work | Bibliography | Appendix | Selected Images from the Collection

Biography and Background of the Collection

Although unknown for many years, Edward S. Curtis is today one of the most well-recognized and celebrated photographers of Native people. Born near White Water, Wisconsin, on February 16, 1868, he became interested in the emerging art of photography when he was quite young, building his first camera when he was still an adolescent. In Seattle, where his family moved in 1887, he acquired part interest in a portrait photography studio and soon became sole owner of the successful business, renaming it Edward S. Curtis Photographer and Photoengraver.

In the mid 1890s, Curtis began photographing local Puget Sound Native Americans digging for clams and mussels on the tide flats. One of his earliest models was Princess Angeline, the aged daughter of Sealth, the Suquamish chief after whom Seattle was named. Later, as an official photographer of the 1899 Harriman Expedition, Curtis documented the geological features of the Alaskan wilderness as well as its indigenous population. This was a pivotal experience for Curtis and greatly increased his interest in Native cultures. He visited tribal communities in Montana and Arizona and began in earnest to photograph many other Native Americans in the West, spending more time in the field and less time in his studio.

The North American Indian Project

In the early years of the 20th century, Curtis embarked on a thirty-year mission which he described as an effort "to form a comprehensive and permanent record of all the important tribes of the United States and Alaska that still retain to a considerable degree their...customs and traditions." Along with most scholars of this period, he believed that indigenous communities would inevitably be absorbed into white society, losing their unique cultural identities. He wanted to create a scholarly and artistic work that would document the ceremonies, beliefs, customs, daily life, and leaders of these groups before they "vanished." The North American Indian project, Curtis decided, would be a set of 20 volumes of ethnographic text illustrated with high quality photoengravings taken from his glass plate negatives. Each of these volumes would be accompanied by a portfolio of large size photogravures, elegantly bound in leather and printed on the highest quality paper. To fund the enormous project, Curtis would sell subscriptions to five hundred sets of the publication.

Working alone or with various assistants, soliciting donations and support from diverse sources including President Theodore Roosevelt and the railroad tycoon John Pierpont Morgan, and also accumulating a heavy personal debt, Curtis visited more than eighty tribes across the country, and north into Alaska and parts of Canada. Eventually, he took more than 40,000 photographs; made over 10,000 recordings of Native speech and music; produced lectures, slide shows, and a multi-media Curtis Indian Picture Opera throughout the U.S.; and in 1914 directed In the Land of the Headhunters, an inventive, seminal film documentary on the Kwakiutl tribe.

Volume one of The North American Indian appeared in 1907. In 1930 the last two volumes were finally published, completing nearly thirty years of work. Only 272 complete sets had been printed. By this time, the modest popularity of Curtis's work had diminished and the North American Indian Corporation--the business enterprise overseeing Curtis's ethnographic ventures--soon liquidated its assets. When he died in 1952, his lifework with Native Americans had all but faded into obscurity. "Rediscovered" in the 1960s and 1970s, Curtis's photographic work is now recognized as one of the most significant records of Native culture ever produced. His photographs have been included in virtually every anthology of historical photographs of Native Americans and are now frequently used to illustrate books and documentaries.

Collection Scope and Description

The Prints and Photographs Division Curtis collection consists of more than 2,400 silver-gelatin, first generation photographic prints--some of which are sepia-toned--made from Curtis's original glass negatives. Most of the photographic prints are 5" x 7" although nearly one hundred are 11" x 14" and larger; many include the Curtis file or negative number within the image at the lower left-hand corner. Acquired by the Library of Congress through copyright deposit from about 1900 through 1930, the dates on the images reflect date of registration, not when the photograph was actually taken. About two-thirds (1,608) of these images were not published in the North American Indian volumes and therefore offer a different and unique glimpse into Curtis's work with indigenous cultures. The original glass plate negatives--most of which had been stored and nearly forgotten in a basement of New York's Morgan Library--were unwittingly dispersed during World War II. Many others were destroyed and some were sold as junk. Although the Prints and Photographs Division does not hold any of the few existing original glass negatives, copy negatives for many of the photographic prints have been made by the Library's Duplication Services.

Images from each of the geo-cultural regions documented in The North American Indian are represented in the collection: the Pacific Northwest, New Southwest, Great Basin, Great Plains, Plateau Region, California, and Alaska. Included are both studio and field photographs. A large number are individual or group portraits, and many subjects are identified by name. Other subjects include traditional and ceremonial dress, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, rites and ceremonies, dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenery.

Arrangement

The Library of Congress staff organized the photographs into twenty-two groups (LOTs 12310 through 12331) primarily by geographical area and thereunder by tribal group and, when a Curtis number exists, numerically by the number Curtis assigned to the image. One LOT comprised of 11" x 14" and larger photographs was grouped together because of size and represents a number of different tribes (LOT 12331). A complete alphabetical list of tribal groups represented in the collection, followed by corresponding LOT number and corresponding North American Indian volume number is available in the Appendix found at the end of this document. It is also available in the Curtis finding aid in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room.

Access

Automated Records for Individual Images and LOT Descriptions

Many Curtis images can be viewed in digitized form in the Prints and Photographs Division Online Catalog. The twenty-two LOTs are represented by catalog records that provide textual summaries of the contents of the group (accessible through the "Groups in High Demand" search screen). The records also provide a link that enables one to view any of the items from the LOT that have so far been cataloged online and digitized. Online searches across all categories in the online catalog for a specific tribal group (such as "Hopi" and "Cayuse") or subject (such as "ceremonies" and "baskets") will yield appropriate individual images as well as appropriate LOT descriptions.

Photographic Prints in LOTS 12310 through 12331

The original photographic prints can be viewed in the Prints and Photographs reading room by requesting one or more LOTs. The contents of each LOT (including the tribal groups represented, description summary, and number of items) are described in the online group records mentioned above. LOT descriptions and an alphabetical list of tribal groups represented in the collection are also available in the Curtis finding aid in the reading room.

The North American Indian

A reprint of the original Curtis work is housed in the Prints and Photographs Division reference book collection [LC call number: E77 C98 and E77 C98 suppl]. The first twenty volumes contain illustrations and text. Twenty supplemental sections consisting of large reproductions of the original photogravures are bound in an additional four volumes. The North American Indian volumes in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room have been marked with a LOT number and any existing Curtis file number and reproduction number when a corresponding photographic print can be found in a Curtis Collection LOT. A complete alphabetical list of tribal groups with corresponding LOT number and The North American Indian volume number is located at the beginning of each large supplemental volume.

Card Indexes in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room

The Edward S. Curtis shelflist by Curtis number is arranged by Curtis file number (by title for images without a number). Most cards note Curtis number, LOT number, title, copyright date, tribal group, geographical location, reproduction number, and description. If the image was published in The North American Indian, the volume and plate or page number are also noted. A second card index is arranged by LOT number and tribal group.

Ordering Reproductions

Photographic prints or transparencies can be ordered directly from the Library of Congress, Duplication Services, Washington, D.C., 20540-5230 (email: photoduplication@loc.gov; telephone: 202-707-5640). Order forms, a price list, and order instructions will be provided on request. Although the Library does not hold the original glass negatives, copy negatives for many images have been made by the Duplication Services either from the original photographic prints in the Prints and Photographs Division or from the photogravure prints in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Orders for copies must be accompanied by a reproduction number for the requested image or, if no reproduction number exists, the call number (LOT and item number or LOT and item title) of the original image.

Permissions and Credits

There are no known restrictions on publication or other forms of distribution of the photographs in this collection. The collection was acquired by the Library through copyright deposit and the copyright registrations expired and were not renewed. The images are now in the public domain. When images are reproduced in a publication, the Library requests that the reproduction number be published with the credit, as in the following example: "Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-99663."

Related Work by Curtis: Native and Non-Native Subjects

In the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

LOT 4841: Harriman Expedition (178 photographs).

Curtis was an official photographer for the 1899 Harriman Expedition to Alaska. During this two-month scientific survey of the Alaskan wilderness, he documented landscapes, flora, fauna, and other geological features. Nearly one hundred images also reveal life in the area's Tlingit Indian and other Native communities including family portraits, seal hunting, traditional homes and structures, totem poles, and basketry.

LOT 10512: Roosevelt Family (32 photographs).

After viewing a Curtis portrait of a Seattle girl in a Ladies Home Journal photography contest, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Curtis to the East Coast to photograph the Roosevelt family. Taken in 1904, these warm-toned gelatin silver prints show the Roosevelt children at play (in some views with Curtis) on the estate; the family home; and surrounding area.

PH - Curtis, E., no. 1 (A size) "The Vanishing Race," 1904.

This sepia-toned, platinum print of a small group of Navajos riding horses also appears in the portfolio volume one of The North American Indian. As Curtis struggled to support his family and his ambitious projects, he occasionally sold individual master prints made from special photographic processes.

PH - Curtis, E., no. 2 (A size) Sunset Trail, 1921.

A gelatin silver print of a nude, non-Native woman with long hair standing on a beach at sunset.

In the Rare Book Division, Library of Congress

Curtis, Edward S. The North American Indian; being a series of volumes picturing and describing the Indians of the United States, and Alaska. 20 vols. and 20 portfolios of photogravures. Seattle and Cambridge, Mass: E.S. Curtis, 1907-30. LC Call Number: E77 C97.

One of the original 272 complete published sets with twenty volumes of illustrated text and twenty portfolios of large-size photogravures, this work consists of 2,222 plates and ethnological information about more than eighty Native American tribes. To create the photogravures, each copper plate was individually inked and run through a hand press. Copy negatives for many of these photogravure images were made by the Library's Duplication Services and noted in a reprint of The North American Indian, which is housed in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division.

National Digital Library, Library of Congress/Ameritech

Northwestern University, Edward S. Curtis: the North American Indian Photographic Images (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/curthome.html ).

A digital image of every photogravure published in the original, complete set of Curtis's North American Indian from Northwestern University is available on this web site. Bibliographical and introductory materials to illuminate the historical context as well as a variety of search strategies to make the collection accessible to scholars, the K-12 community, and the general public is provided.

In Other Institutions

National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Collection name: Photo Lot 59, The Library of Congress Copyright Deposit Collection of American Indian Photographs (1860s-1930s; 5,600 items).

About one-thousand Curtis photographs which were submitted for copyright at the Library of Congress were transferred from the Library to the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives in the 1950s. Most of these prints were duplicates, but not all. The images are housed in a larger collection (photo lot 59) which is arranged by tribal group not by photographer. The collection is open to public viewing.

Selected Bibliography

Cardozo, Christopher. Native Nations: First Americans as Seen by Edward S. Curtis. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993. LC call number: E77.5 C8 1993.

This oversized, coffee table book reproduces more than one hundred images selected from Curtis's twenty-volume set in fine quadratone (sepia-toned) plates.

Curtis, Edward S. The North American Indian, being a series of volumes picturing and describing the Indians of the United States and Alaska. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970 (c. 1907-20). LC call number: E77 C98 and E77 C98 suppl.

A reprint of the original work, the first twenty volumes contain illustrations and textual information. Twenty supplemental sections of large reproductions of the original photogravures are bound in an additional four volumes. The P&P Reference Collection copy has notations in the volumes that identify those images which can be found in the Prints and Photographs Division Curtis collection. Copy negative (reproduction) numbers are also noted. An original first edition of The North American Indian is in Library's Rare Book Division.

Day, Sara, editor. Heart of the Circle: Photographs of Native American Women. San Francisco: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1997. LC call number: E89 C87 1997.

The first book devoted exclusively to Curtis's images of Native American women. More than one hundred intimate and revealing portraits from the collections of the Library of Congress are included.

Davis, Barbara A. Edward S. Curtis: The Life and Times of a Shadow Catcher. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1985. LC call number: TR 140 C82 D38 1985.

Generously illustrated with high-quality black-and-white and color-tinted photographic reproductions, this biography traces Curtis's devoted and extensive documentary work with Native people and his creative fund-raising schemes to support that commitment. It also chronicles his early interests in photography, his successful portrait studio in Seattle, his volatile family life, and the Hollywood productions and gold mining pursuits of his later life.

Gidley, Mick. Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. LC call number: E77.5 G53 1998.

A scholarly study of the North American Indian project as a corporation, Gidley analyzes the financial, editorial, business, and technical aspects of Curtis's massive enterprise as well as the ideological and aesthetic forces that shaped the final publication.

Hausman, Gerald and Robert Kapoun. Prayer to the Great Mystery: The Uncollected Writings and Photography of Edward S. Curtis. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995. LC call number: E77.5 C83 1995.

The first work to focus on the unpublished Curtis photographs held at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, this well-illustrated study contains ninety-three photographs which were not included in the twenty-volume The North American Indian, as well as many lesser known published images.

Lyman, Christopher M. The Vanishing Race and Other Illusions: Photographs of Indians by Edward S. Curtis. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982. LC call number: E77.5 L95 1982.

Lyman critiques Curtis's pictorialist, romantic, and idealized images of Native people because they obscure a drearier, more desperate reality. Curtis is also criticized for editing "modern" elements, such as alarm clocks and automobiles, from the views and for his use of props and costumes. Lyman exposes various misrepresentations in Curtis's depictions, as well as in other photographers' work of indigenous people, with many photographic examples.

Makepeace, Anne. Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians. VHS video, co-produced by Anne Makepeace and Thirteen/WNET for American Masters, 2000. Available from Bullfrog Films.

This educational film tells the dramatic story of Curtis's life and his changing views of the people he set out to document. Hopi, Navajo, Inuit, Blackfeet, Blood, Piegan, Suquamish, and Kwakiutl people who are descended from Curtis subjects, or who are using his photographs for cultural preservation, discuss the meaning of the images to native people and to all Americans today.

Pritzker, Barry. Edward S. Curtis. New York: Crescent Books, 1993. Call number: E77.5 P75 1993.

Reproduces nearly one hundred images from the Curtis collections at the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, and the University of Washington.

Prepared by: Jennifer Brathovde, Reference Specialist, May 2001.

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• Selected Images from the Collection