Photographs probably depicting Kwakiutl Indians, including a man in a blanket, a man wearing a bird mask and cedarbark dress, and a woman holding up a cradle or load.
Biographical/Historical note:
Franz Boas (1858-1942) was a German-American anthropologist and pioneer of modern anthropological practice. He studied physics and geography at the universities at Heidelberg and Bonn before completing a doctoral program in physical geography at Kiel in 1881. After graduation, he joined an expedition of Baffin Island (1883-1884), which influenced his decision to him to focus on cultural tradition rather than biological and physical influences. In 1885, Boas emigrated to the United States, where he took an editorial position with the journal Science and started what would become his most famous ethnographic project, working among the Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw) Indians, in 1886. Boas spent three years teaching at Clark University in Massachusetts, then took an appointment at the Field Museum in Chicago in 1892. Boas then moved to New York, where he joined the American Museum of Natural History (1895-1905) and began teaching at Columbia University in 1896. For 37 years, Boas established himself as an academic and mentored numerous future influential anthropologists, including Margaret Mead, Alfred Kroeber, Edward Sapir, and Zora Neale Hurston. He also served as one of the founders of both the American Anthropological Association and the International Journal of American Linguistics.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R97-19
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by Smithsonian Institution, 1996.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional Boas photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 24.
Northwest Coast Indian legends and vocabularies by Boas held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 948, MS 1753, and other Numbered Manuscripts.
Correspondence from Boas held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4846, MS 4558, MS 1746, MS 4821, American Ethnological Society records, Bureau of American Ethnology records, and collections of personal papers.
The American Philosophical Society holds the Franz Boas Papers.
Provenance:
Donated by Valerie Pinsky, 1996.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
This copy collection has been obtained for reference purposes only. Contact the repository for terms of use and access.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo Lot R97-19, Copies of Franz Boas photographs of Kwakiutl Indians, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
