Frank Hamilton Cushing (1857-1900) was an early ethnographer working in the American Southwest during the late 19th Century. The items contained in this collection include correspondence, reports, unpublished manuscripts, diaries, Zuni vocabulary cards, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles. These documents focus on Cushing's stay at Zuni Pueblo from 1879-1884, the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition 1887-1889, and the Pepper Hearst Archeological Expedition 1896-1897. The bulk of the material in this collection was created between 1848 and 1923.

In 2001, funding was provided by the National Science Foundation through Systematic Anthropological Collections, Miss Anne Lloyd Crotty, and the Southwest Museum to preserve, arrange, describe and perform preservation microfilming of the Frank Hamitton Cushing and Frederick Webb Hodge Manuscript Collections. These two collections were selected for the project because they are valuable to the early history of American Anthropology and to the study of Zuni Indian culture and history. In addition, the Cushing Collection is in high demand by scholars worldwide. A third collection known as the Margaret Magill Manuscript Collection relates to the Hodge and Cushing Collection, but unfortunately was not microfilmed. Miss Magill was Cushing's sister-in-law and was with him at Zuni during the 1880s. The material in her collection relates to that time. She married Frederick Webb Hodge in the 1890s.Frank Hamilton Cushing was one of the pioneers of American anthropology and archaeology. Born in 1857, he was premature and as a result had a weak constitution which plagued him all of his life. Because of this, he received no formal education which allowed him time to wander the woods in Orleans County, New York, where his interest in anthropology developed. In 1875, Cushing decided against attending Cornell University in favor of accepting a position as assistant in ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution.

15.0 Linear feet (13 document boxes, 4 oversized boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry National Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Autry Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry National Center as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research. Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit http://theautry.org/research/research-rules-and-application or contact library staff at rroom@theautry.org. This collection has been cataloged at the folder level and are searchable on the Autry's online library catalog, http://autry.iii.com/. Contact library staff for further assistance.