Description
The Boutelle Papers comprise archival material directly related to the collection of baskets and other objects Abbie Boutelle
donated to the San Diego Museum of Man in 1928. The archival collection includes photographs, notebooks, and ledgers containing
contextual information about the Boutelle collection, often including names and photographs of the creators of specific pieces,
and sketches of the graphical patterns woven into the baskets Boutelle acquired.
Background
Abbie Boutelle (1846-1928) was born Abbie Warren Goodale in 1846. She married Thomas N. Boutelle in 1868 in Clinton, Massachusetts.
Following her husband’s successful career in engineering and business, the couple moved to San Diego in 1895. Mrs.
Boutelle was a photographer and a collector of Native American baskets. From 1897 to 1921, the Boutelles made several trips
to Native American reservations in southern California, where she collected baskets and took photographs. Abbie Boutelle died
in Clinton, Iowa on January 4, 1928. She bequeathed her basket collection, along with her notes and photographs related to
the basket collection, to the San Diego Museum of Man.
Restrictions
In accordance with museum policy, photographs and images of Native American subjects are not made available for publication
until the researcher has obtained written permission from the affiliated tribal authority. For non-restricted cases, the museum
can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Diego Museum
of Man as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which
must also be obtained by the researcher.
Availability
The collection is open to on-site researchers and remote research requests. On-site reserach visits must be arranged with
the collections department in advance by contacting collections@museumofman.org. Research requests are expedited for Native
American individuals and tribes conducting reserach at the museum. For more information about accessing materials concerning
Native American tribes, families, and individuals, contact collections@museumofman.org or the museum archivist.