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Steiner (G. A. [Gottlieb Adam]) Basket Collection Research Files
MS.235
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Contributing Institution:
Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: G. A. (Gottlieb Adam) Steiner Basket Collection Research Files
Creator:
Steiner, G. A. (Gottlieb Adam)
Identifier/Call Number: MS.235
Physical Description:
0.7 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): circa 1983
Abstract: Gotlieb Adam Steiner (1844 March 28 - 1916 February 18) made a successful living in the steel industry in Southwestern Pennsylvania
with the Schoenberger Steel Company, but his passion was collecting baskets woven by Native American people. The Carnegie
Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania displayed a portion of Steiner's basket collection between 1913 and 1937, but otherwise
the collection was closed to the public and sold some time in the late 1970s. This collection of photocopied materials includes
a catalog of Indian basketry, correspondence regarding basket collections and purchases, purchase orders and receipts, and
photos of baskets with full descriptions and provenance.
Language of Material:
English
.
G. A. (Gottlieb Adam) Steiner Basket Collection Research Files, circa 1983, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.235; [folder number] [folder title][date].
Gotlieb Adam Steiner was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania on 1844 March 28. He served in the Union Army during the Civil Warfor
about a year until he was honorably discharged on 1863 May 13. Steiner then went on to make a very successful living in the
steel industry in Southwestern Pennsylvania with the Schoenberger Steel Company, which was then bought by American Steel &
Wire. By 1900, Steiner was financially free to pursue other interests. Steiner and his wife Elizabeth Voegtly traveled to
the American Southwest annually and began collecting baskets woven by Native Americans. Steiner was so enthralled with his
basket collection that he received his last order less than a month before he died on 1916 February 18. The Carnegie Museum
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania displayed a portion of Steiner's basket collection between 1913 and 1937. Steiner's daughter Elsa
S. Huff hired her son William S. Huff, an architect, to design a building to house and display the basket collection on their
land in Pennsylvania. The building was erected between 1966 and 1972, although it was never open to the public. The museum
displayed 555 baskets from at least 62 different tribes. The basket collection now resides in the New York State Historical
Association's collections at Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Source: Zigmond, Maurice L. "Gotlieb Adam Steiner and the G. A. Steiner Museum."
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 1, no. 2 (1979): 322-330.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West 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.
Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit
https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.
Processing completed by Braun Research Library staff. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist,
2012 September 10, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).
Collection primarily consists of photocopied materials which include a catalog of Indian basketry; correspondence regarding
basket collections and purchases; purchase orders and receipts; photos of baskets with full descriptions and provenance. Original
creation dates of correspondence spans from 1905 to 1983. Date of when photocopies were created is unknown.
G. A. Steiner Collection, New York State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, N.Y.
Zigmond, M. L. (1979). "Gotlieb Adam Steiner and the G. A. Steiner Museum."
Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 1(2). Retrieved from
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fz4b81c
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs
Indian baskets
Photocopies
Correspondence
Indian baskets -- Collectors and collecting
Purchase orders
Indian art -- Collectors and collecting
Receipts (financial records)