Finding aid for the Edward S. Curtis papers, 1900-1978 850111
Beth Ann Guynn
Special Collections
2014
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Edward S. Curtis papers
Creator:
Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952
Identifier/Call Number: 850111
Physical Description:
10.3 Linear Feet
(8 boxes, 1 flatfile)
Date (inclusive): 1900-1978 (bulk 1903-1954)
Date (bulk): 1903-1954
Abstract: The Edward S. Curtis papers document all of the photographer's major projects, focusing on
The North American Indian, his major publication, the
Curtis Picture Musicale, and his full-length feature film
In the Land of the Head Hunters. The promotion and publication of these projects is particularly well-documented. The collection also contains the original
manuscript musical scores for both the
Curtis Picture Musicale and
In the Land of the Headhunters. Also included are typescripts and notes for books, lectures, and other writings. There is a small amount of Curtis's original
photographic material as well as miscellaneous personal and professional documents.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Edward S. Curtis papers document Curtis's major projects, focusing on his seminal publication,
The North American Indian, the
Curtis Picture Musicale, and his full-length feature film
In the Land of the Head Hunters. The promotion and publication of these projects is particularly well-documented, and provides a picture of a highly-driven
personality who well knew the importance of publicity in garnering financial support for his visionary projects.
Series I comprises manuscripts and publications and includes materials related to
The North American Indian (1907-1930), typescripts for Curtis's books
Indian Days of Long Ago (1914) and
In the Land of the Head-hunters (1915; written after the film was made and with a slightly different title), and several undated, and apparently unpublished,
typescripts for lectures or writings. The series is divided into three subseries.
Series I.A documents Curtis's efforts to promote
The North American Indian, ranging from newspaper articles and reviews to publicity materials and subscription agreements. Also included are partial
lists of photographs taken for the project and a list of photographs deposited for copyright.
Additional manuscript and publication materials including the typescripts for Curtis's books
Indian Days of Long Ago and
In the Land of the Head-hunters, as well as undated and apparently unpublished typescripts and notes, are found in Series I.B. Manuscript titles include
"The Forgotten Map Maker," "Peyote Ceremony According to Charles More," "The Peyote Cult," and "The Indian and His Religious
Freedom." These typescripts may in some cases relate to Curtis's lectures. Copies of a few articles published by Curtis and
copies of published materials reproducing images by Curtis are found in Series I.C.
Series II documents Curtis's attempts to promote his photography and raise funds for
NAI through photograph exhibitions, lectures, lantern slide shows, movies, picture musicales, and films. Starting around 1903,
Curtis began giving exhibition talks and stereopticon lantern slide lectures during the months that he was not working in
the field as a way to raise funds for his fieldwork. He lectured extensively in the eastern United States as well as in the
Pacific Northwest. Series II.A. includes several undated lecture typescripts. They contain substantial information, based
on first-hand observation, on the cultures of Northwest, Southwestern, Pueblo, and Plains indigenous American groups, and
include such aspects as population, religious and cermonial practices, and daily life. Other lectures discuss his experiences
in the field and the difficulty of financing research and publications.
The Curtis Picture Musicale (1911-1912) was a more ambitious money-raising scheme with a format based on the concept of a lantern slide lecture, a popular
entertainment of the time. This elaborate multimedia production began with an orchestral prelude composed by Henry F. Gilbert.
Curtis's lecture was accompanied by both hand-colored lantern slides and motion pictures, along with orchestral numbers composed
by Gilbert for each segment. Included in Series II.B. are materials related to the
Curtis Picture Musicale such as prospectuses, announcements, publicity materials, and programs for the production, as well as Gilbert's complete
score for the musicale and additional related music by Gilbert.
Curtis also conceived of his film
In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), an epic story of love and war among the Kwakwaka'wakwa in pre-contact times, as a way to raise funds for his fieldwork
and the
NAI project. Included in Series II.C. are preliminary materials for the film such as typescript narratives regarding the genesis
of the film, typescript prospectuses for the Continental Film Company, scripts for scenes, shooting schedules, a list of scenes
shot in 1913, film stills, a movie poster, and John J. Braham's manuscript score for the film.
A small number of hand-colored and tinted lantern slides, such as would have been used by Curtis for his various slide lectures
and presentations, comprise Series II.D. These are mostly Pacific Northwest Native American scenes, although a few Navajo
and California Native American images are included.
The personal and professional documents in Series III include posthumous articles about Curtis and materials regarding the
disposition of Curtis's manuscripts, recordings, and artifact collection. There are a few letters sent or received by Curtis
and a few pieces of original artwork. Also included is a transcript of an interview with M. E. Magnuson, Curtis's son-in-law,
conducted by Conrad Angore, G. Ray Hawkins, and a Mr. Lee, on 19 September 1978. The interview relates mostly to the dispersal
of the Curtis collection of Native American artifacts.
Processing History
The collection was processed and finding aid written by Beth Ann Guynn in 2008. The finding aid was encoded by Beth Ann Guynn
and Linda Kleiger in 2014.
Preferred Citation
Edward S. Curtis papers, 1900-1978, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 850111.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850111
Biographical/Historical Note
The headline for a 1905 article in the
Seattle Times hailed Edward Sheriff Curtis as "Artist, Explorer, Clubman, Photographer, Historian and President's Friend." Indeed, by this
point in his career, Curtis was all these things and more. Now known primarily for his photographs of indigenous North Americans,
Curtis's enduring achievement was a monumental, heroic, and theatrical portrayal of the peoples whom he saw as a "vanishing
race." Curtis's depiction of Native Americans was filtered through his interpretation of their pre-contact rather than their
current way of life.
Born near Whitewater, Wisconsin in 1868, Curtis grew up in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He built his first camera when he was
12 years old. In 1887, at the age of 19, he and his father traveled to the Washington Territory where, after settling near
Port Orchard, they sent for the rest of the Curtis family. Curtis moved to Seattle in 1891 and opened his first photography
studio, Rothi and Curtis Photographers, in partnership with Rasmus Rothi. Within a short time he went into partnership with
Thomas H. Guptil, forming Curtis and Guptil Photographers and Photo-engravers; Guptil left the firm in 1897. Although Curtis's
photographic interests were initially portraiture and landscape photography in the pictorialist tradition, he soon became
fascinated with recording Seattle-area Native American groups. Later in his life he claimed that his pictures of Princess
Angeline (1895), the aged daughter of Chief Sealth, or Seattle, who eked out a living as a clam digger, were his first photographs
of Native Americans.
In 1898, while photographing on Mt. Rainier, Curtis rescued a group of well-known scientists that included zoologist C. Hart
Merriam, head of the U.S. Biological Survey and a founding member of the National Geographic Society, and ethnographer and
naturalist George Bird Grinnell, editor of
Field and Stream and founder of the Audubon Society, who had become lost while climbing the mountain. Impressed with Curtis, Merriam asked
him to join the Harriman Alaska Expedition (1899) as its official photographer. Organized by E. H. Harriman, a railway magnate
and financier, the expedition's aim was to explore Alaska's coastal waters from its southern panhandle to Prince William Sound.
Participation in the expedition introduced Curtis to the fundamentals of ethnographic research. His photographs were included
in a two-volume souvenir photograph album produced for expedition members, and reproduced as photogravures in two of the 14
volumes in the
Harriman Alaska Series.
The following year Grinnell invited Curtis to photograph the Sun Dance ceremony at the Piegan Reservation in Montana. This
experience further solidified Curtis's interest in Native American cultures and fueled his desire to produce a comprehensive
visual and written record of the last vestiges of what he saw as the "vanishing race" and its traditional ways. Concentrating
on peoples west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, Curtis spent over a quarter of the twentieth century in the field
working on
The North American Indian (
NAI), his 20-volume publication containing over 1500 small full-page photogravures, along with 700 large-format photogravures
in the 20 accompanying portfolios.
NAI became one of the largest anthropological projects to be undertaken to date, and is indeed often the only record of the lore
and history of some North American groups.
During the first years of the twentieth century Curtis's photographic work in general, and especially his Native American
material, became increasingly well-known throughout the United States. When not in the field he worked unceasingly to raise
funds for
NAI by giving lantern slide lecture tours, mounting exhibitions, and publishing articles. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt
asked Curtis to photograph his family. Roosevelt was very interested in the
NAI project and wrote a glowing letter of recommendation that Curtis used in subsequent publicity for the project. Finally, in
1906, J. P. Morgan agreed to back the
NAI project for the next five years, and in 1907 the first volume was published with a foreword by Roosevelt.
Despite incessant work by the large team Curtis assembled for the project, which included William E. Myers as researcher and
writer; Frederick Webb Hodge as editor; and a phalanx of ethnological and photographic assistants, interpreters, and native
guides, only eight volumes of
NAI were completed in the first five years. After Morgan's death in 1913 his son, J. P. Jr., agreed to continue sponsoring the
project, the final volume of which was published in 1930. To augment Morgan's funding and the sale of subscriptions Curtis
continued to raise capital through increasingly complex off-season projects. In 1911-1912 he mounted the
Curtis Picture Musicale (The Story of the Vanishing Race). This elaborate multimedia production began with an orchestral prelude composed by Henry F. Gilbert. Curtis's lecture was
accompanied by both hand-colored lantern slides shown through a stereopticon, which made them appear to dissolve in and out
of one another, and by film clips, with an orchestral number composed by Gilbert for each segment of the talk. Although it
opened at Carnegie Hall to a sold-out audience, the production proved costly, and subsequent performances were not as successful.
Curtis had been using a motion picture camera in the field since 1904, and in 1911 he formed the Continental Film Company
to support his idea of producing a commercial, full-length motion picture film, whose ticket sales would help fund the
NAI project.
In the Land of the Head Hunters was released in 1914. An "epic story of love and war" set in pre-contact times, this silent movie was the first feature film
to star Native American, non-professional actors, specifically members of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes of British Columbia, who
were meant to portray their ancestors. Curtis commissioned John J. Braham (
Hiawatha and
The Corsair) to compose a full score for the film. Shot on location, the film, which included elaborately costumed performances of Kwakwaka'wakw
dances, was made all the more dramatic through the use of dynamic camera work, the vivid toning and tinting of the footage,
and Braham's theatrical score. Despite its initial critical acclaim, it too was a financial disaster. Although
In the Land of the Head Hunters does accurately document some aspects of Kwakwaka'wakw culture, Curtis's intention was to produce what would now be termed
a mass-market "blockbuster" film. In fact, the film is currently viewed as documenting a cultural encounter between Curtis
and the Kwakwaka'wakw who performed his version of their past.
Curtis's constant work in the field and his promotion of
NAI on the east coast during the winters kept him away from his family most of the time. His wife Clara divorced him in 1919,
and he and his daughter Beth moved to Los Angeles, where they opened a Curtis Studio in the Biltmore Hotel. Clara and their
daughter Katherine continued to run the Curtis Studio in Seattle until 1930. In Los Angeles Curtis also worked as a still
photographer and cameraman for Cecil B. DeMille and other Hollywood studios to finance his fieldwork. During this time, again
to raise funds for fieldwork, he sold the copyright for
NAI to the Morgan Company and also sold the copyright for
In the Land of the Head Hunters. In the summer of 1927, Curtis and Beth traveled to remote islands in the Bering Sea to complete the fieldwork for the last
volume of
NAI. This was his last expedition. Returning to Los Angeles, Curtis spent the rest of his life working as a cameraman, mining
for gold, and writing his memoirs. The remaining assets of the
NAI were sold to the Charles E. Lauriat Company of Boston in 1935. Curtis died in Los Angeles in 1952.
Related Archival Materials
The repository holds David Gilbert's manuscript transcription and recordings of the original John J. Braham score for Edward
Curtis's 1914 silent film
In the Land of the Head Hunters and the performance edition of the Braham score, scored by Gilbert and first performed at the premier of the restored film
at the Getty Center on 5 June 2008. See: Scores for
In the Land of the Head Hunters, Special collections accn. no. 2008.M.58.
Arrangement
Arranged in three series: Series I: Manuscripts and publications, 1900-1935; Series II: Lectures, presentation and audiovisual
projects, 1903-1914, undated; Series III: Personal and professional papers, 1908-1978.
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 1985.
Digitized Material
The lantern slides in Series II (boxes 7 and 7a) were digitized by the repository. Online access is available to on-site readers
and Getty staff:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/850111_ref20_pb2
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Indians of America -- Portraits
Indians of North America -- Social life and customs
Indians of North America -- Northwest, Pacific -- Social life and customs
Scores -- United States -- 20th century
Posters -- United States -- 20th century
Prospectuses -- United States -- 20th century
Lantern slides -- United States -- 20th century
Newspapers -- United States -- 20th century
Photography in ethnology
Gelatin silver prints -- United States -- 20th century
Indians of North America -- Research
Kwakiutl Indians -- Social life and customs
Hawkins, G. Ray
Gilbert, Henry F. B. (Henry Franklin Belknap), 1868-1928
Braham, John J.
Manuscripts and publications, Series I.
1900-1935, undated
Container Summary: 66 items
Scope and Contents
Includes materials related to
The North American Indian, typescripts for Curtis's books
Indian Days of Long Ago and
In the Land of the Headhunters, and several undated, and apparently unpublished, typescripts for lectures or writings.
Arrangement
Arranged thematically in three subseries: Series I.A. Materials related to
The North American Indian; Series I.B. Manuscripts and writings; Series I.C. Offprints.
Materials related to
The North American Indian,
Series I.A.
1905-1935, undated
Container Summary: 34 items
Scope and Contents
Materials primarily documenting the promotion and publication of
The North American Indian, herein referred to as
NAI. Also includes a list of photographs deposited for copyright and documentation of transfer of copyright material from Edward
S. Curtis to the North American Indian, Inc.
box 1, folder 1
Catalogue: Indian Pictures from
The North American Indian,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Nineteen-page typescript listing 310 photographs.
box 1, folder 2
Photographs deposited with the Library of Congress for copyright,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Seventeen-page typescript listing negative numbers and titles for image numbers X2988-X3207.
box 1, folder 3
Printed invitation to become an honorary regent for
NAI,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
box 1, folder 4
Printed subscription invitations,
undated
Physical Description:
2 items
box 1, folder 5
Subscription agreements,
1907-1921
Physical Description:
4 items
Related Materials
One typed and three printed agreements all signed and dated by subscribers.
box 1, folder 6
Materials used in
NAI brochures,
undated
Physical Description:
21 Leaves
Scope and Contents
Typescript copies of published reviews and notices and testimonials for
NAI written to Curtis by figures such as George Bird Grinnell, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry Huntington with original dates of
1905-1908.
box 1, folder 7
Reviews,
1910, 1919
Physical Description:
5 items
Related Materials
Reprints, broadsides comprising compilations of reprinted reviews, and typescripts of reviews to be used for publicity purposes.
Includes a one-page review by the
Los Angeles Times typed on Curtis Studio letterhead and four printed items.
box 1, folder 8
Publicity text for
NAI,
approximately 1911
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Four-page typescript.
Flatfile 8**, folder 1
"The North American Indian: Extracts from Reviews,"
approximately 1911
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Four-page broadside compilation of reviews of the
NAI produced as a publicity tool.
box 1, folder 9
Brochure for
NAI,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Ten-page string-bound presentation copy, undedicated.
box 1, folder 10
Brochure for
NAI,
approximately 1909
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Reproduces sample texts and images.
box 1, folder 11
Presentation of
NAI to the Library of the University of Washington,
24 June 1908
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
One printed leaf.
box 1, folder 12
Transfer of copyright,
1909, 1925
Physical Description:
5 items
Scope and Contents
Correspondence and documents regarding the transfer of copyright materials from Edward S. Curtis to the North American Indian,
Inc.
box 1, folder 13
Exhibition announcements,
1905, undated
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Includes an announcement for Curtis's exhibition at the Waldorf Astoria, New York, signed by Curtis.
box 1, folder 14
Printed prospectus for
NAI,
1935
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
As sold through Charles E. Lauriat Company.
Flatfile 8**, folder 1
Printed articles relating
NAI,
1905-1911
Physical Description:
5 items
Scope and Contents
"'Ed' Curtis: Artist, Explorer, Clubman, Photographer, Historian and President's Friend,"
Seattle Sunday Times, 21 May 1905: 3.
"The Vanishing Race,"
New York Herald, 16 June 1907: 1 and 8.
"Boston Turning Out $1,500,000 Work of 20 Volumes,"
Boston Sunday Post, 25 July 1909: 19.
"Lives 22 Years with Indians to Get Their Secrets,"
New York Times, 16 April 1911: 5.
"Noted Indian Picture and Portrait of Artist,"
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 30 July 1911: 7.
Manuscripts and writings, Series I.B.
approximately 1914-1915, undated
Container Summary: 11 items
Scope and Contents
Includes typescripts for Curtis's books
Indian Days of Long Ago and
In the Land of the Headhunters, and several undated, and apparently unpublished, typescripts for lectures or writings.
box 1, folder 15
Indian Days of Long Ago,
approximately 1914
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seventy-one page corrected typescript.
box 1, folder 16
In the Land of the Head-hunters,
approximately 1915
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Forty-one page corrected typescript of the book version of the film
In the Land of the Head Hunters, in three individually paginated sections corresponding to chapters one through four (minus the very end of the chapter);
the tag-end of chapter four through chapter ten, and chapters 11-16.
box 1, folder 17
"The Indian and his Religious Freedom,"
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Fourteen-page typescript.
box 1, folder 18
"The Peyote Cult,"
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Nine-page corrected typescript and a half sheet of notes.
box 1, folder 19
"Peyote Ceremony According to Charles Moore,"
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seven-page corrected typescript with a diagram of the ceremony drawn on the first page.
box 1, folder 20-22
"The Forgotten Mapmaker,"
undated
Scope and Contents
Five-page typescript preface, table of contents, and list of books by Curtis.
box 1, folder 20
Five-page typescript preface, table of contents, and list of books by Curtis
Physical Description:
3 items
box 1, folder 21
Thirty-four page typescript
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Lacks page 15.
box 1, folder 22
Twenty-eight pages of a partial typescript
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
With and alternate beginning of the above typescript, and variously numbered up to page 268.
box 1, folder 23
Manuscript re: Apache Indians,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Twenty-three pages written in blue crayon.
box 1, folder 24
Text re: stone heads found at Maryhill,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Three-page typescript, possibly for an article on Curtis's theory of the origin of a pair of carved-stone heads found on the
Columbia River.
box 1, folder 25
Miscellaneous notes,
undated
Physical Description:
7 Leaves
Offprints, Series I.C.
1900-1927
Container Summary: 21 items
Scope and Contents
Includes copies of articles published by Curtis as well as published materials containing images by Curtis.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
Curtis, Edward S., "Medicine Lodge,"
1900
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Daily Times, 28 July 1900: 13.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"The Navajoes and their Mighty Wind Doctor,"
1904
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, 13 June 1904: 3.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"Sacred Rites of the Mokis and Navajoes as Seen by Edward S. Curtis,"
1904
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, part V, magazine section, 27 November 1904: 1.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"A Curtis Poster: Reproduction of a Special Indian Poster Designed for the
Times 3rd Anniversary Number,"
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Seattle Sunday Times, part III, 12 February 1905: 14.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"Easter in the Arizona Desert,"
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, part III, magazine section, 16 April, 1905: 1.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"Real American Beauties: Two Hopi Maidens of the Tewa Puebla, Arizona,"
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Seattle Sunday Times, part I, magazine section, 21 May 1905: 1.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"The Zuni Governor,"
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, part III, magazine section, 11 June 1905: 1. Reproduces the portrait by Curtis (in reverse) in Box 8**, f. 6.
box 1, folder 26
"The President's Family,"
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
McClure's Magazine, July 1905. Contains eight portraits by Curtis of President Roosevelt and his family.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
"Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth,"
1906
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
New York Times, pictorial section, part I, 18 February 1908: 1-2. Includes a wedding portrait of Alice Roosevelt and her husband as well
as recent photographs of the couple.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
"Mrs. Nicholas Longworth in her Bridal Gown,"
1906
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
New York Times, pictorial section, part I, 25 February 1908: 1-2. Includes scenes in front of the White House during the wedding of Alice
Roosevelt.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
"Prominent Men and Caricature,"
1906
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
From page three of a magazine section of an unidentified paper dated 21 January 1906; includes a reproduction of Curtis's
portrait of E. H. Harriman. See Box 2, f. 5.
box 1, folder 27
Curtis, Edward S., "Vanishing Indian Types,"
1906
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
"Vanishing Indian Types: The Tribes of the Southwest,"
Scribner's Magazine, vol. 39, no. 5: 514-529, and "Vanishing Indian Types: The Tribes of the Northwest Plains,"
Scribner's Magazine, vol. 39, no. 6: 657-671.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"Zash-Clishn-Apache Maiden,"
1906
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, magazine section, 18 November 1906: 1.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
"Little Wolf of the Cheyenne: Newest Curtis Indian,"
1908
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, magazine section, 26 January 1908: 1.
Flatfile 8**, folder 2
Curtis, Edward S., "Love, Marriage, and Divorce as the Indian Sees Them,"
1908
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
World Magazine, 3 May 1908: 9.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
"The Vanishing Race,"
approximately 1908
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Spread of Curtis photographs, with copyright dates of 1904-1908, reproduced in
Collier's Weekly.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
"A Page of Indian Maidens of Aboriginal North American Stock,"
1908
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
New York Daily Tribune, 26 April 1908: 3. Reproduces Curtis photographs of Mojave, Apache, Papago, and Jicarilla girls.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
Cody, Colonel William F., "The Great West that Was: 'Buffalo Bill' Cody's Life Story,"
1916-1917
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Each spread from an unidentified Hearst International Magazine company publication contains reproductions of two Curtis photographs.
Flatfile 8**, folder 3
Chicago Daily News photogravure section,
1927
Physical Description:
2 Leaves
Scope and Contents
From the section dated 22 January 1927; includes a reproduction of Curtis's photograph of the last ride of Native Americans
returning from their hunting grounds.
Lectures, presentations and audiovisual projects, Series II.
1903-1914
Container Summary: 86 items
Scope and Contents
From 1903 to 1914, Curtis promoted his photography and raised funds for
NAI through photograph exhibitions, lectures, lantern slide shows, and films. The series contains materials related to these
endeavors.
Arrangement
Arranged thematically in four subseries: Series II.A. Lectures; Series II.B. Materials related to the
Curtis Picture Musicale; Series II.C. Continental Film Company and
In the Land of the Headhunters film materials; and Series II.D. Lantern slides.
Lectures,
Series II.A.
between 1903 and 1914
Container Summary: 16 items
Scope and Contents
The subseries contains lecture typescripts and related materials. Starting around 1903, Curtis began giving exhibition talks
and stereopticon lantern slide lectures during the months that he was not working in the field as a way to raise funds for
his fieldwork. He lectured extensively in the eastern United States as well as in the Pacific Northwest. The individual lectures
included here are untitled and undated.
box 1, folder 28
Outline for lantern slide lecture I,
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Two-page typescript.
box 1, folder 29
Lantern slide lecture I,
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Thirteen-page typescript with handwritten insert between pages six and seven re: ceremonial, devotional, and religious aspects
of Native American life.
box 1, folder 30
Variant, lantern slide lecture I,
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Fourteen-page typescript, either an earlier or later version of the lecture.
box 1, folder 31
Outline for lecture II,
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Two-page typescript.
box 1, folder 32
Lecture II,
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Lecture composed of pieces from various lectures, approximately 20 typescript pieces.
box 1, folder 33
"Indian Religion,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Fourteen-page typescript.
box 1, folder 34
"Indian Religion, Life, and Origins,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Three-page typescript.
box 1, folder 35
"Southwest Indians,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Sixteen-page typescript.
box 1, folder 36
Variant lecture on Southwest Indians,
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Sixteen-page typescript.
box 1, folder 37
"Reminiscences,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Ten-page typescript.
box 1, folder 38
"Decline of the Indian Population,"
Physical Description:
1 item
box 1, folder 39
"Photography in the Field,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Six-page typescript.
box 1, folder 40
"Curtis's Business Practices,"
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Three-page typescript.
box 1, folder 41
"Northwest Indians,"
Physical Description:
11 Leaves
Scope and Contents
Typescript materials for lectures or writings on various topics.
box 1, folder 42
Miscellaneous lecture additions,
Physical Description:
5 Leaves
box 1, folder 43
Miscellaneous lecture excerpts,
Physical Description:
3 Leaves
Materials related to the
Curtis Picture Musicale (The Story of the Vanishing Race),
Series II.B.
1911-1912
Container Summary: 41 items
Scope and Contents
Included here are prospectuses, announcements, publicity materials, and programs for the
Curtis Picture Musicale as well as Henry F. Gilbert's complete score for the musicale and related music by Gilbert. This elaborate multimedia production
began with an orchestral prelude composed by Gilbert. Curtis's lecture was accompanied by both hand-colored lantern slides
and motion pictures, and by an orchestral number composed by Gilbert for each segment.
box 1, folder 44
Prospectus for the 1911-1912 season of
The Story of the Vanishing Race,
1911
Physical Description:
1 item
box 1, folder 45
Announcements for shows in New York and Seattle,
1911-1912
Physical Description:
5 items
box 1, folder 46
Programs,
1911-1912
Physical Description:
2 items
Score for
The Story of the Vanishing Race,
1911
Physical Description:
14 items
Scope and Contents
Individual instrumental parts for the score comprising 21 individually titled numbers including the prelude.
box 3, folder 1
Piano
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 3, folder 2
First violin
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Includes two or three copies of many of the numbers, written in different hands. Lacks number 19, "Canoe Paddling."
box 3, folder 3
Second violin
Physical Description:
20 items
Processing Information
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 3, folder 4
Viola
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 3, folder 5
Cello
Physical Description:
21 items
box 3, folder 6
Bass
Physical Description:
21 items
box 4, folder 1
Flute
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 4, folder 2
Clarinet
Physical Description:
21 items
box 4, folder 3
Fagotto
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 4, folder 4
Cornet
Physical Description:
21 items
box 4, folder 5
Horns in F
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 4, folder 6
Trombone
Physical Description:
20 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks number 18, "Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 4, folder 7
Timpani
Physical Description:
15 items
Scope and Contents
Lacks numbers 1-"Prelude"; 2-"Snake Dance"; 7-"Signal Fire to the Mountain God"; 15-"Offering the Skulls"; 16-"Waghli Dancing";
and 18-"Woman Dancer with Skulls."
box 4, folder 8
Indian drum
Physical Description:
3 items
Scope and Contents
Includes only numbers 1, 14, 16.
Related music,
undated
Physical Description:
11 items
Scope and Contents
Sheet music and lecture notes mostly concerning peyote cult ceremonies.
box 4, folder 9
Opening song
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Includes one sheet of music and one page of typescript lecture notes with a transcription of the words to the song.
box 4, folder 10
Water song
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Includes one sheet of music and three pages of typescript lecture notes on the peyote cult with a transcription of the words
to the song.
box 4, folder 11
Midnight song
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Includes one sheet of music and a one-page typed transcription of the words to the song.
box 4, folder 12
Morning or Quitting song
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Includes one sheet of music and a one-page typed transcription of the words to the song.
box 4, folder 13
Stomp Dance and Forty-nine Dance
Physical Description:
3 items
Scope and Contents
Includes two sheets of music entitled "First Stomp Dance Song" and "Second Stomp Dance Song" and nine pages of typescript
lecture notes with the vocales for both dances.
box 4, folder 14
Henry F. Gilbert,
Indian Scenes: Five Pieces for the Pianoforte,
1912
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Sheet music by Gilbert from the incidental music to
The Story of the Vanishing Race.
Flatfile 8**, folder 4
Frieze depicting mounted Indian warriors,
approximately 1911
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Ink drawing for the program.
Flatfile 8**, folder 4
Poster for
Curtis Picture Musicale,
1911
Physical Description:
1 item
Flatfile 8**, folder 4
"E. S. Curtis and his Indian Picture-Opera
A Vanishing Race AchieveTriumph,
approximately 1912
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Contents
Publicity broadside of reviews of the 1911 season prepared for the projected 1912-1913 season.
Continental Film Company and
In the Land of the Head Hunters film materials,
Series II.C.
1913-1914, undated
Container Summary: 29 items
Scope and Contents
The subseries includes preliminary materials for
In the Land of the Head Hunters, scripts for scenes, shooting schedules, a list of scenes shot in 1913, film stills, a movie poster, and John J. Braham's
score for the film.
box 1, folder 47
Continental Film Company,
undated
Physical Description:
4 items
Scope and Contents
Includes two typescript narratives regarding the genesis of the film (one leaf, two leaves), and two typescript prospectuses
for the company (five leaves each), one with a subscription agreement for stocks.
box 1, folder 48
Notes for a film scene,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Five leaves handwritten in pencil.
box 1, folder 49
"In the Days of Vancouver,"
approximately 1913
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Twelve-page typescript includes 112 scenes interspersed with "readers" or titles.
box 1, folder 50
"Outline for a Scenario,"
approximately 1913
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Six-page typescript includes comments on geography and clothing, a page titled "Outline of the Story," and a three-page shooting
schedule. Also included is a second copy of the first two pages of the document.
box 1, folder 51
"Titles of Scenes Made in 1913,"
approximately 1913
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Sixteen-page typescript listing 166 scenes.
box 1, folder 52
Film stills,
approximately 1913-1914
Physical Description:
3 items
Scope and Contents
Gelatin silver prints of scenes from
In the Land of the Head Hunters.
Braham, John J., score for
In the Land of the Headhunters,
approximately 1913
Physical Description:
16 items
Scope and Contents
Includes both the full orchestral score and individual instrumental parts, all in 62 parts.
box 6, folder 9
Braham, John J.,
Indian Patrol,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Includes both the full orchestral score and individual instrumental parts for a composition dedicated to Curtis.
Flatfile 8**, folder 5
Movie poster for
In the Land of the Headhunters,
approximately 1914
Physical Description:
1 item
Lantern slides, Series II.D.
between 1906 and 1914
Lantern slides: between 1906 and 1914
Container Summary: 20 items
Scope and Contents
The series comprises 19 hand-colored and tinted lantern slides, mostly of Pacific Northwest Native American scenes (14) with
a few Navajo and California Native American images (5), that Curtis would have used for his slide lectures and presentations.
A number of the slides can be correlated to plates and illustrations in
NAI, volumes and portfolios 8, 10, and 11.
This material is restricted due to condition. Many of the slides as cracked. The lantern slides are digitized and online access
is available to on-site readers and Getty staff:
box 7
Pacific Northwest
Physical Description:
14 items
Scope and Contents
Titles of individual slides were derived from
NAI, except for bracketed titles, which were devised by the cataloger.
A number of the slides were made by Edward G. Kemp, whose San Francisco studio was located at 833 Market Street.
box 7
A House-front, Awaitlala 850111-LS1
Scope and Contents
This is a variant of the image facing page 10, volume 10,
The Kwakiutl, NAI. Address on passe-partout: 833 Market St., San Francisco, Calif.
box 7
Nane (Quagyuhl) 850111-LS3
Scope and Contents
This is the image facing page 184, volume 10,
The Kwakiutl, NAI. Written on label: DW 18.
box 7
A Hamasta Costume, Nakoaktok 850111-LS4
Scope and Contents
This is the image facing page 194, volume 10,
The Kwakiutl, NAI. The slide is sepia-toned rather than hand-colored.
box 7
Chief's Party, Qagyuhlk 85011-LS5
Scope and Contents
Plate 10, portfolio 10,
The Kwakiutl, NAI. Written on slide label: 3. Shores of the Pacific / (DZ). Also numbered: 3. 107.
box 7
Rounding into Port, Qagyhl 850111-LS6
box 7
[Two Qagyuhl Boats] 850111-LS7
Scope and Contents
Numbered on label: 30.
box 7
[Sailboat on Shores of Qagyuhl] 850111-LS8
Scope and Contents
Numbered on label: 4. Annotation on label: Light on water stopped out by contact negative for cover.
box 7
Shores of the Pacific 850111-LS9
Scope and Contents
Title from label on slide. Numbered on slide: 49 (DX) (49); 1 DX 105.
box 7
[Kwakiutl Chanting beside a Canoe] 850111-LS10
Scope and Contents
Label on slide: No charges.
box 7
Whale Ceremony, Clayoquot 850111-LS11
Scope and Contents
Plate 370, portfolio 11,
The Nootka. The Haida, NAI. Numbered on label: 15. Address on passe-partout: 833 Market St., San Francisco, Calif.
box 7
[Wishiam Women on Columbia River] 850111-LS12
Scope and Contents
Imprint on passe-partout: Edward [___]. Slide Bureau. / 833 Market St., San Francisco, Calif. Numbered on label: 20.
box 7
[Seal Island] 850111-LS13
Scope and Contents
Written on label: $1.00.
box 7A
On Klickitat River - A 85011-LS14
Scope and Contents
Plate number 289, from portfolio 8,
The Nez Perces. Wallawalla. Umatilla. Cayuse. The Chinookan Tribes, NAI. On mat: Edward G. Kemp. Slide Bureau / 833 Market Str., San Francisco, Calif.
box 7A
California, Navajo and other scenes
Physical Description:
5 items
box 7A
Sunset in Navajo-land 850111-LS15
Scope and Contents
Plate 38, portfolio 1,
The Apache. The Jicarillas. The Navajo, NAI. Written on slide label: 4. Navajo land. Also numbered: 4. (GB). 170.
box 7A
[Table Scene] 850111-LS16
Scope and Contents
Yurok, Klamath region, Humboldt, CA. Blue-tinted slide; not hand-colored.
box 7A
[Baskets and Nets] 850111-LS17
Scope and Contents
Pomo tribe, Mendocino County, CA. Slide is possibly blue-tinted.
box 7A
[By the Arrow, Dawn] 850111-LS18
Scope and Contents
Title from slide label. Numbered on lables: 4; 35; 5. Z. 36.
box 7A
[Signal Fire to Mountain Gods] 850111-LS19
Personal and professional papers, Series III.
1908-1978
Container Summary: 27 items
Scope and Contents
Includes miscellaneous correspondence and personal documents, original artwork and photographs, posthumous articles about
Curtis, and materials regarding the disposition of Curtis's manuscripts, recordings, and artifact collection.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
box 2, folder 1
Letter from A. T. Sinclair,
8 May 1908
Physical Description:
6 Leaves
Scope and Contents
Manuscript letter discussing tattooing throughout the world. With a typescript copy of the letter.
box 2, folder 2
Mortgage and tax documents,
1911-1914
Physical Description:
5 items
Scope and Contents
Documents related to real estate held by Curtis in Tulare County, California.
box 2, folder 3
Correspondence with M. K. Sniffen,
1934-1937
Physical Description:
9 letters
(55 leaves)
Scope and Contents
Three letters from Curtis to Matthew K. Sniffen, secretary of the Indian Rights Association, and six letters from Sniffen
to Curtis. Enclosures, headed "Documents Furnished by the Indian Rights Associations," comprise 53 pages of statements and
testimony made by eleven individuals in May 1924 regarding affairs on the pueblos. Also included is a copy of a two-page
letter from H. G. Gwinn to Sniffen (5 March 1931).
box 2, folder 4
Transcripts of conferences on pueblo government,
10 April 1924
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Typescript of hearings and proceedings regarding the government of New Mexico pueblos. The pages are numbered 10-103; pages
77-79 are lacking; duplicates of pages 66-67 are present.
box 2, folder 5
Portrait of E. S. Harriman,
1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Curtis studio signature on mount.
Flatfile 8**, folder 6
Navajo design,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Hand-colored photograph [?].
Flatfile 8**, folder 6
[Portrait of a Native American],
approximately 1905
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Hand-colored photograph [?]; signed by Curtis. Artwork for "The Zuni Governor," reproduced in
Seattle Sunday Times; see box 8**, f. 2.
box 2, folder 6
Gordon Brown and R.L. Fraser, "Edward Curtis: Man of Mission to a Vanishing World,"
1954
Physical Description:
1 item
Related Materials
Westward, May 1954.
Flatfile 8**, folder 7
"The Monumental Works of Edward S. Curtis,"
1954
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Seattle Sunday Times, 21 June 1954: 4-5.
box 2, folder 7
Letters from June McNichol Metcalfe to Beth Curtis Magnuson,
1962
Physical Description:
5 items
Scope and Contents
Three letters from Metcalfe to Curtis's daughter, Beth Curtis Magnuson, discussing the disposition of his manuscripts and
recordings. Also included are a letter to Metcalfe from Norman R. Spinden with a copy of a Library of Congress press release
concerning Edward Curtis's wax cylinder recordings and a copy of Metcalfe's reply to Spinden on the verso of a note typed
to Magnuson.
box 2, folder 8
Typescript of M. E. Magnuson interview,
1978
Physical Description:
1 item
Scope and Contents
Fifty-eight page typescript of an interview conducted on 19 September 1978 by a Mr. Lee [?], G. Ray Hawkins, and Conrad Angone
regarding M. E. Magnuson's collection of artifacts from the collection of Edward S. Curtis.