Description
The Southwest Society was an active branch of the Archaeological Institute of America from 1903-1917. The Society was founded
by Charles F. Lummis with the intent of eventually opening a museum of artifacts of the Southwest. Southwest Society Institutional
Archives includes administrative records, materials related to Southwest Society expeditions, and documentation regarding
the dispute between Frank M. Palmer and Charles Fletcher Lummis. This collection also includes all Southwest Society bulletins,
publication drafts, scrapbooks, correspondence, and ephemera. The dates of the material range from 1903-1917.
Background
The Southwest Society was an active branch of the Archaeological Institute of America from 1903-1917. The Society was founded
by Charles F. Lummis with the intent of eventually opening a museum of artifacts of the Southwest. The Society succeeded in
this goal in 1907, when the Southwest Museum was founded. At that point, the mission of the Southwest Society was entirely
geared towards supporting the museum. The Society separated from the Archaeological Institute of America in 1914. Once the
Southwest Museum established a staff of its own, the Southwest Society was dissolved in 1917. Lummis was still adamant that
some sort of society needed to exist separate from the Museum, so he founded the Institute of the West in 1917, which then
dissolved in 1918.
Restrictions
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.
Availability
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.