Finding Aid to the Southwest Society Institutional Archives MS.2

Holly Rose Larson
Library and Archives at the Autry
2011
210 South Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502
rroom@theautry.org


Contributing Institution: Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: Southwest Society Institutional Archives
Creator: Archaeological Institute of America. Southwest Society
Identifier/Call Number: MS.2
Physical Description: 12 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1903-1917
Abstract: 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.
Language of Material: English .
  • MS.2.1 Administrative records, 1903-1917
  • MS.2.2 Bulletins, 1904-1911
  • MS.2.3 Scrapbooks, 1903-1910

Administrative History note

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.

Acquisition

Materials in this collection were deposited to the Southwest Museum Library, presently known as the Braun Research Library, as institutional records. Deposit was made circa 1907.

Conditions Governing Access

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.

Preferred Citation

Southwest Society Institutional Archives, 1903-1917, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.2,[folder number][folder title][date].

Related Archival Materials

Archaeological Institute of America Records, The Archaeological Institute of America, Boston University, Boston, MA.
Charles F. Lummis papers. MS-R033. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Charles Fletcher Lummis Manuscript Collection, 1888-1928, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.1
Hector and Laurena Alliot Manuscript Collection, 1901-1925, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.216.
School for Advanced Research Archival Collections, Catherine McElvain Library, School for Advanced Rearch, Santa Fe, NM; AC32
Southwest Museum Institutional Archives, 1901-2007, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.3

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of material from 1903-1917, which also reflect the active years of the Southwest Society. Included are all administrative records, which contain financial records, reports, meeting minutes, constitution, form letters, correspondence, membership records, documentation of the merger into the Southwest Museum, two 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.

Conditions Governing Use

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.

Processing History

Rehousing by Betty Burnham and William Thrall. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2011, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Maps
Archaeological expeditions -- Arizona
Archaeological Institute of America. Southwest Society
Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Correspondence
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New
Scrapbooks
California, Southern -- History
Clippings
Receipts (financial records)
Lummis, Charles Fletcher
Palmer, Frank M.

box 1-22, 28, 29

Administrative Records MS.2.1 1884-1967

Physical Description: 10 Linear Feet

Scope and Contents

This series includes all business papers regarding the Southwest Society, including financial records, reports, meeting minutes, constitution, form letters, correspondence, membership records, documentation of the merger into the Southwest Museum, notebooks and maps of Southwest Society expeditions to Arizona in 1905 and 1906, and documentation regarding the dispute between Frank M. Palmer and Charles Fletcher Lummis (boxes 21 and 22). The ledger in this series includes financial data from the Archaeological Institute of America, Landmarks Club, Institute of the West, and several different accounts dealing with the Southwest Museum.
box 23-26

Bulletins MS.2.2 1904-1911

Physical Description: 1.6 Linear Feet

Scope and Contents

This series contains all published bulletins and drafts, as well as correspondence regarding the bulletins. Two volumes in this series include Southwest Society bulletins bound together with issues of Out West, Landmarks Club bulletins, and Sequoya League bulletins. The two bound volumes have obsolete call numbers on their spines, which should be disregarded in citation. The Southwest Society published eight bulletins and was drafting a ninth when it was dissolved.
box 27

Scrapbooks MS.2.3 1903-1910

Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet

Scope and Contents

This series includes scrapbooks compiled by Lummis. Two are cloth-bound volumes filled with clippings, correspondence, and other ephemera pasted in. One is a leather-bound volume titled "The Winning of the Southwest," containing correspondence and documentation of the Society's success in securing permission to perform research in the American Indian reservations of the Southwest.