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Collection Overview

Creator:
Jackson, Sheldon, 1834-1909
Title:
Sheldon Jackson Collection of Indian Photographs
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/5425k975w
Dates:
circa 1850-1890
Size:
3 boxes
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-3
Language:
English

Abstract

Sheldon Jackson was a Presbyterian missionary in the Western United States in the 19th century. This collection consists of three portfolios with 576 photographic prints and 5 photomechanical photogravures of Native Americans and related subjects compiled by Jackson, possibly from negatives in the collections of the Bureau of American Ethnology and by ordering prints from various photographic trade catalogs.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of three portfolios of large leaves (76 x 64 cm.) with 576 photographic prints and 5 photomechanical photogravures of Native Americans and related subjects compiled by Jackson, possibly from negatives in the collections of the Bureau of American Ethnology and by ordering prints from various photographic trade catalogs, including that of the Continent Stereoscopic Company and John N. Choate's Indian Pictures (188?) catalog.

Approximately 280 prints feature portraits of Native Americans in a studio setting or at various locations across the West and Alaska, including most of the tribes of North America such as the Apache, Dakotas, Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Yuma, Ute, Navajo, Hopi, Crow, and Sioux; approximately 150 photographs feature educators and Native American students taken at the United States Indian School (1879) in Carlisle, Pa., Sheldon Jackson College (1881), and Sitka, Alaska; approximately 150 photographs feature Native American buildings and ruins including Zuni Pueblo, ancient ruins in Colorado and Utah, cliff-dwellings in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and Maya ruins at Chichen Itza and Uxmal in Mexico by Désiré Charnay.

Also included are photographs of illustrations of early Catholic missions (1857) in California by Henry Miller. A number of the images in the collection appear as engravings in publications, such as multiple editions of Sheldon Jackson's Alaska and Missions on the North Pacific Coast (1880).

Many of the photographs are identified with labels taken from catalogs, including the Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians (1877) by William Henry Jackson (referred to in this finding aid as the DCPNAI), as well as manuscript notations which often note inventory or negative numbers. Manuscript notations are also present on the back of certain leaves and usually indicate the catalog from which descriptions were taken.

Content Warning

Dehumanizing and harmful descriptions using racist, colonialist, and sexist language were used to describe many of the items in this collection. In most cases, descriptions were creator-supplied. In other cases in which photographs lacked identifying information, descriptions were created by an archivist.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by folio (determined by manuscript foliation) into three boxes. Folio 1 (leaves 1-19) is in Box 1, Folio 2 is in Box 2 (leaves 1-17) and Box 3 (leaves 18-32).

Collection Creator Biography:

Jackson, Sheldon, 1834-1909

Sheldon Jackson was a Presbyterian missionary in the Western United States in the 19th century. He is particularly known for his missionary work in Alaska, where he was also a political leader.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Collected by Sheldon Jackson and given to Princeton in the 1880s.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

This collection was researched and described by Heather Shannon in 2005, with further research and description by Valerie Addonizio in 2009. Finding aid written by Valerie Addonizio in 2012.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Sheldon Jackson Collection of Indian Photographs; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/5425k975w
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-3

Find More

Bibliography

Jackson, Sheldon. Alaska, and Missions on the North Pacific Coast. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1880. Jackson, William H., and F. V. Hayden. Descriptive Catalogue of the Photographs of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories for the Years 1869 to 1875, Inclusive, Miscellaneous Publications, Number 5. Washington: G.P.O., 1875. Jackson, William H. Descriptive Catalogue of the Photographs of North American Indians, United States Geological Survey of the Territories, Miscellaneous Publications, Number 9. Washington: G.P.O., 1877.

Subject Terms:
Apache Indians -- Photographs.
Cheyenne Indians -- Photographs.
Cities and towns, Ruined, extinct, etc. -- Mexico -- Photographs.
Cities and towns, Ruined, extinct, etc. -- United States -- Photographs.
Cliff-dwellings -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Comanche Indians -- Photographs.
Crow Indians -- Photographs.
Dakota Indians -- Photographs.
Hopi Indians -- photographs
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Alaska -- Photographs.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Anthropometry.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Chiefs -- Photographs.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Clothing -- 19th century.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Cultural assimilation -- 19th century.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Dwellings -- 19th century.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Education -- 19th century.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Ethnology -- 19th century.
Indigenous peoples of North America -- Photographs.
Kiowa Indians -- Photographs.
Mayas -- Antiquities.
Navajo Indians -- Photographs.
Photographers -- Mexico -- 19th century.
Photographers -- United States -- 19th century.
Pueblo Indians -- Photographs.
Pueblos -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Pueblos -- New Mexico -- Photographs.
Ute Indians -- Photographs.
Yuma Indians -- Photographs.
Zuni Indians -- Photographs.
Genre Terms:
Photographs, Original.
Names:
Catholic Church
United States Indian school Carlisle, Pa.
Sheldon Jackson College (Sitka, Alaska)
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology.
Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Places:
Chichén Itzá Site (Mexico) -- Photographs.
Colorado -- Antiquities.
Mexico -- Antiquities.
Utah -- Antiquities.
Uxmal Site (Mexico) -- Photographs.
West (U.S.) -- History -- 1860-1890.