Edward Harvey Davis photograph collection

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4d4e4f54a-9f78-4783-be65-b1276c14d9f9

Creator

Davis, Edward H., b. 1862

Former owner

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

Place

Mexico

Arizona

California

Topic

Indians of Mexico -- Photographs

Indians of North America -- Southwest -- Photographs

Indians of North America -- Basin -- Photographs

Indians of North America -- California -- Photographs

Indians of North America -- Arizona -- Photographs

Provenance

The majority of the photographic prints in the collection came to the MAI, Heye Foundation in multiple accession lots between 1917-1929, along with expedition files and objects collected by E.H. Davis. The rest of the photographs were a museum purchase from E.H. Davis in 1948, and from his estate after he passed away in 1951.

Creator

Davis, Edward H., b. 1862

Culture

Cochiti Pueblo

Cora

Indians of North America -- California

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Cochimi

Cahuilla

Cocopa

Cora

Hualapai (Walapai)

Kiliwa

Kumeyaay (Diegueño)

Mojave (Mohave)

Opata

Piipaash (Maricopa)

Quechan (Yuma/Cuchan)

Seri

Tohono O'odham (Papago)

Wixarika (Huichol)

Yavapai

Chemehuevi

Yoreme (Mayo)

Nevome (Pima Bajo)

Paipai (Pi-Pi/Pais)

Guaycura (Waicuri)

Yoeme (Yaqui)

Campo Band of Kumeyaay

Kamia (Desert Kumeyaay)

Manzanita Band of Kumeyaay

San Carlos Apache

White Mountain Apache

Pechanga Band Luiseño

Soboba Luiseño

Payómkawichum (Luiseño)

Yavapai [Fort McDowell]

Cahuilla [Morongo Band of Mission Indians]

Desert Cahuilla [Torres-Martinez Reservation/Torres-Martinez Band]

Yoeme (Yaqui) [Pascua Yaqui]

See more items in

Edward Harvey Davis photograph collection

Summary

This collection includes phtographic prints and negatives made by Edward H. Davis during his time working as a field collector for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. These include images made in Southern California, Mexico, and Arizona between 1903 and 1938 that document Native life among numerous Indigenous communities in those regions.

Biographical/Historical note

Artist, photographer, and artefact collector, Edward Harvey Davis was born on June 18, 1862 in New York. He traveled to California in 1884 for health reasons (Bright's disease i.e. actue of chronic nephritis (a kidney disorder)), arriving in 1885, and settled on 320 acres in an area called Mesa Grande, east of San Diego. Later that year he returned to New York to marry, bringing his new bride, Anna May Wells back to California with him. They would eventually have four children. Shortly after settling in California, Davis became interested in the the Kumeyaay (Northern Diguenos), the Mesa Grande Indians indigenous to that area, and spent the remainder of his life collecting artifacts, studying and photographing them. He collected so many items that his ranch house ran out of room for them, necessitating the building of another structure (adobe) to house them. As a result of this interest and care of the Mesa Grande Indians in San Diego County, in 1907, Davis was named a ceremonial chief by the Indians themselves. Originally trained as an artist, Davis first worked as a drafter and architect. Upon his arrival in San Diego in 1885, he fortuitously invested in and profited from the booming real estate industry of the time. Davis became known to George Gustav Heye when Heye initially purchased a collection of Indian artifacts from him for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1915. With the money from the sale of his collection, Davis was able to open a resort lodge called the Powam that same year. His real estate investments and his lodge enabled Davis to finance his fieldwork, most of which he did on his own. In 1916 however, Davis also became an official field collector for the Museum of the American Indian in New York. Sporadically, from 1917 to 1930, Heye contracted Davis to conduct field trips to California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Mexico, and Tiburon Island, visiting over two dozen different Indigenous communities in the course of his travels. Wherever he went, Davis continued to photograph the Native peoples, but did not consider these photographs to be part of his contract with Heye. Heye later purchased the bulk of Davis's photograph collection. Davis also had sketched objects and landscapes during his travels as a method of preserving what he saw. Davis died in San Bernardino on February 22, 1951. In addition to his photographs, Davis authored several scholarly articles.

Extent

1912 Negatives (photographic)

797 Photographic prints

115 Copy negatives

Date

1903-1938

Archival Repository

National Museum of the American Indian

Identifier

NMAI.AC.001.031

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives (photographic)

Photographic prints

Copy negatives

Negatives

Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Edward H. Davis photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.001.031; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement note

The collection is intellectually arranged in four series geographically and then further arranged in subseries geographically or by community. The photographs are arranged physically by catalog number. Series 1: California: San Diego and Riverside counties, 1903-1938. Subseries 1.1: Cahuilla and Payómkawichum (Luiseño) photographs. Subseries 1.2: Kumeyaay (Diegueño) photographs. Subseries 1.3: Quechan (Yuma/Cuchan) photographs. Series 2: Mexico: Sonora, Jalisco, Nayarit, Baja California states, 1922-1926. Subseries 2.1: Sonora State photographs. Subseries 2.2: Jalisco and Nayarit State photographs. Subseries 2.3: Baja California State photographs. Series 3: Arizona: Arizona: Gila, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, and Yuma counties, 1918-1921. Subseries 3.1: Quechan (Yuma/Cuchan) photographs. Subseries 3.2: Akimel O'odham (Pima), Piipaash (Maricopa), and Tohono O'odham photographs. Subseries 3.3: San Carlos Apache photographs. Subseries 3.4: White Mountain Apache photographs. Subseries 3.5: Hualapai (Walapai), Mojave (Mohave), Yavapai, Yoeme (Yaqui) photographs. Series 4: New Mexico and Nevada, 1922-1923, undated. Subseries 4.1: New Mexico: Cochiti Pubelo photographs. Subseries 4.2: Navada: Chemehuevi photographs.

Processing Information note

Series descriptions updated by processing archivist, Rachel Menyuk, 2024.

Rights

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Genre/Form

Negatives

Photographic prints

Scope and Contents

This collection includes photographic prints and negatives depicting daily life among Indigenous communities in California, Mexico, and Arizona. Series 1 includes photographs from Southern California where Davis spent much of adult life living and working. The majority of the photographs were made in San Diego and Riverside counties among Cahuilla, Payómkawichum (Luiseño), and Kumeyaay (Diegueño) communities, though a smaller amount of photographs were taken among the Quechan (Yuma/Cuchan) community. The largest group of photographs in this series were taken in Mesa Grande (Subseries 1.2.3), where Davis lived. Series 2 includes photographs made in Mexico while Davis worked between 1922-1926 on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The largest group of photographs in Mexico were made in Sonora, among the Comcaac (Seri) community (Subseries 2.1.1). Other photographs include members of the Nevome (Pima Bajo), Yoreme (Mayo), Yoeme (Yaqui), Opata, Wixarika (Huichol), Cora, Cochimi, Kiliwa, Kamia, Paipai, and Guaycura communities. Series 3 includes photographs from Arizona taken during several collecting trips between 1918-1921, also on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The majority of these photographic prints came back to the MAI along with items collected by Davis. Photographics include images made among Akimel O'odham (Pima), Piipaash (Maricopa), Tohono O'odham, Quechan (Yuma/Cuchan), San Carlos Apache, Wite Mountain Apache, Hualapai (Walapai), Mojave (Mohave), Yavapai, and Yoeme (Yaqui) communities. A small group of photographic prints in this series were made by Joseph Menager, who hosted Davis during work with the Tohono O'odham community and acted as an interpreter. Series 4 includes a small amount of photographs from the Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico, and among the Chemehuevi community in Nevada in 1922-1923. The copy negatives are copies of photographic prints that were made by the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.

Restrictions

Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Some of the photographs are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.

Related Materials

Edward H. Davis collection at the San Diego History Center contains photographs and field notebooks that pertain to this collection. https://sandiegohistory.org/davis/collection

Record ID

ebl-1503512580383-1503512580390-0