David T. Vernon collection

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv470b6d18c-e2bd-43a8-b283-8dee73d08a59

Creator

Vernon, David T., 1900-1973

Names

Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904: Saint Louis, Mo.)

Bell, Charles Milton, 1848-1893

Carpenter, Charles H.

Dorsey, George A. (George Amos), 1868-1931

Gill, De Lancey, 1859-1940

Hileman, T. J. (Tomar Jacob), 1882-1945

Hillers, John K., 1843-1925

Huffman, L. A. (Laton Alton), 1854-1931

Matteson, Sumner W., 1867-1920

Maynard, Richard, 1832-1907

Rinehart, F. A. (Frank A.)

Satterlee, John V.

Winternitz, Ludwig (Louis)

Provenance

Series 1: Gift of Melinda Vernon, 2025, in memory of Christopher Vernon. Series 2: Gift of Laurence Rockefeller (Jackson Hole Preserve), 1972.

Creator

Vernon, David T., 1900-1973

Culture

Haida

Tsimshian (Ts'msyen)

Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)

Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka)

Chilkat Tlingit

Diné (Navajo)

Hopi Pueblo

Akimel O'odham (Pima)

Isleta Pueblo

Acoma Pueblo

A:shiwi (Zuni)

Laguna Pueblo

Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo)

Kewa (Santo Domingo Pueblo)

San Ildefonso Pueblo

Tesuque Pueblo

Taos Pueblo

Hupa

Pomo

Kutzadika'a (Mono Paiute)

Mewuk (Miwok)

Maidu

Seminole

Potawatomi

Menominee (Menomini)

Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan)

Assiniboine (Stoney)

A'aninin (Gros Ventre)

Sicangu Lakota (Brulé Sioux)

Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)

Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)

Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux)

Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)

Southern Inunaina (Arapaho)

Wichita

Niuam (Comanche)

Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)

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David T. Vernon collection

Summary

The David Vernon collection includes two distinct series, Series 1: Vernon's personal archives from his years as a collector of Native American cultural heritage materials, and Series 2: Photographs collected by Vernon made by numerous professional and amateur photographers. The photographs, ranging from the 1860s to the 1930s, document the cultural practices of Native peoples from Canada, Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Montana, Oklahoma, among other locations.

Biographical / Historical

David Thomas Vernon was born on September 10, 1900, in Chicago, Illinois to Harvey Curtis Vernon and Grace Blanche (Thomas) Vernon. As a young boy, Vernon began collecting arrowheads and small Native American artifacts purchased on road trips with his family. He would also take frequent trips to the Field Museum in Chicago to view the Native American collections. Following a boy scout trip to Glacier National Park at the age of 13, Vernon worked a summer in Yellowstone National Park as a horse wrangler. He returned west in 1920 at the age of 19 working as a cowhand in and around Wyoming and Montana, with his longest stint as a cowboy for Spear-Faddis Cattle Company. Founded in 1903, the Spear-Faddis operation was known as one of the largest cattle organizations in Wyoming and Montana by 1920. Spear-Faddis leased millions of acres of grazing lands, much on the Crow Reservation. Ranch headquarters were in Lodge Grass Montana, located near the border of Wyoming in south-central Montana, on the Crow Indian Reservation. During this time, Vernon met and photographed members of the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) community who had fought on both sides of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. In 1922 Vernon returned to Illinois where he went to art school in Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago and began a career in commercial art and advertising. Vernon worked as a professional commercial illustrator for the Vogue Wright Advertising Company and eventually ran his own company. He married Ethel Scharcherer in 1929, and their son David (Thomas) was born in 1930. Vernon began collecting in earnest at this time, and over the next 30 years Vernon visited numerous Native reservations across the western United States. Though Vernon traveled as far as the Pacific and Southwest, he cultivated close relationships with collectors and tribal community members within a day's drive from his home in Evanston. He was adopted by the Potawatomi and Menominee tribes and maintained correspondence with John V. Satterlee, a Menominee interpreter and collector, who Vernon referred to as "Uncle." "The Vernon collection" eventually filled the entire second floor of his family's home in Evanston, with some estimates saying the collection contained over 10,000 items ranging from clothing and weapons to sacred and ceremonial items. In 1965, Vernon decided to sell the collection as his health no longer allowed him to care for it. Much of David T. Vernon's collection was eventually purchased by the Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc. (JHPI) a foundation supported by the Rockefellers who in turn donated the collection to Grand Teton National Park. However, before the collection was sent to Grand Teton National Park, JHPI entered into a contract with the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, to store the Vernon collection. Of the original 10,000 items, approximately 1,400 were eventually sent to new museum in Grand Teton, which opened in 1972. Many of the additional items stayed at the Museum of the American Indian, including a large collection of photographic materials collected by Vernon. Vernon passed away in January 1973, unaware that much of his collection had been divided and sold, against his original wishes. Adapted from "Narrative History of the Vernon Collection" by Amanda Poitevin, July 28, 2015.

Extent

.45 Linear Feet

948 Photographic prints

17 Copy negatives

8.46 Gigabytes (184 digital files)

7 Electronic discs (CD)

Date

1860-2015

Archival Repository

National Museum of the American Indian

Identifier

NMAI.AC.216

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Copy negatives

Gigabytes

Electronic discs (cd)

Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); David Vernon collection, image #, NMAI.AC.216; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in two series by accession: Series 1: David Vernon archives, and Series 2: David Vernon photograph collection. Each series is divided into subseries by content. Series 1: David Vernon archives, 1911-2015; Subseries 1.1: John V. Satterlee materials, 1911-1912, 1932-1942. Subseries 1.2:"Vernon Collection" materials and other documents, 1933-2015. Subseries 1.3:Albums created by Christopher "Kit" Vernon, 1920, 1950-1952, 1976. Series 2: David Vernon photograph collection, circa 1860-1940; Subseries 2.1: Alaska and British Columbia communities, circa 1870-1910. Subseries 2.2: Arizona and New Mexico communities, 1874-1940. Subseries 2.3: California and Nevada communities, circa 1900. Subseries 2.4: Florida communities, 1896, circa 1920. Subseries 2.5: Kansas and Wisconsin communities, circa 1860-1930. Subseries 2.6: Montana communities, 1891-1906, Subseries 2.7: North Dakota and South Dakota communities, circa 1880-1910. Subseries 2.8: Oklahoma communities, circa 1890-1904.

Processing Information

Processed by Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist, 2025.

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.

Scope and Contents

Series: 1: David Vernon archives, 1911-2015, was compiled by David Vernon's son, Christopher "Kit" Vernon. The Vernon archives are comprised of three subseries. Subseries 1.1: John V. Satterlee materials, includes letters and field notes written by John V. Satterlee (Menominee) and sent to David Vernon in the late 1930s. These include Satterlee's own observations within his Menominee community, as well as stories he took down from other community members. Subseries 1.2: "Vernon Collection" materials and other documents, includes materials documenting the "Vernon Collection" as a body of material, such as purchase records and notes from Menominee community members. It also documents the exhibition of the collection in the 1950s at Lord's department store and the sale of the collection to Laurence Rockefeller in 1965. Subseries 1.3: Albums created by Christopher "Kit" Vernon includes the digital files of two albums created by Christopher "Kit" Vernon, son of David Vernon, documenting his father's work. Both albums were digitized, and the originals were returned to the Vernon family. Series 2: David Vernon photograph collection, circa 1860-1940, includes photographs collected by David Vernon and were part of the Rockefeller/Jackson Hole preserve deposit and transfer to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (MAI). The photographs were put on official deposit to the MAI in 1966 and were transferred to safety film at that time, though the official accession lot is from 1972. The collection of photographs encompasses a wide range of Indigenous communities across the United States from as early as studio tintypes from the 1860s up to photographic prints and negatives made in the 1940s. A sizeable portion of the photographs were taken by professional photographers known for making studio portraits of Native leaders or photographing within Native communities. Some of these identified photographers include Charles Milton Bell, Charles H. Carpenter, George Dorsey, De Lancey Gill, T.J. (Tomar Jacob) Hileman, John K. Hillers, L.A. Huffman, Sumner Matteson, Richard Maynard, Frank Rinehart, and Ludwig Winternitz. Several hundred photographs have the photographer listed as unknown and are as of yet, unidentified. It's possible that Vernon took some of the photographs himself.

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 photographs in this collection are restricted due to cultural sensitiviy.

Record ID

ebl-1764947700524-1764947700919-0