George W. Ingalls Photograph Collection

A collection of glass plate negatives and prints collected by Major George W. Ingalls, a United States Indian agent, 1872-1875, who worked among Paiute and other tribes in the West, as well as among Great Plains, Great Basin and Eastern tribes relegated to Indian Territory. Many of the photographs were made in the early 1870s and include photographs by John K. Hillers made during expeditions with John Wesley Powell in 1873 and 1874; views of Indian children attending seminary schools; portraits of tribal leaders in western suits; missionaries and churches in Indian Territory. There are also portraits of Indian delegates in Washington D.C.; portraits taken at Council meetings; and early views of Reno, Nevada, from the early 1900s.

The majority of tribes represented are from Great Basin and Great Plains regions, but there are also Southwest Indian photographs by A. C. Vroman; and views of Northeast and Southeast Indian tribe members living in Indian Territory or attending annual council meetings. Notably, there is a view of a skull showing an example of head flattening (Folder 33, Item 1).

Many of the original prints have ink captions in Ingalls' hand. Ingalls' captions often mention if the Indians pictured are Christians or otherwise "reformed." There are photographs of Indian graduates of seminary schools, and views of institutional buildings and churches with native and non-native people. Missionary families are shown in their houses, as well as native preachers in their new wooden houses. Additionally, there are also descriptions in pencil on the backs of original prints and copy prints that are, for the most part, taken from Ingalls' original negative envelopes. At some point after acquisition, Ingalls' handwritten identifications on the original negative envelopes were transcribed to the backs of the prints and the envelopes were discarded. A few still survive, and are filed with the prints --see Folder 23 (3), to see an example.

This collection is a mixture of original and copy prints and negatives, as well as a few pieces of ephemera and some manuscript photograph lists and possible lecture notes by Ingalls. There are many original exposures among the glass negatives, which Ingalls may have received directly from the photographer(s). Others are copies that Ingalls may have borrowed to be photographed for his own collection, or he received from elsewhere. The Smithsonian's Bureau of Ethnology received letters from Ingalls asking for copies of certain photographs, indicating he did receive some copies this way. A May 30, 1919, letter from Ingalls' to the BAE refers to Hillers' photographs "for" him in Oklahoma, 1875, supporting the idea that Hillers gave Ingalls some original negatives.