HIST 305-02, Edward S. Curtis and the American India, Fall 2005

Abstract

Edward S. Curtis gained recognition for his compelling photographs of North American Indians during the early twentieth century. Between 1907 and 1930, Curtis produced 20 volumes of illustrated text and 20 portfolios of photographs featuring over 80 different tribes. Curtis marketed this project as the record of a “Vanishing Race,” whose traditions were doomed to extinction without Curtis’ visual documentation. His artful images of Indians captured the imagination of Americans who were nostalgic for a simpler, rural past embodied in western landscapes and “primitive” peoples. Indeed, Curtis staged many of the photographs to appear as though North American Indians had no engagement with twentieth-century life. Scholars now ask to what degree did Curtis evoke Indian realities? To explore this question, we will research Native American life on reservations during this period, as well as Curtis’ life history and work. In addition, we will consider the influence of political developments such as the eugenics movement, and artistic trends such as the pictorialist movement in photography. Out of this research, we will write the interpretive texts to accompany an exhibit of Curtis prints at the Brooks Museum of Art, and create a reference catalogue to accompany the Curtis collection housed in Barrett Library.