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The man, the plates, the tribes

Edward Sherriff Curtis (1868–1952) spent thirty years documenting more than eighty Native American tribes — producing forty thousand photographs, ten thousand wax-cylinder recordings, and twenty volumes of ethnographic text. The North American Indian was funded by J.P. Morgan, prefaced by Theodore Roosevelt, and the surviving copper photogravure plates were authenticated by Curtis's daughter Florence Curtis Graybill as the original plates — the only ones her father ever made.

"The Indian as he has hitherto been is on the point of passing away. It would be a veritable calamity if a vivid and truthful record of these conditions were not kept."

— President Theodore Roosevelt, Foreword to The North American Indian, 1907

From this hub:

Edward Curtis & the Project The man, the thirty-year endeavor, the Morgan patronage, the sacrifice How a Plate Is Made The nine-step photogravure process — chemistry, hand work, judgment Provenance & Authentication Ten-step chain of ownership. Florence's letter. Smithsonian deed. Cultural Importance What these plates mean. George Horse Capture. Plate Sales Data Market record, auction prices, comparables, exhibition history Jeanne Eder Rhodes, PhD CurtisCamp cultural expert — enrolled Assiniboine and Sioux The Curtis Legacy Foundation John Graybill, the Descendants Project, and the family's continuing work Roosevelt's Foreword The presidential endorsement that launched the project, 1907 Camp Keeper’s Screening Room Movies for you Conservation How the plates were cleaned and how they ship