Finding Aid - Contains Digitized Material

Reference Request

* required
Please succinctly provide us with any information pertinent to your inquiry. If you are writing to us about a research request, provide as much detail as possible about the collections in which you are interested (including collection numbers, box numbers, and folder titles).
(if known)

The Smithsonian Institution Archives is using Constant Contact, a third-party contact management software vendor, to manage contacts and send eNewsletters. Please be advised that Constant Contact's Privacy Statement and Terms and Conditions apply to your use of these services. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has access to your name and email address which is subject to our privacy statement.

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7084

Holmes, William Henry, 1846-1933

William Henry Holmes Papers, 1870-1931

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Holmes, William Henry, 1846-1933
Title:William Henry Holmes Papers
Dates:1870-1931
Quantity:2.16 cu. ft. (4 document boxes) (1 folder oversize material) (8 microfilm reels)
Collection:Record Unit 7084
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These papers include Holmes' personal and professional correspondence, including correspondence between other scientists, which was collected by Holmes in connection with his research. The correspondence mainly documents Holmes' research in American ethnology and archaeology; but also includes material dealing with international scientific meetings and professional conflicts. Also included are photographs; tracings and sketches; field notes; notes; biographical information; catalogs; published materials; book reviews; a list of Holmes' published works; and memorabilia. A microfilm copy of Holmes' Random Records of a Lifetime, volumes 1-16, is also available. Other material pertaining to Holmes may be found in the National Anthropological Archives and the American Art and Portrait Gallery Library.

Historical Note

William Henry Holmes (1846-1933) was an anthropologist, archeologist, artist, and geologist. Born near Cadiz, Ohio, Holmes graduated in 1870 from McNeely Normal School in Hopedale. After teaching for a brief period, Holmes left Ohio for Washington, D.C., where he studied art under Theodore Kauffman. In Washington, Holmes became acquainted with the Smithsonian and soon began sketching natural history specimens for staff members of the National Museum.

In 1872, Holmes was appointed artist-topographer to the United States survey of the territories under Ferdinand V. Hayden, and in 1874 was appointed assistant geologist. Holmes' survey in New Mexico and Arizona eventually led to his career in archeology and his interest in the cliff-dwellings of the southwest.

Holmes joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1880 and remained with the survey until 1889 when he transferred to the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE). Between 1882 and 1889, Holmes was also honorary curator of aboriginal ceramics, United States National Museum (USNM).

Holmes left the BAE to serve as head curator of anthropology at the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago, 1894-1897, and subsequently held positions as head curator of the Department of Anthropology, USNM, 1897-1902, and chief of the BAE, 1902-1909. Holmes served as curator of the National Gallery of Art from 1907 to 1920, and as head curator of the Department of Anthropology from 1910 to 1920. When the National Gallery of Art (now known as the National Collection of Fine Arts) became a separate bureau of the Smithsonian, Holmes severed his ties with the USNM and served as director of the National Gallery from 1920 until his retirement in 1932.

Top of Page

Descriptive Entry

These papers include Holmes' personal and professional correspondence, including correspondence between other scientists, which was collected by Holmes in connection with his research. The correspondence mainly documents Holmes' research in American ethnology and archeology but also includes material dealing with international scientific meetings and professional conflicts. Also included are photographs; tracings and sketches; field notes; notes; biographical information; catalogues; published materials; book reviews; a list of Holmes' published works; and memorabilia. A microfilm copy of Holmes' "Random Records of a Lifetime," Volumes 1-16, is also available. Other material pertaining to Holmes may be found in the National Anthropological Archives and the National Collection of Fine Arts Archives. Correspondents in this collection include Cyrus Adler, Alexander Agassiz; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Hector Alliot; Juan B. Anbrosetti; Allison V. Armour; Louis H. Ayme; William H. Babcock; Spencer F. Baird; Frank C. Baker; Marcus Baker; Charles C. Baldwin; Henry Balfour; Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier; Edwin Atlee Barber; Robert Barclay; W. C. Barnard; Adolph Bastian; Ward Batchelor; Albert Smith Bickmore; Hiram Bingham; Eugene Boban; Charles Pershing Bowditch; David Boyle; Adela C. Breton; Daniel Garrison Brinton; Charles E. Brown; P. A. Calhoun; J. McKeen Cattel; Thomas Chrowder Chamberlain; George B. Chittenden; Mrs. Calvin Coolidge (Ref.); Elliot Coues; John Merle Coulter; W. S. Cox; James Edward Cree; C. (?) Cresson; Rudolph Cronau; Steuart Culin; Frank Hamilton Cushing; Charles C. Darwin; Watson Davies; William Morris Davies; John William Dawson; Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh; A. E. Douglass; William B. Douglass; Alexander Wilson Drake; Sylvia H. Farabee; C. Walter Fewkes; Field Colombian Museum (Ref.); Field Museum of National History (Ref.); Alice Cunningham Fletcher; Robert Fletcher; A. D. Foote; Gerard Fowke; Andrew S. Fuller; Grove Karl Gilbert; George Brown Goode; Adolphus Washington Greeley; Stanberry Hagar; Horatio Emmons Hale; Lorenzo J. Hatch; Frederick Vandeveer Hayden; Edgar L. Hewett; George G. Heye; F. F. Hilden; Robert T. Hill; Romyn Hitchcock; Frederick Webb Hodge; William Jacob Holland; William Henry Holmes; William Temple Hornaday; Walter Hough; Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History; International Congress of Americanists; William Henry Jackson (Ref.); Morris Ketchum Jesup; Charles Colcock Jones, Jr.; T. A. Joyce; George Kennan; Alfred L. Kroeber; Henry B. Kummel; Samuel P. Langley; Nicolas Leon; Augustus Le Plongeon; Francis Leupp; Frederic B. Loomis; Edward Lovett; Carl Lumholz; Charles Fletcher Lummis; Theobert Maler; Otis Tufton Mason; Alfred P. Maudlay; H. R. McCalmont; Joseph Deakins McGuire; W. J. Merlin (?); Henry Chapman Mercer; Clinton Hart Merriam; John Campbell Merriam; George P. Merrill; Victor Mindeleff; Clarence Bloomfield Moore; Warren King Moorehead; M. Moreno; Edward Sylvester Morse; Charles Edward Munroe; Nadaillac; N. C. Nelson; Simon Newcomb; R. L. Packard; William N. Page; Pan American Union (Ref.); Francis H. Parsons; Robert Singleton Peabody (Ref.); Edmond N. Pease; Phillip Academy Department of Archeology; W. Hallett Phillips; F. Plancarte; John Wesley Powell; W. H. Pratt; Frederick Ward Putnam; Frederick Leslie Ransome; Richard Rathbun; Charles Rau; William Woodville Rockhill; Kermit Roosevelt (Ref.); Theodore Roosevelt (Ref.); Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (Ref.); Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt (Ref.); Leo S. Rowe; H. N. Rust; F. W. Sardeson; Marshall Howard Saville; Elias Howard Sellards; George B. Shields; Allen Shoenfield; Stephen Chapman Simms; Frederic James Volney Skiff; Harlan I. Smith; Rene Ravenel Snowden; Javier Vial Solac; Southwest Museum (Los Angeles) (Ref.); Robert Edwards Carter Stearns (Ref.); Matilda Cox Stevenson; James Terry; Cyrus Thomas; Gates P. Thurston; Frederick William True; Ross Turner; Charles Richard Van Hise; Charles D. Walcott; David White; Charles C. Willoughby; John Wilson; Thomas Wilson; John H. Winser; S. G. Worth; T. J. Worthington; George Frederick Wright; Henry Crecy Yarrow; Albert S. Yatsches; Yellowstone National Park (Ref.); George Frederick Zimmer.

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7084, William Henry Holmes Papers

Top of Page

Container List

Series 1

CORRESPONDENCE. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY. 1882-1931.

Box 1

Folder 1 A

Box 1 of 4

Folder 2 Bab - Barb

Box 1 of 4

Folder 3 P. Bryant Baker, 1923 (Accession 03-069)

Box 1 of 4

Folder 5 W. C. Barnard, 1905

Box 1 of 4

Folder 6 Ward Batchelor, 1886-1887

Box 1 of 4

Folder 7 A. H. Blackiston, 1905

Box 1 of 4

Folder 8 Eugene Boban, 1887

Box 1 of 4

Folder 9 Bow - Bre

Box 1 of 4

Folder 10 Daniel Garrison Brinton, 1893-1897

Box 1 of 4

Folder 11 Bro - Cox

Box 1 of 4

Folder 12 James Edward Cree, 1905

Box 1 of 4

Folder 13 Cres - Cus

Box 1 of 4

Folder 14 D

Box 1 of 4

Folder 15 F

Box 1 of 4

Folder 16 Goo - Ham

Box 1 of 4

Folder 17 Edgar L. Hewett, 1907-1925

Box 1 of 4

Folder 18 Hil - Hol

Box 1 of 4

Folder 19 J

Box 1 of 4

Folder 20 K

Box 1 of 4

Folder 21 Augustus Le Plongeon, 1882-1904

Box 1 of 4

Folder 22 Loo - Lot

Box 1 of 4

Folder 23 Edward Lovett, 1907-1909

Box 1 of 4

Folder 24 Carl Lumholz, 1894-1897

Box 1 of 4

Folder 25 Charles Fletcher Lummis, 1909-1928

Box 1 of 4

Folder 26 F. H. Luthe, 1890-1891

Box 1 of 4

Folder 27 Theobert Maler, 1904

Box 1 of 4

Folder 28 Mar - Mas

Box 1 of 4

Folder 29 Mau - Min

Box 1 of 4

Folder 30 Charles C. Moore, 1912-1913

Box 1 of 4

Folder 31 Clarence Bloomfield Moore, 1898-1914

Box 1 of 4

Folder 32 Warren King Moorehead, 1906-1919

Box 1 of 4

Folder 33 Mor - Nad

Box 1 of 4

Folder 34 N. C. Nelson, 1917

Box 1 of 4

Box 2

Folder 1 Nes - Phi

Box 2 of 4

Folder 2 F. Plancarte, 1889

Box 2 of 4

Folder 3 Pow - Put

Box 2 of 4

Folder 4 R - San

Box 2 of 4

Folder 5 Marshall Howard Saville, 1896-1917

Box 2 of 4

Folder 6 Sco - Str

Box 2 of 4

Folder 7 T

Box 2 of 4

Folder 8 United States Department of Interior, 1905-1927

Box 2 of 4

Folder 9 Ur - Z

Box 2 of 4

Folder 10 Correspondence Miscellaneous

Box 2 of 4

Series 2

CORRESPONDENCE. ARRANGED NUMERICALLY BY WILLIAM HENRY HOLMES. 1870-1931.

Box 2

Folder 11 1 - 32

Box 2 of 4

Folder 12 33 - 66

Box 2 of 4

Series 3

CORRESPONDENCE. ARRANGED BY SUBJECT.

Box 2

Folder 13 Acknowledgments for Published Works Sent by Holmes. 1896-1897, A - J

Box 2 of 4

Folder 14 Acknowledgments for Published Works Sent by Holmes, 1896-1897, L - Y

Box 2 of 4

Folder 15 Ancient Copper Mines, 1882-1902

Box 2 of 4

Folder 16 Andover Committee, 1913

Box 2 of 4

Folder 17 Balcony House, 1909

Box 2 of 4

Folder 18 International Congress of Americanists, 1910-1915

Box 2 of 4

Folder 19 Second Pan-American Scientific Congress, 1913-1915

Box 2 of 4

Series 4

MEMORABILIA.

Box 2

Folder 20 Menu for a banquet in honor of Holmes' Seventieth Birthday, December 1, 1916

Box 2 of 4

Series 5

FIELD NOTES, SKETCHES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS.

Box 3

Box 3 of 4

Folder 21 Miscellaneous

Box 3 of 4
Oversize

Tuloom, Mexico, 1895

Oversize

Series 6

HANDWRITTEN AND PRINTED DRAFTS.

Box 4

Folder 1 Lecture: Development of Aboriginal Architecture in Mexico, 1895

Box 4 of 4

Folders 2-3 Notes on Ancient Mexican Architecture

Box 4 of 4

Folder 4 Notes, miscellaneous

Box 4 of 4

Series 7

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION.

Box 4

Folder 5 Juan B. Anbrosetti

Box 4 of 4

Folder 6 Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier

Box 4 of 4

Folder 7 Edwin Atlee Barber

Box 4 of 4

Folder 8 Charles Pickering Bowditch

Box 4 of 4

Folder 9 Daniel Garrison Brinton

Box 4 of 4

Folder 10 Frank Hamilton Cushing

Box 4 of 4

Folder 11 Alice Cunningham Fletcher

Box 4 of 4

Folder 12 Grove Karl Gilbert

Box 4 of 4

Folder 13 Charles Colcock Jones, Jr.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 14 Richard Rathbun

Box 4 of 4

Folder 15 Matilda Coxe Stevenson

Box 4 of 4

Series 8

PRINTED MATERIALS.

Box 4

Folder 16 A Method Which May Have Been Used by the Mayas in Calculating Time, by Charles P. Bowditch, 1901.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 17 A Recent Discovery of Ancient Human Remains in Los Angeles, California, by Chester Stock, 1924.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 18 A Suggestive Maya Inscription, by Charles P. Bowditch, 1903.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 19 American and Latin American, by William R. Shepard, 1915.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 20 Analytical Catalogue of Works and Scientific Articles, by Daniel G. Brinton, 1891.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 21 Bolivar and the United States, by William R. Shepard, 1918.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 22 Book Reviews.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 23 Catalogues - Eugene Boban Collection, 1886-1887

Box 4 of 4

Folder 24 List of Papers Published by William H. Holmes, 1874-1896.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 25 Memoranda on the Maya Calendars Used in the Books of Chilam Balam, by Charles P. Bowditch, 1901.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 26 Nagualism, by Daniel G. Brinton, 1894.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 27 Our South American Trade, by William R. Shepard, 1909.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 28 Quarter Notes of the Brooklyn Music School Settlement, December 1922.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 29 Report Upon the Collection Exhibited at the Columbian Historical Exposition, by Daniel G. Brinton, 1895.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 30 The Stone Idols of New Mexico, 1896.

Box 4 of 4

Folder 31 Was the Beginning Day of the Mayan Month Numbered Zero (or Twenty) or One?, by Charles P. Bowditch, 1901.

Box 4 of 4