Finding Aid
Submit Reference RequestPrintDownload PDF

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 7066

Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872

John Mix Stanley Collection, 1852-1865, 1883-1886

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872
Title:John Mix Stanley Collection
Dates:1852-1865, 1883-1886
Quantity:0.25 cu. ft. (1 half document box)
Collection:Record Unit 7066
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This collection includes typewritten copies and original correspondence of Joseph Henry, Mary A. Henry, John Mix Stanley, and his family concerning the collection deposited with the Smithsonian; contract and correspondence concerning a loan made by Henry to Stanley; Henry's description of the attempts to save the paintings during the fire; contract between John R. Bartlett and Stanley concerning Bartlett's purchasing one-fourth interest in the collection; a list of the five surviving paintings; and three books printed for the Smithsonian Institution, including the catalog mentioned above, a Guide to the Smithsonian Institution, 1865, and a biography of John Mix Stanley by David I. Bushnell, Jr.

Historical Note

John Mix Stanley (1814-1872), a famous painter of Indians and Indian scenes, deposited 152 paintings with the Smithsonian Institution in 1852 with the intention of selling his collection to the government. Most of the paintings were destroyed in the Smithsonian Institution fire of 1865. A list of the collection can be found in the Smithsonian catalog, Portraits of North American Indians with Sketches of Scenery, etc., 1852.

Top of Page

Descriptive Entry

This collection includes typewritten copies and original correspondence of Joseph Henry, Mary A. Henry, John Mix Stanley, and his family concerning the collection deposited with the Smithsonian; contract and correspondence concerning a loan made by Henry to Stanley; Henry's description of the attempts to save the paintings during the fire; contract between John R. Bartlett and Stanley concerning Bartlett's purchasing one-fourth interest in the collection; a list of the five surviving paintings; and three books printed for the Smithsonian Institution, including the catalog mentioned above, a Guide to the Smithsonian Institution, 1865, and a biography of John Mix Stanley by David I. Bushnell, Jr.

Top of Page

This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7066, John Mix Stanley Collection

Top of Page

Container List

Series 1

Correspondence, Arranged Alphabetically, 1858-1886.

Box 1

Folder 1 Joseph Henry, 1858

Box 1 of 1

Folder 2 Mary A. Henry, 1884-1886

Box 1 of 1

Folder 3 John Mix Stanley, 1864-1865

Box 1 of 1

Folder 4 Mrs. John Mix Stanley, 1883

Box 1 of 1

Series 2

Books, Contracts, and List of Paintings.

Box 1

Folder 5 Contracts

Box 1 of 1

Folder 6 Extracts from the Smithsonian Reports, 1854-1868, and the Proceedings of the Board of Regents, 1857-1858

Box 1 of 1

Folder 7 Guide to the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, 1865

Box 1 of 1

Folder 8 John Mix Stanley, Artist-Explorer, by David J. Bushnell, Jr., 1925

Box 1 of 1

Folder 9 John Mix Stanley and his Indian Paintings, by W. Vernon Kinietz, 1942

Box 1 of 1

Folder 10 Portraits of North American Indians with Sketches of Scenery, etc. Painted by J. M. Stanley. Deposited with the Smithsonian Institution, 1852

Box 1 of 1

Folder 11 List and description of five of Stanley's paintings

Box 1 of 1

Top of Page