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Agency history, 1999-

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Subject

  • Deloria, Vine
  • Hamilton, Ruby
  • Taylor, E. Gilbert
  • Altstatt, Lynne
  • Wilder, Baasil
  • Silversmith, Elayne
  • National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.)
  • Smithsonian Institution Libraries National Museum of the American Indian, Vine Deloria, Jr. Branch
  • Smithsonian Institution Libraries National Museum of the American Indian, Vine Deloria, Jr. Library
  • Smithsonian Libraries National Museum of the American Indian, Vine Deloria, Jr. Library
  • Smithsonian Libraries and Archives National Museum of the American Indian, Vine Deloria, Jr. Library
  • National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.) Cultural Resources Center
  • National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.) George Gustav Heye Center

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
  • Vine Deloria, Jr. Library, National Museum of the American Indian, https://library.si.edu/libraries/american-indian, accessed July 3, 2023
  • National Museum of the American Indian, https://siarchives.si.edu/history/national-museum-american-indian, accessed July 3, 2023
  • Smithsonian Institution Libraries: Staff Directory, "via Wayback Machine", https://web.archive.org/web/20000816062119/http:/www.sil.si.edu/Information-Files/staff-directory.htm, accessed July 3, 2023
  • National Museum of the American Indian Library, "via Wayback Machine", https://web.archive.org/web/20070822001547/http:/www.sil.si.edu/Libraries/nmai-con.htm, accessed July 3, 2023
  • Vine Deloria Jr. '70, https://www.colorado.edu/law/2023/02/06/vine-deloria-jr-70, accessed July 11, 2023
  • Smithsonian Institution Libraries Annual Report, 2001, https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/22157/2001-Annual-Report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y, accessed August 17, 2023
  • Email, "NMAI Library history", June 29, 2023
  • Email, "Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Executive Leadership Team Updates," September 23, 2022
  • The National Museum of the American Indian, Vine Deloria, Jr. Library Research Center provides library research, reference, and outreach service to National Museum of the American Indian staff in Washington, D.C., the George Gustave Heye Center (GGHC) in New York City, and the Museum Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland.
  • The Deloria Library collection includes over 40,000 volumes on the histories, cultures, arts, and contemporary issues of Native American and Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere. Its collection's strengths include tribal histories, biographies, traditional and modern art, language and literature, Native knowledge, and collections care.
  • The library is named after Vine Deloria, Jr., a member of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, lawyer, theologian, and intellectual who authored over 20 books in a variety of fields.
  • The library began operating in 1999. It is based out of the Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, Maryland. The CRC opened as part of the National Museum of American Indian, when many collections moved from New York to the Washington, DC area. The museum on the National Mall opened in 2004.
  • The branch was part of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries at the time of its creation and was later referred too as library. Smithsonian Institution Libraries was renamed to Smithsonian Libraries in 2011. In 2020, after the merger of Smithsonian Libraries and Smithsonian Institution Archives, it became part of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. In 2022, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives renamed their libraries as library research centers.
  • Ruby Hamilton served as the first librarian, from 2000-2001. E. Gilbert Taylor served as acting librarian between 2001-2003. Lynne Altstatt became librarian in 2003 and served until 2011. At that time, Baasil Wilder became acting librarian and served until 2012. Elayne Silversmith became librarian in 2012.
  • For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of" above.

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1999
  • 1999-

Topic

  • Museum libraries
  • Historians
  • Libraries
  • Museums
  • Libraries and museums
  • Indians of North America
  • Indians of Central America
  • Indians of South America
  • Indians of South America--Museums
  • Indians of North America--Museums
  • Indians of Central America--Museums

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00463

Full Record

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