John Wesley Powell

Summary

Major John Wesley Powell (1834-1902), bust, looking slightly to his left. Geologist and western explorer, Powell led an expedition to the Grand Canyon in the 1870's. When Congress created the Bureau of Ethnology in 1879, Powell was named its first director (1879-1902), a post he held until his death. Placed under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, the bureau, whose name was changed to the Bureau of American Ethnology, was to be the repository of the "archives, records, and material relating to the Indians of North America, collected by the geographical and geological survey of the Rocky Mountains."

Subject

• Powell, John Wesley 1834-1902
• Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Please note that this photograph is reversed.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7177, Box 9, Folder: 23 and Record Unit 95, Box 18, Folder: 57b

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1875

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Discovery and exploration
• Geology
• Busts
• Anthropology

Place

America

Form/Genre

Photographic print

ID Number

30056 or MAH-30056

Physical description

Color: Black and White; Size: 5w x 7h; Type of Image: Bust; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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