George Gustav Heye Starts Indian Collection

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Summary

George Gustav Heye (1874-1957), founder of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, in New York City, starts his collection with the purchase of a buckskin shirt while in Arizona as a mining engineer. He founded the Museum of the American Indian in 1916 and it became the largest collection of Native American artifacts. The museum was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1989 and became the National Museum of the American Indian.

Subject

  • Heye, George Gustav
  • National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.) George Gustav Heye Center
  • National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.)

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

Braun, Arbara. "Cowboys and Indians, the History and Fate of the Museum of the American Indian." The Village Voice, 8 April 1986, p. 31.

Contact information

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

Date

1896

Topic

  • Historians
  • Collectors and collecting
  • Museums
  • Indians of North America--Museums

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