LATIN AMERICAN LIBRARY
TULANE UNIVERSITY
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118
Manuscripts Collection 7
George Hubbard Pepper (1873-1924) Papers
COLLECTION GUIDE
Prepared by Ruth Olivera
February, 1981
Collection Overview
The George Hubbard Pepper Papers consists of manuscripts and materials
written or collected by Pepper during his more than twenty years as an
ethnologist and archaeologist who specialized in the Indian cultures of
the American Southwest and Ecuador. Most of the documents date from
1895-1918. They are a part of the Pepper Collection which was purchased by
the Middle American Research Institute and which also included pamphlets,
lantern slides, and Indian pottery and textiles.
Although lacking in academic degrees, Pepper early gained the recognition
of Professor Fredric W. Putnam of the Peabody Museum of Hardvard, through
whose influence he joined the Hyde Southwestern Expedition for the Museum
of Natural History. He made valuable discoveries during fieldwork at
Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in the summers of 1896-1900. In
association with the Heye Museum and later the Museum of the American
Indian, Heye Foundation, in New York City, Pepper took part in excavations
in Mexico and Ecuador, published several works, some in collaboration with
George G. Heye, and became a popular lecturer on the Indians of the
Southwest.
The emphasis of the collection is upon the Navaho, Hopi and Zuņi
Indians, their customs, language, textiles, pottery, religion, and way of
living, with some importance given the archaeology and social structure of
Ecuador. Included are correspondence, articles, lectures, notes, diaries,
account books, clippings, maps, field notes, drawings, paintings and
photographs. The collection gained in value through Pepper's acquisition
of documents from other, more prominent anthropologists, notably the
Washington Matthews manuscript of The Night Chant, A Navaho
Ceremony, which includes some of the original paintings and an
autogiographical sketch of Adolph F. Bandelier. Though spotty and
incomplete in many aspects, the collection provides in-depth data on
Navaho blankets and insight into the early anthropological and
archaeological work with the Indians of the Southwest.
Collection Arrangement
Box 1
A. Pepper Papers
1. Inventory of Pepper material sent to Tulane
2. Correspondence
3. Notes
a) Museum descriptions
b) Miscellaneous notes
Boxes 2,3
4. Notebooks and diaries
Boxes 4,5,6,7
5. Manuscripts
a) Articles by Pepper
b) Material for book on Navaho blankets
c) Illustrations for publications
d) Printed matter with Pepper notes
Box 8
6. Lectures
Boxes 9,10,11
B. Collected by Pepper
1. Manuscripts by other authors
a) Washington Matthews material on the Night Chant, etc.
b) Portfolio of Otis T. Mason
c) Notebooks of Henry Minor Huxley
d) Correspondence of Col. Bennett Young
e) Article and autobiographical sketch by A.F.A. Bandelier
f) James Mooney on North Carolina sites
g) Dictation by Mrs. Charles (Florence) Shotridge
h) Science News Bulletin
Box 12
2. Manuscripts by unidentified authors
3. Miscellaneous material
a) Maps
b) Textile fragments
c) Clippings and printed material
(1) Articles by Pepper
(2) Articles about Pepper
Box 13
4. Photographs
a) Indians
(1) Pueblo Indians (Hopi, Zuņi, Acoma, Santa Clara, Taos, Isleta,
Tesuque
(2) Pueblo Pottery
(3) Navaho and Hidatsa Indians
Box 14
b) Navaho blankets
c) Small photo collections and negatives
Box 15
d) Four glass positives
For greater detail see the printed collection guide in the LAL
office.
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Last updated: March 8, 2000