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Photographs Related to Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, and Pueblo Indians, and Sites in Arizona and New Mexico

 Collection
Call Number: WA Photos 1044

Scope and Contents

Photographs collected by the Day family and leaves from a disbound photograph album compiled by them that chiefly relate to their trade and activities with Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, and Pueblo Indians in Arizona and New Mexico, 1900-1941, as well as views of sites in Arizona, including Canyon de Chelly, St. Michael's Mission, and Walpi, and New Mexico including Gallup, Laguna Pueblo, and Las Vegas. Members of the Day family and Simeon Schwemberger created many of the photographs. Events documented include a foot race at Gallup, New Mexico, on July 4, 1908, a visit by Theodore Roosevelt to Walpi, Arizona, in August 1913, and the dedication ceremony for the El Navajo Hotel at Gallup, New Mexico, in May 1923. The collection includes portraits of Day family members and their acquaintances, including Walter Charles Beddow, Natalie Curtis Burlin, Stewart Culin, Berard Haile, Frederick Monsen, Simeon Schwemberger, and Anselm Weber, as well as still lifes, printed material, and picture postcards.

Dates

  • 1900-1941

Creator

Language of Materials

In English.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Day Family, Photographs Related to Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, and Pueblo Indians, and Sites in Arizona and New Mexico, is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Andrew Smith Gallery on the Walter McClintock Fund, 2019.

Arrangement

Organized into three series: I. Photograph Album Leaves, approximately 1905. II. Photographs, 1900-1941. III. Printed Material, approximately 1910-approximately 1937.

Extent

0.63 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.dayfamily

Abstract

Photographs collected by the Day family and leaves from a disbound photograph album compiled by them that chiefly relate to their trade and activities with Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, and Pueblo Indians in Arizona and New Mexico, 1900-1941, as well as views of sites in Arizona, including Canyon de Chelly, St. Michael's Mission, and Walpi, and New Mexico including Gallup, Laguna Pueblo, and Las Vegas. Members of the Day family and Simeon Schwemberger created many of the photographs. Events documented include a foot race at Gallup, New Mexico, on July 4, 1908, a visit by Theodore Roosevelt to Walpi, Arizona, in August 1913, and the dedication ceremony for the El Navajo Hotel at Gallup, New Mexico, in May 1923. The collection includes portraits of Day family members and their acquaintances, including Walter Charles Beddow, Natalie Curtis Burlin, Stewart Culin, Berard Haile, Frederick Monsen, Simeon Schwemberger, and Anselm Weber, as well as still lifes, printed material, and picture postcards.

Day Family

The Day family were traders at the Navajo Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona. In 1883, Samuel Edward Day, Sr. (1845-1925) surveyed extensions to eastern and southern boundaries of the Navajo reservation in Arizona Territory for the United States government. Soon afterward, his wife, Anna P. Burbridge Day (1849-1932), and their sons, Charles L. Day (1879-1918), Samuel Edward Day, Jr. (1882-1963), and William Day (born 1885), joined him at a homestead at what became Window Rock, Arizona, and was also the site of the St. Michael's Mission founded in 1896 by the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans). In 1902, the Day family established the Thunderbird Trading Post at mouth of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. In 1912, Samuel Edward Day, Jr., married Kate Roanhorse (1885-1960), a daughter of Navajo chief Manuelito (1818-1893).

Simeon Schwemberger (1867-1931)

Simeon Schwemberger, born George C. Schwemberger, was a Franciscan friar, photographer, and trader in Arizona and New Mexico. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he entered candidacy into the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) in 1887 and took solemn vows in 1896. In 1901, he joined the St. Michael's Mission at Window Rock, Arizona, and the following year began experimenting with photography. In 1908, Schwemberger left the Mission and Order and operated the Indian Arts Studio at Gallup, New Mexico. From 1911 until his death, he worked at trading posts at Gallup and Cedar Springs, New Mexico.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

This finding aid was produced from a preliminary item-level list provided by the dealer and augmented by the processing archivist.

Title
Guide to the Day Family, Photographs Related to Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, and Pueblo Indians, and Sites in Arizona and New Mexico
Status
Completed
Author
by Matthew Daniel Mason
Date
March 2020
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.