Scope and Contents
The Adee Dodge Papers consist of drawings, research files, financial records, correspondence, and biographical files documenting the life and work of Navajo visual artist and linguist Adee Dodge. Personal papers consist chiefly of biographical documentation compiled by Dodge's daughter, Nanabah Grogan. Business papers document Dodge's uranium prospecting business in the 1950s. Research files document Dodge's research on the Navajo language and on the comparative mythology of peoples of the Native Southwest and other world cultures, including Europe and India. Also included is a transcript of the autobiography of Alex Charging Crow (also known as Alex Adams) in Lakota and in English. The custodial history of this autobiography, and Dodge's relationship to it, are undetermined. Artwork consists chiefly of sketches, some of which are drafts of paintings. Photographs document Dodge's life and family, the landscape and people of the Navajo Nation, and Dodge's paintings. Other material includes realia (two wool rugs and art supplies).
Dates
- 1930-2005
Creator
Language of Materials
In English, Navajo and Lakota.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Box 63 (acetate audiodisc): Restricted fragile material. Reference copy may be requested. Contact Access Services for further information.
Box 64 (microcassettes): Access to original audio tapes is restricted. Reference copy may be requested. Contact Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Adee Dodge Papers 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 Silver Wolf Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2005.
Arrangement
Organized into five series: I. Personal Papers and Business Papers, 1935-2005. II. Artwork, circa 1950-1973. III. Research Files, 1930-circa 1999. IV. Photographs, circa 1930-1992. V. Realia, undated.
Extent
22.39 Linear Feet ((64 boxes) + 1 broadside folder)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The Adee Dodge Papers consist of drawings, research files, financial records, correspondence, and biographical files documenting the life and work of Navajo visual artist and linguist Adee Dodge. Personal papers consist chiefly of biographical documentation compiled by Dodge's daughter, Nanabah Grogan. Business papers document Dodge's uranium prospecting business in the 1950s. Research files document Dodge's research on the Navajo language and on the comparative mythology of peoples of the Native Southwest and other world cultures, including Europe and India. Also included is a transcript of the autobiography of Alex Charging Crow (also known as Alex Adams) in Lakota and in English. The custodial history of this autobiography, and Dodge's relationship to it, are undetermined. Artwork consists chiefly of sketches by Dodge, some of which are drafts of paintings. Photographs document Dodge's life and family, the landscape and people of the Navajo Nation, and Dodge's paintings. Other material includes realia (two wool rugs and art supplies).
Adee Dodge (1912-1992)
Adee Dodge, Navajo artist and linguist, was born Adolph Dodge Bitanny on November 16, 1912 in Fort Defiance, Arizona and died January 4, 1992 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He served in the National Guard and the Army Air Corps from 1931 to 1947, achieving the rank of Captain. He studied Navajo orthography and linguistics at the Hogan School in 1934, under the guidance of Gladys Reichard. He briefly studied Anthropology at Columbia University, where he collaborated with Reichard as a linguistic consultant. In the 1930s and 1940s he worked chiefly as a Navajo language teacher and translator and contributed to a Navajo medical dictionary. In the 1950s he forayed into uranium mining, founding Adee Dodge Enterprises, Inc. His prolific career as a visual artist, begun circa 1945, flourished in his later years, when he met with commercial success.
Dodge married Effie Jean Casey in 1943, and married Veah (Mauscha M.) Pillsbury in 1950. He had one daughter, Nanabah Grogan.
Processing Information
Former call numbers: Uncat MSS 762, Uncat MSS 781
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization in 2012.
As a rule, descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Art, American -- 20th Century
- Artists -- United States
- Artists -- United States -- 20th Century
- Artists, American
- Audiovisual materials
- Charging Crow, Alex
- Dakota language -- Texts
- Dodge, Adee
- Drawings (visual works) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Lakota dialect -- Texts
- Linguists -- United States
- Linguists -- United States -- 20th Century
- Native American literature
- Navajo Indians -- Education
- Navajo Indians -- Folklore
- Navajo Indians -- Pictorial works
- Navajo Indians in art
- Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah -- Pictorial works
- Navajo art
- Navajo artists
- Navajo language -- Grammar
- Navajo painting
- Navajo rugs
- Paintings (visual works) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Photographic prints -- United States -- 20th Century
- Rugs (textiles) -- United States -- 20th Century
- Sound recordings
- Uranium industry -- United States
- Title
- Guide to the Adee Dodge Papers
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- 2007-05-16
- 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
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.