And learn how to navigate and explore the museums online collections. Due to the coronavirus, this program was recorded via zoom. We are joined by michelle delaney. Tell us what your title is and what your job is. Ms. Delaney thank you. My job is assistant director for culture at the Smithsonians National museum of the American Indian. I leave the scholars, the historians, the curators at the museum who are in charge of producing exhibitions, the books, a lot of the Educational Programs and symposiums, and work with a collection of about 824,000 objects. But i have a real interest in photographys and we have also over 500,000 photographs in the National Museum of the American Indian archive center. So, i have been working very hard in the years i spent to this museum, i am a 30 year career at the smithsonian but i just joined the American Indian museum in the last year and these photographs are of much interest to me as an archivist. You wrote an article about the collection. Tell us why you wrote this article a virtual tour history. Ms. Delaney thanks, richard. We have a great magazine. American indian magazine that is a members magazine for our museums. It has become more and more familiar with it over time, so when i was asked to think about the opportunity to consider what photographs we have online for the public to see and for students to study online, it was a great opportunity, because i was able to review and get really deep into all of the collections of photography that are online, about 25,000 photographs of the 500,000 we are continuing to work all the time to get more online. But for me to do a deep dive into everything we have to was just fantastic. That is what i love. I love to do research. And for me to understand the depth of collections from the beginning of photography in the 1840s in america to presentday contemporary in digital. So i was asked to do a virtual, an article about a virtual tour of photography online. And it really got me up to date with everything we have. While i cannot physically get into the archive, which i so want to do. So what i can do was bring to our readers a glimpse of what they can find. Richard why dont we take a look, jump into the photographs in the first one that you photographs, and the first one that you referenced in the article is a daguerrotype. Why dont you tell us about that . Ms. Delaney when i joined the museum and got a tour of the archive center, i asked about the earliest images because i wanted to know how far the collection went back. I know that daguerrotypes, one of the earliest forms of photography invented in france in 1839, was very popular in the u. S. By 1840, we were seeing these images. This image on the screen of dr. Peter wilson was from the early 1850s in buffalo, new york. And so when these incredibly expensive looking cases with these 180yearold images opened up, it is always exciting to me. First of all, if you do not look at them right, they are a mirror image. Scanning them, reproducing them is difficult. This is an excellent image by our staff photographers. But capturing the image of this American Indian man who went on to become a doctor so early on. Early on in our nations history, but in a time when you would think few leaders in the native community would become accredited through university and become a doctor. But it shows you, really, a window back into a different time, and you want to learn more about who dr. Wilson was and why he was dressed as he is dressed in western attire. And why he looks the way he does. And possibly who did he give this image to . You know . Kept,t something that he something share with family, or was it something that was meant for Something Else . We spent a lot of time on promenades research, which is learning about the creation of the photograph. In this case, who made it, who is the sitter, and trying to find out just why it was made. So i want us to go back to the beginning, and know that American Indians and our native populations in the u. S. And in the western hemisphere, they were being photographed. And what story does that tell . So it was a pleasure to find this image, right away, when i was searching online. Richard in a lot of these pictures, you have the back, sideways. What is that . Ms. Delaney thats unlocking history. That is a history detective when you open up the case and you see Something Like this with Peter Wilsons name spelled out, his native name, his American Indian name is there, which i will not try to pronounce, because i do not want to do it in justice. And there it says, gifted to his friend p. E. Thomas. It is through thomas that this image was donated to the National Museum of American Indian collection. You have to remember, our collection is a centuryold, but the museum was only founded in 1989. So all of the early Collection Items that come in, come in to the museum of American Indian based in new york, new york city in particular. So, we have so many collections that have come in over the course of a century. And so it has taken us decades and we continue to try in research and get the origins of the objects in the images we have. Richard next in your article, you have ambro type. Ms. Delaney ambro type comes being into the 1850s, a wet colonial and process on glass. Part of what i want to show to viewers is that we do try to take the best care we can of our objects. We have a conservation department, and we take a lot of pride in keeping our collections in the best storage environment as possible. I work at the museums Cultural Resources center in suitland, maryland when we are open. Not in these covid times. And all of the images are stored at the archive center. Over time, an image from the midto late 1850s goes through some wear and tear. So the images cracked, but we try to keep it in the best shape possible. So you see a man in this image who is about 100 years old. And, again, zooming in, you can get such details from these early images. You see there could be a stain at the top, obscuring some of the image. But for what it has gone through in this century and a half, more than that, we are lucky to have it in the condition that it is. And this is an individual who fought in wars. Probably in the war of 1812. And has, you know, has lived a tough life, potentially. But he was also part of some major decisions and treaties that were signed with the native americans. One in michigan. One treaty seeding millions of acres of land to the u. S. Government. He was part of that. Having this window into history to be able to recognize and identify some of the individuals in these early photographs, up to today, really brings history full circle. And you can understand that these are individuals who have exceptional lives sometimes. Or we learn a lot about daytoday life on some of the photographs we have. Richard there is also an extra thing with this photograph. What is that . Ms. Delaney sometimes we will see small clippings from news, newspaper articles, about the individuals, talking about the chief and the long life, outlining his battles as he was involved in some of the wars. His wife, near lansing, michigan. And also outline, sometimes the photographer. This is photographed by Henry H Smith in 1858. There were not all that many photographers working that early. So, to have it identified, both the sitter and the photographer, is extraordinary. Richard the next thing you reference in your article, chronologically, is alexander gardner. And there is a lot of photographs here, but what are we looking at here . Ms. Delaney we are looking at a group of crow indians who participated in the signing of the treaty of fort laramie in 1868. They were hoping for reservation and land, and ways to live in the black hills. Again, so many treaties have not come to fruition. But there was hope on this day. This collection is just expansive. It has 200 images by alexander gardner. Gardner gained fame during the american civil war, worked with the Matthew Brady studio out of washington, d. C. , and many of the images that are memorable from gettysburg battle, the aftermath of the soldiers, the soldiers that died during the battle, are gardners work. And little was known about these photographs for many years. I mentioned earlier i have spent 30 years studying photography at the smithsonian. First at the National Museum of American History, and now at the National Museum of American Indian. And this small collection, but significant collection, was unknown to many of us at the institution, until the sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the civil war just in the last decade. And as we were researching collections and i was chairing an Editorial Committee for a book on civil war collections, one of the archivists invited me over to the American Indian museum to see this collection that i did not know about. Many of my fellow curators did not know about. And it ended up that there was a retrospective of alexander gardners work at our National Portrait gallery. And for the first time, the American Indian museum loan loaned photographs to another museum. So that was just astounding to me to be able to think about these gardner images, think about gardner being part of the civil war photography when first time americans were seeing wartime photographs published in books and then in newspapers and illustrated monthly journals. Then, he traveled with general sherman west as the indian wars begin. Just after the civil war. So from 1866 to 1868, gardner is traveling with the generals troops, and visiting the various sites, meeting these individual indians, and visiting the tribal communities, being witness to treaty signings and the gatherings, and documenting for history what is happening as the wars move again from east to west with the indian wars that would go right up until 1890. For that twoyear period, gardner is photographing. And these were the images kept by general sherman. Kept by general sherman, and then donated to the smithsonian. Sherman, and then donated to the smithsonian. So, just thinking about that journey that was happening and the hard moment in American History that continued, going from the difficult times, getting to the civil war, coming back together as a union, and then launching right into war in the American West with the indian tribes, and trying to move through the treaty making. It was, again, hard time, but gardners images capture it forever. Richard you selected this particular image as the kind of the banner for the lead into your article. What drew you to this one . Ms. Delaney you can see several types of images, and you can see a variety, seven, of the images online for this collection. I wanted to show the specific group that was signing the treaty. Again, we have an exhibition called nation to nation at the museum, which i highly recommend people see when we are able to get open again, but it goes through the history of u. S. Government treaties with native American Communities across the u. S. And, you know, a lot of times those treaties were not fully executed. And i wanted to highlight the treaties a couple of the images referenced treaties, and gardner being present at that moment and showing the men who were there to sign with the u. S. Government was important for me to show within the article. Richard what do you suppose gardners purpose was . Did he make money with these photographs . Ms. Delaney you know, he was the first wartime photojournalist in america. Not in the world, but here in the u. S. So he made his livelihood from photography. First, working for the Matthew Brady studios as i mentioned in d. C. , then, publishing a sketchbook of the civil war and selling volumes. You can find those in museums at the Smithsonian Library of congress and a couple of museums also still have that twovolume sketchbook he produced. And then, his images would be sold for use in news periodicals, journals, monthly journals, newspapers. So he was, for many years, very successful in his work. Richard the next photograph that you had in your article was this. Tell us what we are seeing here. Ms. Delaney ok. This is an image from the frank lennar collection, a photograph from Buffalo Bills wild west show. I have done a lot of research on william f. Cody and Buffalo Bills wild west. My phd dissertation was on art and advertising and buffalo of Buffalo Bills wild west. My interest in this area started from one collection at the American History museum, which is a portrait collection of sioux indian performers from the wild west. Gertrude k severe photographed those images that i started out with. The American Indian images in behind the scene photos which i like to see. What were the performers doing when they were not in the arena . A different element of what was happening. Instead of the performers in the arena reenacting things like, you know, the battle of little bighorn or horse races and other types of program acts that would happen during a visit to the wild west. Here is cody sitting with a couple of the performers. I am thinking that it is possibly chief iron tail at codys left, who performed for more than 20 years on the show circuit with cody traveling nationally and internationally with the show. Many of the performers were sioux indians from pine ridge reservation. I had the opportunity, with another smithsonian colleague, to visit pine ridge just two years ago. And to learn more about the families and the individuals who chose to leave the reservation and perform, whether it was one season or many seasons, there were lots of Different Reasons why an individual would choose to contract with a wild west show. And i wanted to be able to show one of these images that highlighted there was a relationship between cody and the indians. He was hoping this opportunity was not just a stereotypical look at indian life. It was an education for the public. And some indians chose to join him. And, yes, they were sometimes reenacting scenes they had lived, but they were also being paid. They were seeing the country and seeing the world, at least europe, at times when the show would go there, and there were many personal reasons for an American Indian man or woman to join the show. The families could also travel with the show. So, women would be behind the scenes, taking care of in the camp, teepees, were able to travel and live like and also Wear Clothing as they would. And they were not always allowed to do that when they were not always allowed to do that on the reservations in the u. S. So i wanted to highlight the collection and show the intimate moment behindthescenes, and the friendships that transpired between a lot of the indian performers and cody. Richard this category of photograph i think you called silver gelatin. What is that . Ms. Delaney silver gelatin photographs become popular especially through the Eastman Kodak company, from the late 1880s all the way up to digital, what we know up until the 1990s. You do not see too much photographic film available for sale these days, but the silver gelatin and the thought that the photographic paper made those beautiful blackandwhite images that we have seen through time. And much of the history of the wild west show were documented in the silver gelatin photographs from the 1890s to 1916, when cody was traveling with the show. Until color becomes popular in the 1930s, the silver gelatin is really primary, and it remains, today, a favorite of some artistic photographs, photographers as well, for photographs that we see. And throughout the archives, at and throughout the archives at the American Indian museum, there are many distinctive silver gelatin collections. Richard in your article, the next category going in the history of photography is stereo. What are we seeing here . Ms. Delaney another popular type of image for many decades from the 1850s all the way to the 1940s to the world war ii era. What we see in this images in an europa raid, a inaugural parade, a president ial inaugural parade from the time of theodore roosevelt. From 1905, in the parade, we have six American Indian chiefs coming down pennsylvania avenue. We are very familiar with potentially seeing this on television or here in d. C. Television. Or here in d. C. , many folks make it a tradition to go and watch the parade after the inauguration. And, again, just seeing ever present in American Life are our native and indigenous communities. And that is really at the heart of what we want to do at the National Museum of the American Indian is to make sure that our public, our visitors, students and teachers understand the rich history of American Indians preu. S. And through American History into today. And being part of president ial inauguration is about as american as it gets, i think. Richard is there a way for people to see these in stereo, or is that just something that is hard to do . Ms. Delaney you know, some stereo enthusiasts do have that, you know, opportunity through all time viewers, handheld viewers. And i think there are some programs online. Im sure you can search stereo photography, and learn how to do it with your laptop at home. Or your ipad, do a little searching to see how you can see the three dimensional reality of what those images, sidebyside, can bring. It is really fun to see them as the photographer hoped you would see them. Richard this is another category that you address in your article. Tell us about this. Ms. Delaney yes, so there are some subjects that i think we even need to investigate and research more and bring onto our exhibition floors and into our online exhibitions. That is the history of American Indian boarding schools in the u. S. This postcard photograph is from the 19 teens, 1914. And it is showing nurses at the Carlisle School in carlisle, pennsylvania, inoculating students. And, you know, just after this time there would be another worldwide epidemic of the flu in 1918. But here in the dispensary at the hospital, you can see that the health and welfare of the students was being taken care of. There is a long history from the late 1870s to the 1960s and even some Indian Schools persist today outside the reservation system for educating American Indians. There is a tough history there, a complicated history. And these postcards, again, a thatain, attest to history, and the groups, the Young Children here, shown at this Indian Training School photo, beautiful color images. These are real photo postcards. In the upper left of the screenshot, you can share a memory, talk about the schools, send this image to a friend or family member. And reading, you know, what folks are writing on the back of these postcards is fascinating. Here is a training room, a sewing room at the Indian School for girls. There is also images ive seen on these postcards of kitchens and cooking that happens at the school. Lots of athletics and teams, also, were part of school life. And, again, these were individuals, children who work were separated from their families, sent to live and learn to assimilate and to wear western clothing, western hairstyles, and it is tough, as you can imagine, for these students to be separated from native ways, native culture, native ceremonies. But there are ways that they also chose to succeed and excel here in the band, and military skills were also gained at the schools. And these historic images are a way for us to research that, and for us to include in exhibitions we consider around the schools as well. Richard while we are at this page why dont you, could you walk us through this information for people exploring photographs online . What is this over here . Ms. Delaney ok, so if you look at the smithsonian online virtual archives, it is one of the sites online that i recommend for you to find thousands of interesting photographs, you are going to see the field our archivists complete as they enter information. We try to enter as much information as you possibly can into these online collections. You see this series title indian boarding schools. The collection title. You can know who donated the image. The dow jenkins postcard and photograph collection, with many, many postcards like this. You see the image name and the date. The image name will clue you in, as is the number at the bottom, to how our archivists if you want to use them in a book or on website you want to use it on or publish an article, you are going to need to have that detailed image number information. The images that you see online are usually not restricted by copyright. Most of the time, they are so old, they are historic. There is no copyright restrictions still on them. But all of that information that goes into documenting for our cataloging also then appears when you pull it up online in sova, the smithsonian online virtual archives. Theres also this opportunity, there is this pd a button you can click on and download the information, and save it if you like. You can print it out, use it for future research. Richard thank you. So the next category of photograph you had was this Anne Bromberg photograph collection. Ms. Delaney again, Anne Bromberg is a working photojournalist, and working in documented photography. She is using black and white silver gelatin in 1996 to intograph this sheepherder navajo country. The word for navajo that American Indians use, she is a sheepherder. You can see there are multiple images that bromberg donated to the museum and captured different aspects of her day as a sheepherder. A sheepherder and every day life. The opportunity for our museum to bring to the forefront that a contemporary woman like dorothea is living as she is here, the native knowledge that is then shared from generation to generation of how life on the reservation goes, how farming goes, and the sheep hurting is captured very beautifully in brombergs photograph. Richard the final category of photograph in your article was the National Congress of American Indians. Tell us about that. Cellany im more and more aney when the indian wars and in 1890 and we push into the 20th century, there is such leadership to bring indian citizenship all the way to 1975 with the selfdetermination and sovereignty first tribal leadership. The National Congress of american has several thousands of photos set up at the archive, representing a whos who of American Indians, moments happening, and much of it in the 1960s and 70s, you know, there we are seeing pageant winner from one of the events at congress, but you will see men and women and students who are very active in American Indian life on the reservation, coming to washington, you know, really moving forward with some of the some of with what the treaties had not accomplished earlier, sovereignty over land, and leadership of their own tribe and communities. You will see many museums and cultural institutions arise in the latter part of the 20th century. Our museum is working to connect with tribal leaders, tribal communities, to share the history of the objects we have, the photographs we have, and having Something Like this collection where we see the evolution of native American Life and influence on america is just exceptional is the word with these archives and the whos who a meeting with president kennedy, president and i am learning so much about the nixon administration, and how that selfdetermination act came into law in 1975. And so here we have, again, in hyannis port, a meeting happening with the kennedys, governors from around the country. This is the governor of michigan, and leaders, frank george, i believe, from the National Congress of the American Indian. We have got a lot of research to do, and, you know, the 1970s, they are 50 years ago now. And i think i am very interested to see that the museum utilizes these photo archives, to make them available online, to bring them into stories that we do digitally online, and that is a big push right now, because while while so many people cannot get into museums, cannot get to research with us in person, we want to make sure these collections are available. And the National Congress of the American Indian, thousands of photographs to learn about history in the latter part of the 20th century. Richard so if someone is watching this, and they want to explore this collection, it is a little bit overwhelming when you think about the number of pictures. So is this where you begin . Ms. Delaney you know, richard, when you search online, you know, sometimes it is a grab bag and you want to be. But sometimes searching at smithsoniancollections. Si. Edu, or going onto the virtual archives, you just sometimes you hit the mother lode. And you have thousands of images. And you click through and you find things you did not expect. It like when i was able to get onto sova and search the 220 indianions the American Archives had available right now, i was fascinated. I took hours to scrolling through. And you can do that online with smithsonian. If you go to collections. Si. Edu and you see on the left side you can do an advanced search. You can type in words that are meaningful to you, to your family, to research, and begin to scroll and see thousands of options. If you know you want to look at the Anne Bromberg collection, type that in. If you want to learn about wild west shows, about president nixon and American Indians, you can do all of that and find searches that, hopefully, satisfy your need. You are going to find a lot more to learn from at the same time, because, again, we know, when you do a really generic search, you are going to get some really big surprises. And, hopefully, when you are looking at all of these images that come up as you modify your search online, you are going to learn about American Indian life, historic and contemporary, and you are going to see these incredible stories of the men and women, and the children, who have survived, who have persevered. During these times of covid19, you can read online, and you can search for the tough times that are being had on reservations across the country. You know, and we do studu the do study the western hemisphere. We also study canadian first americans. Indigenous populations in latin america as well as south america and the u. S. Right now we are thinking about how do we find the stories. We are very active right now. And we continue to reach out to communities and interact with communities to know that this history is important. American history ,through the lens of American Indian history, is American History. Richard tell us about how the pandemic has affected your work and your job. Ms. Delaney this 2020 pandemic. We have been closed as the smithsonian, the institution closed march 16, and we are only just now about to open a couple of the sites, the national zoo and the national air and space museum. The hobby center in chantilly, virginia will open july 24. We have been closed for a long time, and i know our secretary is very disappointed to have to have shattered our doors and not been able to serve the public as we have for 174 years in washington and around the world, especially we have a museum of American Indian new york as well, and that has been closed, specifically during a critical times in new york, and now. But we have been working from home. We are teleworking for the foreseeable future, because, even when those museums open, i do not think many of us will be back in our offices right away. We have been taking inquiries, trying to share information. I think that is why the information that is online, our Collections Online and these photographs we have been talking about today, is so important for it is so important for folks to know that they can learn while we are closed, and we can expand the digital offerings. Also at the museum, we have online native knowledge 360, which is teacher curriculum that focuses on American History throughout American History. So we can right some of the wrongs, some history that has not made it into textbooks and looking at native knowledge 360 is another way to search at our website americanindian. Si. Edu or search for native knowledge 360, and many of the images we are talking about today are embedded in the curriculum online. So we have been trying to become that Digital Museum we always wanted to be. And now, we have that with these uncertain, unfortunate time in covid. And we have also been wanted to wanting to be very respectful of what is happening in American Indian country right now. So we are also collecting digitally and thinking about what objects to collect in the future. That is different for our museum. We have not collected currreent current history. Other museums have. American history during the september 11 tragedy and black lives matter collecting with the American History of africanAmerican History and culture in our anacostia museum. There is active work happening, even though most of us are sitting in our living rooms, at our dining room, and in our offices at home. And we will continue to do that and try to bring new projects to life, even as we stay safe. Richard one less thing is the theuary 25, smithsonian launched 3 million images that are public domain. Tell us about that. Ms. Delaney open access has been something that smithsonian wanted to do for many years. Many museums around the country around the world are offering free and open access for use of images. We also do a lot of 3d imaging at the smithsonian. And so you can also have rights to all the files for those, if those. If you have a 3d printer, even better. So open access is something that every unit is committed to. There are many sacred and ceremonial images and objects in our museums. We are more limited in what we can put up online right now, but we keep researching, for how we can satisfy these open access highlights and requirements so that we can become more visible through open access. But you can search through open access all of the collections at the smithsonian and fine images you can use for personal use, for publication, if there any publication. If there any copyright issues, they are outlined as well. But open access is meant for free use, and with no fees, and as part of being an american, these are your collections. That is why it is so important for us to keep on becoming more accessible. Richard michelle delaney, thank you for joining us. Ms. Delaney thank you for having me. Youre watching American History tv, exploring our nations past, every weekend on cspan three area this week, we are looking back to the state in history. The 1964 president ial campaign has officially launched as 100,000 people assemble in detroit to hear president johnsons first bid for reelection. His speech is greatly concerned with nuclear weapons. While not mentioning coldwater by name, he answers his opponents call for nato forces with conventional nuclear weapons. He reaffirmed the need for strict, fundamental control. Make no mistake, there is no such thing as a conventional nuclear weapon. [applause] for 19 parafilled years, p years, this is a political decision of the highest order, and it will lead whosen an uncertain path outcome none may know. No president of the united vasts of america can do himself on the divest himself on the responsibilities for such a decision. [applause] as the chairs ring out in detroit, there are more in los angeles. 50,000 people joined the republican candidate at Dodger Stadium as he opened his campaign. Senator Barry Goldwater arrives withe coldwater arrives misses coldwater. This will take him into washington, oregon, and four other states. Mr. Goldwater took the occasion cut as cynical and went on to present promise a 25 reduction over five years if he is elected. Follow us on social media at cspan history for more posts. Tv on cspanistory three, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. This weekend, tonight, 9 05 p. M. Eastern, a look at world war i and the environment with the coeditor of environmental histories of world war i. He will discuss the diverse ecological impacts the warhead across the globe. It went far become physical changes to european battlefields , shifts in agricultural production, and this placement of wildlife and humans. On sunday at 3 00 p. M. Eastern, here about yales first female students after the university opened its doors to women in 1969, for the first time in its 268 year history, with the author of yale needs women. At 6 00 p. M. On american artifacts, explore the newly completed dwight d. Eisenhower memorial, located near the u. S. Capitol and set for dedication on september 17. At 7 00 p. M. , watch the 1960 president ial debate between john f. Kennedy and richard nixon. Watch American History tv, this weekend, on cspan3. You are watching American History tv, 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan3. Follow us on twitter, cspanhistory, for information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. The storied Texas Rangers marks the 200th anniversary in 2023. Next on American History tv, we hear about the history behind the myths from doug swanson, author of cult of glory the bold and brutal history of the Texas Rangers. While the rangers emerged out of a wild and violent texas, he argues its time to confront atrocities they committed against native americans, african americans, and mexicans. The falmouth, massachusetts museums on the green hosted this event and provided the video