Shitennō-ji around 1880 (Photo: Kusakabe Kimbei – The New York Public Library Digital Collections via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

Japan is home to some of the longest-running businesses in the world. But none have run longer than Kongō Gumi. This construction company was founded in 578 CE. At the time, Japan's Prince Shōtoku was looking to build a Buddhist temple, but as the country was mainly Shinto, there were no carpenters with that skill set. So, he called upon miyadaiku (carpenters with training in building Buddhist temples) from a Buddhist kingdom that is now Korea. One of these carpenters, Kongō Shigetsu, formed the company and the rest is history.

Not only did they construct that initial temple, Osaka's Shitennō-ji, but they were also responsible for building Osaka Castle. Both of these structures kept the family-run business busy, as they were destroyed by fires and other natural disasters several times and constantly needed reconstruction. They were also kept busy as Buddhism spread across the country, causing a boom in the construction of Buddhist temples. But that's not the only reason for Kongō Gumi's success.

Their workers were highly skilled, with apprentices having to work for 10 years to hone their craft. To be considered master carpenters, they would need to toil for yet another decade. The company also organized its workers into kumi, independent groups with specific skill sets who work together on projects. This tradition continues today and allows the workers to push each other and to share knowledge.

Kongō Gumi has also remained flexible in the face of challenges that will naturally occur during a 1,400-year business. During World War II, the company pivoted to building coffins as temple construction ground to a halt. They also showed a willingness to incorporate new technology while retaining traditional building methods. For instance, after the Meiji Restoration, they began incorporating concrete into their designs. Later, they would pioneer the use of CAD (computer-aided design) for temples.

Perhaps most importantly, they took the role of head carpenter, who was the head of the company, quite seriously. Tradition dictated that the eldest son be named head carpenter, but there were several times that Kongō Gumi took steps to preserve the company if that person wasn't up to the task. If there was no suitable male heir, they would search for a competent match and bring them in as a son-in-law to both maintain the family name and the company.

Once, a female family member was even brought in to run things. During the post-World War I Shōwa Depression, when the 37th leader died by suicide due to financial declines, his widow Yoshie was named head carpenter. She showed remarkable skill, expanding the company and lobbying the government to allow them to produce coffins to survive. She also separated managerial positions from carpentry positions, which helped the firm flourish.

Until 2006, Kongō Gumi operated as an independent entity. That year, it became a subsidiary of the Takamatsu Construction Group. This has allowed Kongō Gumi to tighten its business model while still using the traditional construction techniques that made it famous. According to a 2023 business profile, the company has 110 employees, up from 80 when it was acquired.

It still brings in about $38 million a year, which can fluctuate depending on when large temple projects arise (the company also takes on residential and office projects). While the Kongō family is no longer involved in management, there is still one family member with the title of sho daiku (head carpenter). As the daughter of the 40th head of the family, she is the 41st head carpenter.

Japanese construction company Kongō Gumi is the world's longest continuous-running business and was founded in 578 CE.

Kongō Yoshie, the 38th master carpenter of Kongō Gumi and employees, 1930. (Photo: 撮影者　不明 via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

The company recently turned 1,446 years old and upholds traditional methods for building Buddhist temples.

h/t: [Open Culture]

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Celia Cruz Quarter, U.S. Mint

The “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz is the fourth woman to be honored in the 2024 American Women Quarters Program and the first Afro-Latina to grace a U.S. coin. This vivacious vocal powerhouse’s career spanned continents, genres, and decades. That’s a lot of life and musicality to portray on a small metal disc, but U.S. Mint medallic artist Phebe Hemphill was up to the challenge and created a striking pocket portrait.

“I knew I had to make the design for superstar Celia Cruz as dynamic as she was,” Hemphill said. “I watched her perform in her famous rumba dress and tried to create a design that truly reflected her greatness and vitality.” Hemphill uses a combination of traditional clay relief sculpture and 3D imaging software in her designs.

It would be quite the task to encapsulate the vivacity of Cruz, who is known for her powerful voice, incredible vocal range, improvisational lyrics, on-stage dancing and humor, and infectious flamboyance. The performer's style has also made an impact. Her looks consisted of impressively high heels, colorful wigs, and dazzling gowns featuring sequins, ruffles, and feathers. Several of her favorite outfits, including a Cuban Rumba dress, now belong to the Smithsonian.

Luckily, the quarter captures an exuberant Cruz in characteristically fabulous garb, smiling next to her iconic cry,”¡Azúcar!” (sugar)—a saying that originated in a joke about Cuba’s powerful coffee and became a beloved catchphrase of her performances. (The image of George Washington on the reverse side was designed by Laura Gardin Fraser in 1932.)

Born Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso in 1925 in Barrio Santos Suarez in Havana, Cruz loved music from an early age. Though her father wanted her to be a teacher, she left her training in education and attended Havana’s National Conservatory of Music. Cruz started out performing for local cabarets and radio shows, and one of her first big breaks was singing for a popular orchestra called La Sonora Matancera. The trumpet player, Pedro Knight, later became her husband and manager.

After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Cruz moved to Mexico and then New Jersey, launching a U.S. career that would include platinum and gold records, films, and Grammys, among other achievements and awards. One cornerstone of her success was joining the Tito Puente Orchestra, one of the groups that developed a popular new genre in the 1960s and 70s: salsa.

“I have fulfilled my father’s wish to be a teacher as, through my music, I teach generations of people about my culture and the happiness that is found in just living life,” Cruz said in 1997, six years before her death. “As a performer, I want people to feel their hearts sing and their spirits soar.”

Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz is now the first Afro-Latina to be featured on a U.S. quarter.

She joins other inspiring women in the 2024 American Women Quarters Program, including Zitkala-Ša, Patsy Takemoto Mink, Dr. Pauli Murray, and Mary Edwards Walker.

American Women Quarters, U.S. Mint

Cruz had more than 80 albums and songs, and artists in the music industry continue to feel the impact she has made.

Ritmo en el Corazón album cover. (Photo: Library of Congress)

The vivacious musician was also no stranger to the Latin Grammys, having won 4 awards herself.

 

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Watch the “Queen of Salsa” perform with Tito Puente in 2009.

Celia Cruz: Website | Instagram | YouTube | X
h/t: [ABC7]

All images via the United States Mint except where noted.

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READ: Queen of Salsa Celia Cruz Is the First Afro-Latina on a U.S. Quarter

Madame Decourcelle.

Paris is a city of many stories, Olympic and otherwise, including the legacy of some of the first female taxi drivers at the dawn of the 20th century. The taxi cab is a ubiquitous city sight even today. While women have always been a minority in the field of taxi drivers, they have participated since the beginning of driving motor cars for hire. In 1908, the same year the Ford Model T would roll off assembly lines to make history in America, two exceptional Parisian women paved the way for female taxi drivers. Mademoiselle Gaby Pohlen and Madame Inès Decourcelle defied gender stereotypes to establish themselves in a man's driving world.

Gaby Pohlen was a daredevil who enjoyed traveling, riding bikes, and driving cars. According to The Motor-Car Journal in 1908, she began driving in 1902. To drive a taxi cab, as motorized cars began to take on this previously horse-drawn role, she would need to be both licensed and hired by a taxi company. Pohlen received her license to drive a motor taxi in 1908, but as she told the reporter for the magazine, the trouble was getting hired. After repeated rejections, she was at last accepted by a cab company. She became one of the first female motor cab drivers in history, joined by Madame Inès Decourcelle also in 1908. There appears to be some debate over which woman technically hit the streets first, but certainly, both were pioneers.

In 1908, Pohlen expressed a desire to drive in a “speed race.” Whether she ever managed this feat or not, female drivers were edging into a man's world as more and more people purchased cars. In 1909, Dorothy Levitt published a “chatty” manual for female motorists. Levitt was a champion car and boat racer, and she became a champion of women drivers.

Her work and the pioneering female taxi drivers of Paris were conscious of the bold new frontiers open to women who had the skill and daring to drive their own cars. While cars remain a stereotypically male passion today, a long history of women loving the freedom and speed of the open road or making their living on wheels makes the history of the car equally a woman's tale.

Paris is a city of many stories, Olympic and otherwise, including the legacy of some of the first female taxi drivers at the dawn of the 20th century.

Madame Decourcelle and her taxi.

h/t: [Open Culture]

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READ: Who Were the First Female Taxi Drivers of Paris?

An artist imagines the Chicxulub impact. (Photo: Donald E. Davis/NASA via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

Once upon a time, dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Then, 66 million years ago, a gigantic chunk of space rock hurtled into the planet, creating a massive crater and raising clouds of dust and debris. Now known as the Chicxulub impactor, this asteroid obliterated thousands of species, including the massive land-roaming dinosaurs of yore. Yet much mystery still surrounds this event despite ample geological and paleontological research. A new paper in Science has helped solve one question: what type of space rock crashed down into Earth? As it turns out, a carbonaceous asteroid is the most likely answer based on the presence of Ruthenium, an element very rare on our planet.

Mario Fischer-Gödde of the University of Cologne, Germany, took a new tactic to help prove the recent contention put forward by scientists that the impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid. Carbonaceous asteroids, or C-type asteroids, are common in space, high in carbon content, and they are typically found on the far reaches of our system's asteroid belt. This means it’s from the outer solar system, beyond Jupiter.

Despite being quite common in space, siliceous asteroids are much more likely to hit Earth. Made of silicate and nickel-iron among other materials, these S-type asteroids fly closer to Earth on the inner side of the asteroid belt.

“So far, Chicxulub, among the 500-million-year-old impactors, seems to be a unique and rare case of a carbonaceous-type asteroid hitting Earth,” Dr. Fischer-Gödde told The New York Times.

To identify if the dino-killing asteroid was an S-type or a C-type, the researchers examined what is known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Around the world, the debris from the impact in present-day Mexico settled and formed a thin layer of rock in the geological record. This can be seen from South Dakota to India to Italy.

It divides the two eras in its name, marking geological time with rock high in iridium. Within this boundary, the researchers discovered isotopes of ruthenium. Ruthenium is an element, a metal, which is quite rare on Earth. But its presence in the K-Pg boundary indicates the asteroid's nature.

“It’s the nail in the coffin,” Dr. Fischer-Gödde said. “This ruthenium isotope signature that we measure cannot be anything else other than a carbonaceous asteroid.” This leaves many more questions about the asteroid and those dark days for the dinosaurs that paved the way for our own time.

The Chicxulub impactor, the asteroid which extinguished the dinosaurs, was likely a rare carbonaceous asteroid, raising new questions for scientists.

Ruthenium crystals in gas phase. (Photo: Periodictableru via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

h/t: [The New York Times]

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Photo: Lazyllama/Depositphotos

The Olympic torch relay is one of the most exciting events leading up to the games. Inspired by the ancient iterations of the games, the Olympic flame travels from Olympia, Greece, to the host city, passing through multiple, carefully selected people's hands. And much like the logo and the mascot, each organizing committee gets to design its own torch. Often a reflection of the trends of the times and the available technology, the Olympic torches have changed a lot over the last several decades, but they all share a common mission.

“The Olympic Torch Relay heralds the start of the Olympic Games and transmits a message of peace and friendship along its route,” reads the Olympic Games website. “First used at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, the modern torches of the Summer and Winter Olympics are built to resist the effects of wind and rain as they carry the Olympic flame, and bear unique designs that represent the host country and the spirit of the Games.”

For Paris 2024, the torch was created by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who aimed to convey the three themes of Paris 2024: Equality, Water, and Peacefulness. The torch boasts a symmetrical design with a wave-like, three-dimensional effect, complete with curves and rounded lines. Made out of steel, 2,000 of these pieces were produced by steel company ArcelorMittal.

Aiming to show the evolution of these iconic objects, the Olympic Games shared a guide of the last 15 Summer Games torch designs, dating back to Mexico City 1968. They all evoke the host city of each edition, from Tokyo 2020's cherry blossom shape to Sydney 2000's ocean blue streaks to Seoul 1998's carefully engraved details.

While the Olympic flame made it safely to Paris and now soars over the city in a balloon-like cauldron (also designed by Lehanneur), the trek will soon begin for the Milano 2026 Winter Olympic Games. For now, you can enjoy the Paris 2024 Olympics, which are well underway. You can follow the competitions on NBC and Peacock and stay up to date by visiting the Olympics website.

Scroll down to see the unique torch designs that have launched Olympic Games in different host cities.

The Olympic torches have changed a lot over the last decades—but share a common mission.

Final dress rehearsal of the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Ancient Olympia, Greece. (Photo: vverve/Depositphotos)

For Paris 2024, the torch was designed by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who aimed to convey the three themes of Paris 2024: Equality, Water and Peacefulness.

French radio host and humorist Clment Lanoue Olympic torch bearer on the promenade bordering the beach at Les Sables d'Olonne for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: Thomaspajot/Depositphotos)

Take a look at how the Olympic torch has evolved over the last 56 years.

Olympic Torches throughout the years pic.twitter.com/hHQzGDSR6F

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 29, 2024

40 years of Olympic torches. From Los Angeles 1984 to Paris 2024. pic.twitter.com/3DwSpXFsLq

— PrzemekSkyMan❇️ (@Przemek87394560) July 10, 2024

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François Antoine slaying the Beast of Gévaudan, 18th century. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Legends about werewolves are ancient. Mentions of men morphing into wolves appear in ancient Near Eastern, Nordic, and Greek literature and myths. The sensational nature of the mythical creature captures a sense of horror and magic that has endured from these ancient mentions to the modern Twilight. But the fearsome werewolves were particularly sensationalized in certain periods. For example, in 18th century France, a mysterious beast known as the Beast of Gévaudan savaged a rural village, killing over one hundred of the locals. This created a media frenzy surrounding just what this creature might be. Perhaps a werewolf?

Between 1764 and 1767, something “like a wolf, yet not a wolf” stalked the French locals, targeting women and children specifically. Described as much larger than an average wolf, it had a long tail like a feline. Its coloring was reportedly brown with a long black stripe and boasted talon-like claws. It stalked its prey and caused brutal damage, even decapitating many victims. While some survived these attacks by fending off the creature, it seemed to recover from wounds and escape efforts to capture it. The frequent attacks were so troubling and shocking that King Louis XV put a reward out for the animal and sent his hunters to try and capture it.

Near Chazes, the king's personal gunbearer shot a massive wolf, believed to be the monster. However, attacks continued for several more years. Across the Atlantic and the English Channel, newspapers worldwide reported on the beast and the deaths it caused. In 1767, the attacks finally concluded when a hunter, Jean Chastel, shot a massive creature. Autopsy records reveal there was still some confusion over whether it was, in fact, a wolf, but human remains were discovered inside the beast's digestion. The townspeople could finally rest easy, but the mystery of the beast has endured.

Today, the creature is often associated with werewolf legends, but many theories exist. Certainly, it may have just been one or more massive wolves, as wolf attacks were not uncommon in early modern Europe. Depictions of the beast are only mildly helpful, as they are likely vastly exaggerated and based on hearsay.

But its brown coloring and the stripe have created suspicion that a hyena or juvenile male lion escaped an aristocrat's menagerie and began terrorizing the neighborhood. Still, further speculation, especially based on the decapitations, has suggested a serial killer. This tragedy for the French village has continued to fascinate for centuries, inspiring a werewolf game similar to Mafia called Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux (The Werewolves of Millers Hollow).

A French village was terrorized by a creature that has gone down in history as the Beast of Gévaudan.

Villagers attack the beast. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

The Wolf of Chazes on display. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

This mysterious werewolf-like creature captured the attention of trans-Atlantic audiences.

The London Magazine depicts the beast in 1765. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

h/t: [Open Culture, History.com]

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Photo: Sotheby's

An exciting piece of history in American photography has just found its new home. A daguerreotype of Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison, was recently acquired by the Smithsonian after being sold by Sotheby's. It is believed to be the oldest image of a First Lady of the United States.

The picture from 1846 features Madison, then in her late 70s, wearing a crocheted shawl with her curls peeking out from under her famous turban. Her gaze is piercing, but shows a bit of amusement. “She’s got this little hint of a smile,” Emily Bierman, the global head of the auction house’s photography department, told The New York Times. “You can tell she was a commanding and venerable woman.”

Dolley Madison served as First Lady from 1809 to 1817, and has been credited for creating the role of First Lady as we now know it. By becoming the unofficial hostess of the White House, Madison held events and functions that welcomed politicians with rivaling views, fostering bipartisan cooperation among the nation's leaders. She was also praised for her bravery during the War of 1812, when she helped save a portrait of George Washington after the British set the White House on fire.

The black-and-white photograph of Madison was taken by John Plumbe Jr. at his studio in Washington, D.C., the city Madison called home until her death in 1849. Plumbe, a Welsh-born immigrant, tried to create a daily publication featuring portraits of “interesting public characters.” As a result, he became one of the most famous 19th-century photographers in the U.S. He was also an entrepreneur who established studios in more than a dozen cities.

Sotheby's didn't disclose the identity of the sellers, who found the portrait while going through a relative's estate. It is unclear how or when the family acquired the historic picture, but after noticing the daguerreotype featured Madison, they reached out to the auction house for an estimate. Since daguerreotypes are made directly onto chemically treated plates, they are unique and even more precious objects than regular photographs where negatives are involved.

While the auction house expected the portrait to sell for an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000, in the end it sold for $456,000. The sum was paid by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, meaning the photograph will reside in the museum’s permanent collection.

“The National Portrait Gallery is delighted to have acquired this exceptional work on behalf of the nation,” says Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs at the museum. “It will now be preserved in perpetuity for the public.”

An 1846 portrait of Dolley Madison, thought to be the oldest image of a First Lady of the United States, was recently acquired by the Smithsonian.

Photo: Sotheby's

The portrait features Madison, then in her late 70s, wearing a crocheted shawl with her curls peeking out from under her famous turban.

Photo: Sotheby's

While Sotheby's expected the portrait to sell for an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000, in the end it sold for $456,000.

Photo: Sotheby's

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

All images via Sotheby's.

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READ: Oldest Known Photo of a First Lady Is Acquired by the Smithsonian for $456K

A Sig Corps pigeon has a message capsule attached to its leg. (Photo: Signal Corps Archive via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

World War II saw technological and scientific advancements, like penicillin or the radar, that we still use today. But the war also saw the troops turn to more unorthodox methods for coordination. Among these was the use of pigeons to deliver messages. Many of them were strapped to tiny parachutes and placed in crates that were later dropped behind enemy lines in occupied France. Their work earned them medals after they flew to England carrying messages attached by the resistance.

“Thousands of racing pigeons were used by the Allies in the war and they saved lives and brought very important intelligence back from the French about the Germans,” explained Stewart Wardrope to the Daily Mail in 2013. Wardrope is the general manager of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association.

“The British dreamed up all sorts of ways of getting them to the French Resistance. They strapped them in little parachutes so that they couldn't fly off and dropped them out of the planes over a pre-arranged position.”

It is believed over 250,000 homing pigeons were used during the war.

Issues later arose with this technique, as there were problems with pigeons flying into the wings of faster aircraft, and anyone with a racing pigeon in France was considered a spy. However, these earlier attempts resulted in some interesting memorabilia from World War II: the tiny parachutes that took these birds to the ground.

One such item was found in an old shoebox, along with other D-Day documents, in the home of Mrs. Ellington, a recently deceased woman in England. The little parachute, made out of white cloth, includes a line and a vest for the pigeon—likely made of the same materials as a bra. This device is now on display at the House on the Hill Museum in Standsted Mountfitchet, Essex, as a reminder of the labor these animals performed during the war.

“Homing pigeons served the Army Air Forces very capably and valiantly during World War II. They transmitted countless messages within numerous theaters of operation and, as a result, contributed much to the Allied war effort,” says the National Air and Space Museum. “These message-carrying pigeons served bravely during times of war.”

During World War II, many pigeons were strapped to tiny parachutes and dropped behind enemy lines. Their work earned them medals after they flew to England carrying messages attached by the resistance.

 

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Una publicación compartida por K. (@finida)

‘The British dreamed up all sorts of ways of getting them to the French Resistance. They strapped them in little parachutes so that they couldn't fly off and dropped them out of the planes over a pre-arranged position.”

 

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Una publicación compartida por Katarzyna Kolanowska (@kkkasia)

One of such items was recently found in an old shoebox, along with other D-Day documents, in England–a reminder of the labor these animals performed during the war.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Matthew Norman (@mat_in_mcr)

h/t: [Good News Network]

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Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Fifty-five years after the historic Stonewall Rebellion sparked the fight for queer equality, the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center (SNMVC) has opened its doors. Located at 51 Christopher Street in the same site as the Stonewall Inn, it is the first LGBTQIA+ visitor center in the National Park System, since the site was named a National Monument in 2016.

The visitor center encompasses 2,100 square feet and is dedicated to welcoming visitors from all walks of life. According to a statement released by SNMVC, it will “offer an immersive experience featuring a rich tapestry of LGBTQIA+ history and culture through a variety of engaging programs, including in-person and virtual tours, informative lecture series, captivating exhibitions, a dedicated theater space, and inspiring visual arts displays.”

One such display includes the Wall of Solidarity, which is an interactive wall installed by Google. It features digital screens that demonstrate the lasting impact of the Stonewall Rebellion around the world. Panels called The West Wall give a comprehensive overview of the events that led up to the riots in 1969 and speak to the involvement of the NPS in the fight for LGBTQIA+ equality. The panels were put together by activist Mark Segal, who participated in the Stonewall Rebellion (aka Stonewall Riots or Stonewall Uprising) and is a founding partner of the SNMVC.

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Other exhibitions that employ art, technology, and music all help tell the rich tale of Stonewall's history and its reverberations across generations. Pride Live Co-Founders Diana Rodriguez and Ann Marie Gothard, two queer women of color, spent six years bringing the SNMVC to life as a way to honor and preserve the legacy of Stonewall.

“This experience has been a tremendous opportunity for both of us to give back to a community that has given us so much over the years,” shares Gothard. “It is recognition of the rebels who started this journey 55 years ago. It’s also a symbol of solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth growing up today who will always have a place they can come to and discover what our community is all about.

“So, we offer this gift to all generations of queer people: a home away from home. Today we connect the past and present here at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. And together with all of you, I know we will continue to build a bright and equitable future for our community.”

The star-studded opening on June 28, 2024 featured a performance by Elton John, as well as remarks by President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, underscoring the significance of the moment. Now open to the public, free of charge, the center is visitable from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A new visitor center has opened in the site of the historic Stonewall Rebellion.

Photo: Courtesy of Getty

The 1969 event was a crucial moment in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights.

Photo: Courtesy of Mark Segal

Photo: Courtesy of Mark Segal

The center, which is part of the National Park Service, features interactive exhibits about the history of Stonewall and its lasting influence.

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

The star-studded opening underscored the significance of the event.

Photo: Courtesy of Getty

Photo: Courtesy of Getty

“We offer this gift to all generations of queer people: a home away from home,” declared co-founder Ann Marie Gothard.

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson

Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center: Website | Facebook | Instagram

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READ: New LGBTQ+ Visitor Center Honors the History of the Stonewall Rebellion

White Shield – Arikara, 1908 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress, Public domain)
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In what he perceived as a race against time, due to the American expansion and the intervention of the federal government, photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis spent more than 30 years documenting Native Americans and their traditions.

Curtis referred to Native Americans as a “vanishing race,” and as such, wanted to document the customs and traditions of a wide variety of Native American tribes. To do so, he would need to secure wealthy patrons, allowing him to travel to different Indian territories, including a wide exploration of the American West.

In 1906, with the sponsorship of J.P. Morgan, Curtis undertook the production of what was set to be a series of 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs of Native Americans. Initially, five years was designated for the project, but its ambitious scale pushed Curtis well beyond the deadline. Under the original terms of the sponsorship, Morgan paid out $75,000 over five years in exchange for 25 volumes and 500 original prints. This was enough for Curtis to purchase his initial equipment to make the arduous voyages to each tribe, but money quickly grew scarce.

Curtis was on the move for more than three decades, living among dozens of tribes. During this time, he photographed well-known Native Americans, such as Geronimo, Red Cloud, Medicine Crow, and Chief Joseph. Interested in more than just photography, Curtis wished to capture a full view of Native American culture. While visiting more than 80 tribes, he created 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music, certainly an important component for preserving the tribes' legacy.

Cheyenne Warriors, 1905 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

To Curtis' dismay, The North American Indian was not the success he had envisioned—partially due to the onset of WWI, as well as diminishing interest in Native American culture. Less than half of the projected 500 sets were printed and scholars were skeptical of Curtis' observation skills. His images were posed, and he often paid people to perform in staged scenes or dances. While Curtis' imagery is a romanticized view of these indigenous populations, it is still valuable.

While there remains controversy over Curtis' choice to strategically eliminate traces of contemporary life from his later photographs, Laurie Lawlor, author of Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis, sees it differently. “When judged by the standards of his time, Curtis was far ahead of his contemporaries in sensitivity, tolerance, and openness to Native American cultures and ways of thinking. He sought to observe and understand by going directly into the field.”

Ultimately, he took over 40,000 images of the tribes he visited and documented a wealth of information about tribal culture. This includes folklore, clothing, traditional foods, housing, leisure activities, and ceremonies such as funerals.

It's estimated that today, production of the volumes would cost more than $35 million dollars. Incredibly, we can still view his work today. This is all the more amazing when one considers that Curtis destroyed all of his glass plate negatives. Curtis carried out this brutal act with his daughter after his ex-wife was granted ownership of his photo studio in their divorce.

There are many ways to still see Curtis's work. In 2004, Northwestern University digitized The North American Indian and placed it online. The Library of Congress also has a collection of more than 2,400 silver-gelatin photographic prints, about one-third of which are Curtis's Native American portraits.

If you are someone who loves to have a physical copy in their hands, Taschen published The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolio in 2015.

Born in 1868, photographer Edward S. Curtis spent over 30 years documenting Native American culture.

Self-portrait, 1899. (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

He visited over 80 tribes and took over 40,000 images to create his 20-volume opus, The North American Indian.

Navajo child, 1904 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress, Public domain)

Óla – Noatak, 1928 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress, Public domain)

Chief Garfield – Jicarilla, 1904 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

While his photographs are often staged and show his romanticized view of Native Americans, they are still historically valuable.

Maricopa women gathering fruit from Saguaro cacti, 1907 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress, Public domain)

Apache man, 1903 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Library of Congress, Public domain)

His work ranges from portraits to photos of daily life, housing, and ceremonies.

A Smoky Day at the Sugar Bowl – Hupa, 1923 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

Qahátīka Girl, 1907 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

Blackfoot Finery, 1926 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

Today, his work has been digitized by Northwestern University and the Library of Congress.

Pakílawa – Walapai Chief, 1907 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

Yanktonai River Camp, 1908 (Photo: Edward S. Curtis via Northwestern University, Public domain)

This article has been edited and updated.

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