Post by tkavanagh on Apr 10, 2013 13:48:20 GMT -5
I don't know if this has been pointed out before -- and I don't really have time to search the whole site (as much as I want to) --
Some of you may have seen those blue pencil handwritten letters "SPC", often accompanied by "Copy neg #" on a variety of photos posted here [e.g., SPC 016045.07" in the "Unidentified" thread], and wondered, "What are those numbers and what do they mean?"
These are images from the "Source Print Collection" (SPC) from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. Originally the Archives of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), when the BAE was disestablished in 1965, it became, first the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives (SOA-A) and then the NAA.
I am not sure of their entire institutional history of location, but from the med-1950s, they were in the Smithsonian castle, behind the Rose Window; documents were stored in fire-proof vaults in the tower itself. In 1968, the NAA moved to the basement of the Museum of Natural History (NMNH); most recently they have moved to the Museum Support Center (MSC) in suburban Maryland.
[As background, I have worked at the Archives in various capacities for almost fifty years: in the tower in 1967 as a volunteer fresh out of high school; 1968, in the NMNH basement as a "Private Roll" fellowship; 1989-92, as Illustrations/Artifact researcher for Vol 13 of the Handbook; 1992, Catalog of James Mooney photographs; and of course, innumerable research visits, most recently to the MSC last month. Been there, done that.]
Margaret C Blacker (Margaret as she was known) was the first designated BAE archivist, appointed in 1958. It was she who set up most of the photographic "Collection" categories, including the "SPC," and most of the writing on SI images is hers, sometimes with the initials "MCB."
As the name says, the SPC comprises "source prints." These are prints, photographic and otherwise, collected by Smithsonian people for whatever purpose and which ultimately ended up in the BAE/SOA-A/NAA. These are *not* (necessarily) prints of photographs produced by Smithsonian photographers, although many SPC images were in fact, Smithsonian products. The SPC also includes many images originally derived from other institutions collected by researchers for their own projects. Identifications made by various visitors to the NAA, sometimes valid, sometimes not, were often added to the images.
The SPC numbers are those assigned by Margaret, or by her assistants Joanna Cohan Scherer and Paula Fleming, both since retired. The current photo archivist is Gina Rappaport.
Since these are prints, they do not (necessarily) have original negatives associated with them. Thus, (until recently, via digital) any further reproduction had to come via copy negatives: thus the "Copy neg #."
[As an example of one of those "not necessarily" exceptions, the NAA has original prints from James Mooney's various field trips in the SPC. They also have original negatives, in other "collections". However, the two were not correlated; indeed, copies of Mooney images showed up in a number of different "Collections" at the NAA. As part of my Mooney Catalog, I was able to match up many, if not most, these photographic materials: orginal negative, vintage print, copy negative, copy print, etc., creating an "image number" with sub-number for different type of material or different location.]
Some, but not all of these images--although not their backgrounds -- are on-line (obviously, here) via the NAA. I have not tried to back-check posted numbers.
While I'm at it, some of these prints have the notation "OPPS." This is the Office of Prints and Photographs.
tk
Esimotsoraivo
Some of you may have seen those blue pencil handwritten letters "SPC", often accompanied by "Copy neg #" on a variety of photos posted here [e.g., SPC 016045.07" in the "Unidentified" thread], and wondered, "What are those numbers and what do they mean?"
These are images from the "Source Print Collection" (SPC) from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. Originally the Archives of the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), when the BAE was disestablished in 1965, it became, first the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives (SOA-A) and then the NAA.
I am not sure of their entire institutional history of location, but from the med-1950s, they were in the Smithsonian castle, behind the Rose Window; documents were stored in fire-proof vaults in the tower itself. In 1968, the NAA moved to the basement of the Museum of Natural History (NMNH); most recently they have moved to the Museum Support Center (MSC) in suburban Maryland.
[As background, I have worked at the Archives in various capacities for almost fifty years: in the tower in 1967 as a volunteer fresh out of high school; 1968, in the NMNH basement as a "Private Roll" fellowship; 1989-92, as Illustrations/Artifact researcher for Vol 13 of the Handbook; 1992, Catalog of James Mooney photographs; and of course, innumerable research visits, most recently to the MSC last month. Been there, done that.]
Margaret C Blacker (Margaret as she was known) was the first designated BAE archivist, appointed in 1958. It was she who set up most of the photographic "Collection" categories, including the "SPC," and most of the writing on SI images is hers, sometimes with the initials "MCB."
As the name says, the SPC comprises "source prints." These are prints, photographic and otherwise, collected by Smithsonian people for whatever purpose and which ultimately ended up in the BAE/SOA-A/NAA. These are *not* (necessarily) prints of photographs produced by Smithsonian photographers, although many SPC images were in fact, Smithsonian products. The SPC also includes many images originally derived from other institutions collected by researchers for their own projects. Identifications made by various visitors to the NAA, sometimes valid, sometimes not, were often added to the images.
The SPC numbers are those assigned by Margaret, or by her assistants Joanna Cohan Scherer and Paula Fleming, both since retired. The current photo archivist is Gina Rappaport.
Since these are prints, they do not (necessarily) have original negatives associated with them. Thus, (until recently, via digital) any further reproduction had to come via copy negatives: thus the "Copy neg #."
[As an example of one of those "not necessarily" exceptions, the NAA has original prints from James Mooney's various field trips in the SPC. They also have original negatives, in other "collections". However, the two were not correlated; indeed, copies of Mooney images showed up in a number of different "Collections" at the NAA. As part of my Mooney Catalog, I was able to match up many, if not most, these photographic materials: orginal negative, vintage print, copy negative, copy print, etc., creating an "image number" with sub-number for different type of material or different location.]
Some, but not all of these images--although not their backgrounds -- are on-line (obviously, here) via the NAA. I have not tried to back-check posted numbers.
While I'm at it, some of these prints have the notation "OPPS." This is the Office of Prints and Photographs.
tk
Esimotsoraivo
