Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Heye, George G.(George Gustav), 1874-1957

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role Collector Dealer/Gallery Scholar/Critic/Expert
dates 1874-1957
city New York City
stateNY
other citiesHudson, NY; Kingman, AZ;
sex M
historical notes George Gustav Heye was an engineer, investment banker (established banking firm in 1901) and collector of Native American artifacts, fine and decorative arts. Heye’s collecting funds were supplemented by money from family and friends.

Heye bought collections and documentary photographs, sponsored expeditions, and traveled and collected items himself, purchasing from tribes, villages and dealers.

His collection included North American, South American, Northwest Coast ethnology and archaeology objects as wall as archaeological collections from the Southeastern, Californian and Central American regions.

Objects in Heye’s collection included but not limited to wood and stone carvings, masks, bannerstones, birdstones, ornaments, ceramic vessels and figures (Colima, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Casas Grandes) and everyday items; such as, hunting and fishing tools, baskets, woodworking tools, ornaments, clothing, shields, paddles, drums, and wooden seats.

Heye created the Museum of the American Indian and his Heye Foundation in 1916 in New York City and was its director until 1956. The museum opened to the public in 1922 and became part of the Smithsonian in June 1990.

His collection forms the core of the National Museum of the Native American Indian in New York and Washington DC.
decades
of activity
1900-1910
1910-1920
1920-1930
1930-1940
1940-1950
1950-1960
websitehttp://americanindian.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=collections&second=collections&third=history
updated 02/07/2020 18:21:42
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Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details
Heard Museum
Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives
Handwritten note on Fred Harvey General Office Indian Department letterhead relating to Hopi Collection for Mr. Heye see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Joseph Keppler Jr. Iroquois papers, 1882-1944. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Notes made or collected by Lieutenant Allyn Capron, 1884-1896. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
At a council held at Edward [unreadable] 1712 May 19. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Conferences held with Indians at Easton, 1756. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
George G. Heye autograph collection, 1886-1928. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Journal of a trip from New Haven to the Missouri River area, ca. 1833. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Letters of Captain Alexander B. MacGowan, 1862-1887. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Letters to George and Thea Heye from Lorenzo Chavez and other Zuni Pueblo Indians, 1916-1930. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Reginald Pelham Bolton collection: notes regarding Indians near Inwood Hill Park, New York City, 1900-1935. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Testimonial for giving Indians medals, engraved by Henry Dawkins, 1946. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Treaty of peace with the Delaware Nation, also documentation and supplemental treaty, 1765. see details...
National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center
MRC-541, Cultural Resources Center
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Photographic Archives. see details...
American Philosophical Society
Library
Manuscripts on Native Americans, 1913-1946. see details...
University of California, Berkeley
The Bancroft Library
Samuel Alfred Barrett papers, 1893-1977. see details...
The Brooklyn Museum Libraries and Archives
200 Eastern Parkway
Culin Archival Collection Series 1: General Correspondence 1886-1929 1919-1929 (bulk). see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Edward H. Davis papers, 1910-1929. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Stockbridge Indian papers, 1739-1915. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Catalogue of valuable printed books, illuminated and other manuscripts, autograph letters, topographical drawings of American Interest, 1936. see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Catalogs and advertisements for Indian traders [ca.1900]. see details...
University of Pennsylvania
Rare Book & Manuscript Library Collections
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Correspondence with Henry Charles Lea, 1892-1909.
see details...
Cornell University Libraries
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Minutes of conferences held at Fort Pitt, 1760. see details...
American Philosophical Society
Library
Franz Boas Papers, 1862-1942. see details...
National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center
MRC-541, Cultural Resources Center
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Library. Miscellaneous manuscripts about North American Indians, 1695-[ca.1929] see details...
Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Dept.
University of Maine
Frank G. Speck Penobscot Indian Photographs see details...
National Anthropological Archives
Smithsonian Institution Museum Support Center
Jesse Logan Nusbaum Papers ca. 1900-1980 see details...
National Anthropological Archives
Smithsonian Institution Museum Support Center
Bureau of American Ethnology General Correspondence 1909-1949 see details...
National Anthropological Archives
Smithsonian Institution Museum Support Center
Ales Hrdlicka Papers ca. 1887-1943 see details...
National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center
MRC-541, Cultural Resources Center
Mark Raymond Harrington Photograph Collection, 1899-1947. see details...
National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center
MRC-541, Cultural Resources Center
Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation records, 1890-1998. see details...
National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center
MRC-541, Cultural Resources Center
Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku Expedition Photograph Collection 1917-1923 see details...

see also:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956