William Henry Holmes

William Henry Holmes (1846 – 1933) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, geologist and museum director.

Life

Born in Harrison County, Ohio, Holmes graduated from McNeely Normal College in 1870 and briefly went into teaching. In 1872 he became a scientific illustrator with the F. V. Hayden survey. During these years Holmes traveled widely from the Northern Rockies to the Southwest. After it was absorbed into the U.S. Geological Survey in 1879, he was assigned to work as a geologist in the southwestern United States. He contributed pioneering reports on the terrain and geologic phenomena of Yellowstone Park, and completed early geological reconnaissance work in Colorado. As an artist, he was responsible for illustrative material in an atlas of the Grand Canyon. Holmes was a noted mountain climber, and peaks in Yellowstone Park and the Henry Mts. of Utah were later named in his honor. In 1875, Holmes began studying the remains of the Anasazi culture in the San Juan River region of Utah. He became particularly interested in prehistoric pottery and shell art, producing published works including "Art in Shell of the American Indians (1883)" and "Pottery of the Ancient Pueblos (1886)". He expanded these studies into textiles, and became well known as an expert in both ancient and existing arts produced by Native Americans of the Southwest.

Holmes left the Geological Survey in 1889 to become an archaeologist with the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. He left Washington temporarily, from 1894 to 1897, to serve as curator of anthropology at the Field Columbian Museum. He returned to the Smithsonian in 1897 to serve as head curator of anthropology at the U.S. National Museum. From 1902 to 1909 he served as Chief (i.e. director) of the Bureau of American Ethnology; during this period he studied the Etowah Indian Mounds of the Mississippian culture in Georgia. In 1910, he became chairman of the Division of Anthropology of the U.S. National Museum. In 1920, Holmes became the director of National Gallery of Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum), where he assembled exhibits of Indian arts from the Northwest Coast. His books include: "Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiquities" (1919).

Legacy

William Henry Holmes was a significant figure in the evolution of American museology and anthropology. He wrote prolifically on archaeological and anthropological subjects, focusing especially on the origins of Native Americans as well as the evolution of "primitive" art. His work in these areas seriously influenced national debate for some years. He also pioneered the use of diorama in museum exhibits.

Work

He published many works on archæological and anthropological subjects. He edited geological publications including Hayden's Atlas of Colorado and the eleventh and twelfth reports of the Geological Survey.

Publications

• Evidences of the Antiquity of Man of the Site of the City of Mexico (1885)
• Origin and Development of Form and Ornament in Ceramic Art (1886)
• Natural History of Flaked Stone Implements (1894)
• Earthenware of Florida: Collection of Clarence B. Moore (1894)
• Archaeoœlogical Studies among the Ancient Cities of Mexico (1895)
• Field Columbian Museum Anthropological Series (1897)
• Stone Implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake Tidewater Province (1897)
• Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States (1903)
• Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiquities (1919)

External links

• Works by William Henry Holmes. Project Gutenberg

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Fernlund, Kevin J. William Henry Holmes and the Rediscovery of the American West. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 2000 ISBN 0826321275

• Meltzer, David J. The Archaeology of William Henry Holmes (Classics of Smithsonian Anthropology). Washington and London: Smithsonian. 1992 ISBN 1560981520

• Sabloff, Jeremy A., and Gordon R. Willey. History of American Archaeology. New York: W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0716723719

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