Increasing Public Access to the Treasures of Edgar L. Hewett's American Southwest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The New Mexico History Museum is digitizing and making publicly available the manuscript and photograph collections of Edgar L. Hewett (1865-1946) thanks to a major grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission. An inescapable presence in early 20th century Southwestern cultural life, Hewett earned his nickname of “El Toro”. Among his accomplishments, Hewett was at the forefront of modern Southwestern archaeology. He trained a new generation of archaeologists, invited women into the field, and worked tirelessly for the United States Antiquities Act (1906). He led the Museum of New Mexico and the School of American Archaeology (today known as the School for Advanced Research) and preserved New Mexican cultural patrimony. He used his political skills and stubbornness to centralize cultural preservation and promote and establish New Mexico as a hub for the “groundwork of American archeology”, one of Hewett’s first publications. By making Hewett’s papers widely available, researchers can grapple with the history of Southwestern archaeology and the methods and systems Hewett built as he elevated American archaeology on the world stage. These collections will be publicly accessible via a digital platform. The photographic materials will be available for the first time as an organized research collection.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37927.0