Print from Wanamaker Expedition

Item Details

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1909

Very good

21” x 17” matted photographic print “A Vanishing Race”, measuring 14” x 11” showing an Indian on horseback wearing a headdress and holding a staff or spear. It was taken by Joseph K. Dixon during his first of his three trips to document the lives and cultures of Native American’s through photography, film, and sound recordings. These trips were sponsored by Rodman Wanamaker, who advocated on behalf of Indigenous people in the United States. Wanamaker and Dixon contributed to the stereotypical representation of North American Indians as a vanishing race of “noble savages”; Dixon’s photographs were often staged, manipulated, and titled in such a way to maximize the tragic/romantic appeal of his subjects. This image is very similar to one of his best known, titled “The Sunset of a Dying Race”. 

Now in the public domain, the original print is held by Indiana University Archaeology and Anthropology Museum. It was published in the limited edition title, A Tribute to the North American Indian, with the caption “Go, Fated Indian, to the Farthest Verge of Earth’s Remotest Shore.” This custom 1909 book by The Roycroft Press commemorated a dinner sponsored by Wanamaker, held in honor of Buffalo Bill and intended to raise money for the preservation of the culture and heritage of North American Indians through a statue at the New York Harbor to rival the Statue of Liberty. The statue was never built.

The photograph is excellent; the mat is dark brown with slight nibbling at the corners but otherwise very good.

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