HISTORY INTO ART AND ANTHROPOLOGY - Snite Museum of Art ...

CURATOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many individuals have contributed to the effort of exhibiting the Native American
portion of the Lindesmith collection at the Snite Museum, thereby fulfilling Father
Lindesmith’s stated desire to enlighten the public about the American West and
its significance to United States history. Over the past fifteen years, the following
undergraduate research assistants, under my supervision, have delved into the
records here at the University of Notre Dame and meticulously examined the objects
themselves in order to understand all aspects of the collection and its accompanying
documentation: Melissa Besada, Sara Brandon, Melissa Coles, Kevin Danchisko,
Erin Dunnagan, Ann Froyen, Brittany Haas, Lindsey Hays, Sara Kimball, Shaun
Martinez, Kate Musica, Elizabeth Olveda, Charlie Otterbeck, Lucciana Ravasio,
Christine Reiser, Shaun Rooney, Dan Schmid, Ashton Spatz, Kyle Strickland, and
Megan Sutton. Bethany Montagano not only contributed an essay to this book
but also helped with some aspects of the research. Most recently, Amanda Joseph
assisted with research and photography for the exhibition. And Jessica Bock, even
after her recent graduation from the University of Notre Dame, contributed volunteer
time to help further the project. In addition, the staffs of the American Catholic
History Research Center and University Archives at the Catholic University of
America, the University of Notre Dame archives, and the Congregation of Holy
Cross U.S. Province Archives Center facilitated the research by providing access to
records and photographs pertaining to Lindesmith and his collection.
The object photographs in this catalogue are the result of the professional skills of
former Snite Museum Staff Photographer and Digital Archivist Eric Nisly and of
Donald E. Hurlbert, staff photographer at the Smithsonian Institution National
Natural History Museum, who photographed the six pieces loaned by his museum
for the exhibition. Two of the Snite Museum’s registrars, Rebeka Ceravolo and
Robert Smoger, expedited the logistics of borrowing those half-dozen objects from
the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, as did that
museum’s registrar, Susan Crawford, who was indispensable to the process. John
Phegley, the Snite Museum’s exhibition designer, was responsible for the display
of both objects and explanatory material in the gallery. And Charles Loving,
the museum’s director, steadily supported not only the concept of the exhibition
but also the research necessary to contextualize both the collection and the life
of Father Lindesmith. He and two accountants, Stephanie Mead and Caroline
Niemier, successfully procured funding for and monitored the costs of both the
exhibition and this book.
The University of Notre Dame and the Snite Museum of Art supported the
research and assumed responsibility for certain costs associated with the exhibition
and catalogue as well as the costs of borrowing six important items—originally
donated by Father Lindesmith to the Catholic University of America—from
the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. That museum
arranged for me to view the portion of Father Lindesmith’s collection in its
holdings several years ago; thus began research on the Catholic University of
America’s part of the collection. The Congregation of the Holy Cross U.S. Province
Archives Center provided two early photographs of Father Lindesmith for this
book. Primary funding for the exhibition and catalogue came from the Humana
Foundation Endowment for American Art.
— Joanne M. Mack
Curator of Native American Art
Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame
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