Archives of American Art

Archives of American Gardens

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection Archive

Human Studies Film Archives

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum

National Air and Space Archives

National Anthropological Archives

National Museum of the American Indian Archives

Peale Family Papers, National Portrait Gallery

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Smithsonian American Art Museum Slide and Photo Archives

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Smithsonian Photographic Services

Affiliated Organization: National Gallery of Art

Human Studies Film Archives, National Museum of Natural History

Image of Egypt Charles W. Frost Collection

Charles Frost (on camel) in Egypt, February 1913

Human Studies Film Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746

301.238.1330
301.238.2883 fax

hsfa@si.edu
www.nmnh.si.edu/naa

Hours
Monday – Friday
9:30am to 4:30pm
By Appointment Only

Metro Stop: Suitland Station

The Human Studies Film Archives is an internationally recognized center devoted to collecting, preserving, documenting and disseminating a broad range of historical and contemporary ethnographic and anthropological moving image materials. The HSFA also collects related documentation including sound recordings, photographs, manuscripts and other associated texts, field notes, camera and sound logs and production logs. Whenever possible, synchronous audio commentaries (annotations) are obtained from the creator, other persons associated with the material, or from an individual with knowledge of the contents. Materials are available for duplication on a case-by-case basis depending on restrictions and other archival issues. 

Highlights: Among the highlights are seminal works of many well known ethnographic filmmakers, including John Marshall's !Kung (San) films, Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon's Yanomami film project, David and Judith MacDougall's Turkana Trilogy, and portions of the AUFS Faces of Change Series. Films and footage also include unique historical materials such as Joseph Dixon's footage of the Crow Indians (Montana, 1908); Matthew Stirling's footage used for By Aeroplane to Pygmyland (West Irian, 1927); Melville J. Herskovits' footage shot in Dahomey, the Gold Coast, and Haiti (1931 and 1934); Aloha Baker's footage of the Bororos (Mato Grosso, Brazil, 1930-1931); and Robert Zingg's footage on the Huichol and Tarahumara (northern Mexico, 1933). Of particular interest is an extensive collection of amateur and professional travel and expedition films which reveal much about both the filmmaker and the subject. The collection also contains a wide range of educational films, documentaries, television broadcasts, and outtakes.