The Edgar Lee Hewett Collections

An inescapable presence in early 20th century Southwestern cultural life, Edgar Lee Hewett (1865-1946) earned the nickname “El Toro.” Among his accomplishments, he used his political skills and stubbornness to centralize cultural preservation and promote and establish New Mexico as a hub for 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 School of American Archaeology (today known as the School for Advanced Research) and helped create the Museum of New Mexico, originally in the Palace of the Governors.

The Hewett Document and Photographic Collections are completely processed and available for research at the New Mexico History Museum. 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.

The New Mexico History Museum digitized and made publicly available the Hewett manuscript and photograph collections thanks to a major grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.