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      The Lewis Henry Morgan Collection of mid-nineteenth century Iroquois materials was made by Morgan between 1849 and 1850 for the Historical and Antiquarian Collection of the New York State Cabinet of Natural History, which was to become the New York State Museum (NYSM). Morgan, now often described as "The Father of American Anthropology," collected or had made approximately 500 objects, representing all aspects of Iroquois life. In this, he was aided by members of the Seneca Iroquois William Parker family, particularly son Ely S. Parker, who is best known as aide-de-camp to General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. Morgan's 1848, 1849, and 1850 reports, detailing the traditional production and use of these objects, were pathbreaking ethnographic documents. Tragically, a 1911 fire in the State Capitol destroyed much of the collection, making the remaining pieces particularly rare and significant.

      In 2000, the NYSM received a matching grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to provide conservation treatment for the eleven most fragile objects remaining in the Morgan Collection, to produce custom-made supports for the remainder, and to help acquire new storage cabinets for the collection. All objects were photographed, and the Museum's database was updated with complete descriptive and background information for each piece. Also in 2000, the Museum acquired, through the generous donation of Mr. William Guthman, a set of watercolors painted in 1849 that depict 35 of the objects collected in that year.

      This webpage describes the history of the collection, the individual objects still in the collection, and the recent project to conserve and rehouse them, and provides images of objects as they appeared at the time of their collection and as they are today.

		Morgan Collection Background and History Why and how the collection was made, its use and care over the years
		Watercolored Pencil Drawings from the Parker-Reuss Presentation Book Images of objects collected in 1849, from which were made engravings and lithographs for publication
		Illustrations from Morgan's Reports to the Regents Engavings and colored plates showing objects in the original collection
		The NYSM Morgan Collection Today Types of objects collected, images and descriptions of surviving objects, information about them from Morgan and others
		Images Showing Conservation Treatment and Rehousing Results of the 2000-2001 IMLS-sponsored conservation project
		Image Index Photographs, engravings, and lithographs of Morgan Collection objects organized by functional type
		Orthography Used for Seneca Names Symbols indicating pronunciation of Seneca words
		Further Information References to publications and computer network links
		Credits and Acknowledgements