Ansel Adams Photographs

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Records of the National Park Service

View of Valley from Mountain, "Canyon de Chelly" National Monument, Arizona View in National Archives Catalog

In 1941 the National Park Service commissioned noted photographer Ansel Adams to create a photo mural for the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC. The theme was to be nature as exemplified and protected in the U.S. National Parks. The project was halted because of World War II and never resumed.

The holdings of the National Archives Still Picture Branch include 226 photographs taken for this project, most of them signed and captioned by Adams. They were taken at the Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Kings Canyon, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Carlsbad Caverns, Glacier, and Zion National Parks; Death Valley, Saguaro, and Canyon de Chelly National Monuments. Other pictures were taken at the Boulder Dam; Acoma Pueblo, NM; San Idelfonso, NM; Taos Pueblo, NM; Tuba City, AZ; Walpi, AZ; and Owens Valley, CA. Many of the latter locations show Navajo and Pueblo Indians, their homes and activities.

The Kings Canyon photographs were taken in 1936 when the establishment of the park was being proposed. These prints were added by Adams to the mural project. The one photograph of Yosemite was a gift from Adams to the head of the Park Service, Horace Albright, in 1933.

In addition, there are eight photographs taken by Adams of Yosemite in the General Photographic Files of the National Park Service. These photos may still be under copyright protection.

To Order:

If you wish to order any of these photographs, please see the Ordering Still Picture Reproductions page. For questions or additional information about the holdings of the Still Picture LICON, call: 301-837-0561, fax: 301-837-3621, or e-mail: stillpix@nara.gov.

Note: Quotation marks indicate information which was copied from the reverse of the mount cards.

ACOMA PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO

BOULDER DAM, COLORADO RIVER

CANYON DE CHELLY, ARIZONA

National Archives Identifier Variant Control Number Title 519851 79-AAC-1 " Canyon de Chelly," vertical panorama from river valley. 519852 79-AAC-2 " Canyon de Chelly," panorama of valley from mountain.

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL MONUMENT, CALIFORNIA

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, ARIZONA

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

KINGS RIVER CANYON, CALIFORNIA

All prints are labelled: "Kings River Canyon (Proposed as a national park). Photos donated by Ansel Adams, February 1936."

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO

NAVAJO INDIANS, CANYON DE CHELLY, ARIZONA

OWENS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO

SAGUARO NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

SAN ILDEFONSO PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO

TAOS PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO

TUBA CITY, ARIZONA

WALPI, ARIZONA

National Archives Identifier Variant Control Number Title 519989 79-AAS-1 " Walpi, Arizona, 1941," full view of the city on top of mountain. 519990 79-AAS-2 " Walpi, Arizona, 1941," nearly identical, closer in.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING

YOSEMITE, CALIFORNIA

National Archives Identifier Variant Control Number Title 520018 79-AAU-1 " Half Dome, Apple Orchard, Yosemite," trees with snow on branches, April 1933.

ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK, NEW MEXICO

All prints are labelled: "Carlsbad Caverns National Park."

Records of the National Park Service

General Photographic File

(These photos may still be under copyright protection.)

Ansel Adams Photographs