University of Cincinnati Collections

McKenney & Hall: History of the Indian Tribes of North America is a collection of 125 images of lithographic and chromolithographic plates. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785-1859) served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1824 to 1830. In that capacity he commissioned and collected portraits of Native Americans for his Gallery in the War Department. McKenney's goal was to publish a record of vanishing peoples: portraits, biographical sketches and a history of North American Indians. He accomplished this in the first issue of the History of the Indian Tribes of North America, published in three volumes between 1838 and 1844. James Hall (1793-1868) provided the text.

A supplemental bibliography to McKenney & Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America is available.

The images included in this collection are from a copy of the edition held in the Archives & Rare Books Library of the University of Cincinnati. Also included is one plate intended for but not included in the first issue and two plates from other editions of the work.