PA Photos and Documents
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University – Richard H. Kern and Edward Meyer Kern Illustrations of the American Southwest
This collection contains sixty-eight original washes, watercolors, and pen and ink sketches by artists and brothers, Richard Kern and Edward Kern. The illustrations were produced during a United States military reconnaissance expedition under the command of John McRae Washington between August and September 1849 to document territories inhabited by the Navajo peoples. The illustrations include images of petroglyphs, primarily from El Morro; wall paintings found in an estufa (a ceremonial meeting space) in dwellings of Jemez people; ground plans and ruins of Pueblos, primarily from the Chaco Canyon area; portraits of individuals including Navajo and Jemez tribal leaders; landscapes showing cliffs and canyons in New Mexico and Arizona, primarily of Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly; pottery found at various Pueblos; and other images.