A.C. Vroman, 1856-1916

Adam Clark Vroman was born in La Salle, Illinois back in 1856.  He worked for the railroad, was an amateur archaeologist, and took photography seriously.  During ten years of his life, 1895-1904, he produced an incredible series of photographs of the American Indian.  Incredible, to this day, because he portrayed The People as human beings, and not as objects of anthropologic studies, or romanticized curiosities. 

Compared to others, especially Edward Curtis, Vroman is pretty much unknown.  Unlike Curtis, Vroman was not commercial, and the feeling of his images certainly confirms this.

In 1973, William Webb and Robert A. Weinstein documented much of Vroman's work in the book, Dwellers At The Source, published by the University of New Mexico Press.

This small gallery will show you but a sampling of the amazing images of A.C. Vroman.