Who was William E. Myers and what did he contribute to The North American Indian?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Curtis, Edward S. — Edward S. Curtis Self-portrait, photogravure by Edward S. Curtis, 1899; in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

William E. Myers was a former newspaperman who served as the principal ethnologist for the monumental project The North American Indian, which was published under the name of Edward S. Curtis.1

Although the publication was credited to Curtis, it was a collective effort, and Myers was responsible for writing the majority of the text for volumes 1 through 18 of the series. While Curtis was the driving force behind the project and captured the vast majority of the photographs, he relied on researchers like Myers to conduct the bulk of the ethnological research that formed the foundation of the work.1