Oscar Brousse Jacobson was born in 1882 in Sweden. While still in his youth he immigrated to the United States, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1908 from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. He pursued studies abroad in Denmark, France, and his native Sweden, before receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University, and later a doctorate from Bethany College.
From 1915 until 1954 Jacobson directed the University of Oklahoma's School of Art, mentoring a great many Native men and women during these years. In addition to his work as a professor, Jacobson was also an accomplished painter of portraits and landscapes. He died in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1966.
This collection is arranged chronologically into folders.
The Oscar B. Jacobson photographs of Native Artists collection consists of seventeen photographic prints, mainly taken by Oscar B. Jacobson in Oklahoma between 1917 and 1950. Jacobson was the Director of the University of Oklahoma School of Art for several decades in the first half of the twentieth century, mentoring many young Native men and women artists. This collection includes photographs of some of the many students who studied under Jacobson and later emerged as prominent artists, such as the group known as the Kiowa Six, consisting of one Kiowa woman and five Kiowa men. Photographs of other artists who studied with Jacobson include Jemez Pueblo artist Jose Toledo, Oklahoma Muskogee (Creek) and Chaticks Si Chaticks (Pawnee) artist Acee Blue Eagle, and Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Southern Cheyenne) artist Richard West, Sr.
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
This collection was donated by Oscar B. Jacobson in 1965.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Oscar B. Jacobson photographs of Native Artists, NMAI.AC.318; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Processed by Nathan Sowry, Reference Archivist, in 2022.
Unidentified Niuam (Comanche) man
Photograph of an unidentified Niuam (Comanche) man on horseback. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in Oklahoma in 1917.
The Kiowa Five
Photograph of the five male Kiowa artists known as the Kiowa Five. Kiowa female artist Lois Smoky (not pictured here) was also a member of this group, alternatively known as the Kiowa Six. From left to right are Stephen Mopope, Spencer Asah, Jack Hokeah, Monroe Tsatoke, and James Auchiah. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in his garden in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1929.
James Auchiah and Monroe Tsatoke
Photograph of Kiowa artists James Auchiah and Monroe Tsatoke. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in his garden in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1929-1930.
Spencer Asah
Photograph of Kiowa artist Spencer Asah. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in his garden in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1930.
Jack Hokeah
Photograph of Kiowa artist Jack Hokeah. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in his garden in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1930.
Kiowa Five with Oscar B. Jacobson
Photograph of the five male Kiowa artists known as the Kiowa Five with Oscar B. Jacobson. From left to right are Monroe Tsatoke, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Oscar B. Jacobson, Spencer Asah, and James Auchiah. Photographed in Jacobson's garden in Norman, Oklahoma, in 1930.
Craterville Park Indian Fair
Photograph of Armistice Day celebration attendees at the 1930 Craterville Park Indian Fair. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson near Cache, Oklahoma, in 1930.
Kiowa encampment at Craterville Park Indian Fair
Photograph of the Kiowa encampment at the Craterville Park Indian Fair. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson near Cache, Oklahoma, circa 1932.
Craterville Park Indian Fair
Photograph of participants and attendees at the Craterville Park Indian Fair. The unidentified man in the center may be Frank Rush, the founder of the fair. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson near Cache, Oklahoma, circa 1932.
Stephen Mopope
Portrait photograph of Stephen Mopoe. Photographed by Richard Gordon Matzene in Oklahoma in 1932.
Martha Koomsa Tsatoke
Photograph of Martha Koomsa Tsatoke, wife of Monroe Tsatoke, carrying baby Peggy in a cradleboard. Photographed by Richard Gordon Matzene in Oklahoma, circa 1932.
Jose Toledo and Sophie Jacobson
Photograph of Jemez Pueblo artist Jose Toledo and Sophie Brousse Jacobson, wife of Oscar B. Jacobson. Photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in Allenspark, Colorado, in 1937.
W. Richard West, Sr.
Photograph of the Southern Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Southern Cheyenne) artist, W. Richard West, Sr. Probably photographed by Oscar B. Jacobson in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1940.
Acee Blue Eagle and Devi Dja
Photograph of Acee Blue Eagle with his wife, Devi Dja, a celebrated Indonesian dancer. Probably taken in Oklahoma, circa 1940, by an unidentified photographer.
Acee Blue Eagle and his horse
Photograph of Acee Blue Eagle with his horse, "War Chief." Probably taken in Oklahoma, circa 1940, by an unidentified photographer.
Acee Blue Eagle
Photograph of Acee Blue Eagle. Probably taken in Oklahoma, in 1945, by an unidentified photographer.
University of Oklahoma students
Postcard of ten University of Oklahoma students, labeled "Soonerland Indians." Taken in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1950, by an unidentified photographer.