Large Merl LaVoy photograph of U.S. Senator Hiram Bingham and Other Legislators Visting Samoa, 1930

11" x 14" photograph showing members of the American Samoan Delegation--headed by famed Machu PIcchu explorer Hiram Bingham--being received by local chiefs, as a Samoan man films the proceedings. A slightly different version of this image (with the Samoan photographer removed) was published in a 1931 U.S. Government report with the caption "County Chiefs Leiato of Fagaitua and Faumunia of Aunuu Entertain Commission at Fagaitua." The Delegation, which also included Rep. Guinn Williams, Sen. Joseph T. Robinson, and Rep. Carroll L. Beedy, was there to hear the grievances of Samoans living under U.S. Naval Administration governance and to determine whether to make changes to American policy and procedures. Photographer Merl LaVoy (1886-1953) was present as a cameraman for British newsreel producer Pathé News. LaVoy is well known for his photographs of indigenous life in the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, China, and Alaska, as well as for films he made for the American Red Cross following World War I. Other than some curling, the photograph is in very good condition.

Item #21940

Price: $150.00