Joseph M. Dawson Sr. Photograph Collection

From 1923-1924, Dawson Sr. transferred from the Gulf Production Company to the Venezuela Gulf Oil Company and made trips to Venezuela as an oil geologist/scout on exploration teams, joined by Charlie Hightower, John Anderson, and Tim Zorg. Joseph M. Dawson Sr.'s photographs were taken primarily on the west side of Lake Maracaibo, La Paz, Cachiri, Campo Mara, Carrasquero, Guajiro, Sierra de Perijá, Río Negro, and Rio Palmar.

Dorothy Dawson Burlage, Ph.D., donor of the photographs and daughter of Joseph M. Dawson Sr., with the assistance of Betsy Caney, consulted with a number of sources, including the Venezuela Oil Desk, the University of Texas Geology Department, Justiss Oil Company, and the Smithsonian Institution. They also received help from anthropologists David Maybury-Lewis, Ph.D. of Harvard University, Johannes Willbert, Ph.D. of New York University, and Stephen Beckerman, Ph.D. Penn State University. The donor of the collection, Dorothy Dawson Burlage, gives special thanks to Venezuelan specialists and anthropologists Roberto Lizarralde, Ph.D., and Manuel Lizarralde, Ph.D. who examined the photographs to help identity people, places, objects, and activities pictured.

The collection also contains a selection of postcards picturing Orinoco peoples, as well as images of Curaçao, Havana, Cuba, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Venezuelan ports of La Guaira, El Bucare and Puerto Cabello.

Descriptions of photographs are provided by Joseph M. Dawson Sr., Dorothy Dawson Burlage, Betsy Caney, Roberto Lizarralde, and Manuel Lizarralde. Most descriptions are from Joseph M. Dawson Sr. Language and organization from donor were maintained. Uncertain descriptions marked with brackets. Additional information in donor’s file.

After the supporting documents, The Joseph M. Dawson Photograph Collection is organized into eight series: Exploration Party Members, Waterfront/Rivers/Lakes/Houses on Water, Cities/Maracaibo/Curaço/Puerto Cabello/Caracas/Cuba, Camps/Drilling Camps/Camp Activities, Countryside/Landscape/Livestock/Vegetation/Geology/Oil Seeps, Transporting Equipment and Supplies/Surveying, Indigenous People, and Postcards

Supporting Documents

Exploration Party Members

Waterfront/Rivers/Lakes/Houses on Water

Cities/Maracaibo/Curaço/Puerto Cabello/Caracas/Cuba

Camps/Drilling Camps/Camp Activities

Countryside/Landscape/Livestock/Vegetation/Geology/Oil Seeps

Transporting Equipment and Supplies/Surveying

Indigenous People

Postcards