We present our catalog of U, B, V, and I stellar photometry of the central 18 sq. degree area of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We combine our data with the 2MASS and DENIS catalogs to provide, when available, U through K_S data for stars. Internal and external astrometric and photometric tests using existing optical photometry (U, B, and V from Massey's bright star catalog; B, V, and I from the microlensing database of OGLE and I from the near-infrared sky survey DENIS) are used to determine the observational uncertainties and identify systematic errors. We fit stellar atmosphere models to the optical data to check the consistency of the photometry for individual stars across the passbands and to estimate the line-of-sight extinction. Finally, we use the estimated line-of-sight extinctions to produce an extinction map across the Small Magellanic Cloud and investigate the nature of extinction as a function of stellar population.

28 pages (higher quality figures available at http://ngala.as.arizona.edu/dennis/smcfigs); accepted for publication in AJ