The Donald J. Ortner Papers, dated 1963 to 2013, document his research and professional activities while working in the Division of Physical Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. They primarily deal with his contributions to the field of paleopathology and his work with specimens from Bab edh-Dhra, Jordan and Chichester, England. The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence, files related to Ortner's publications, specimen observations and analysis, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Donald J. Ortner Papers primarily document his projects, research, and correspondence working as a biological anthropologist in the Division of Physical Anthropology of the Department of Anthropology from 1963 until his death in 2012. The bulk of the projects represented relate to his work in paleopathology, such as the Near Eastern skeletal biology program in Jordan and the medieval skeletal disease project in England. The collection consists of notes, research materials, correspondence, data and data analysis, transcripts of specimen observations, maps, blueprints, artwork, negatives, slides, photographs, CD-Roms, floppy discs, and sound cassettes.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 8 series: Series 1. Correspondence, 1966-2012; Series 2. Subject files, 1965-2013, undated; Series 3. Near Eastern Skeletal Biology Program, 1977-2010, undated; Series 4. Medieval Skeletal Disease Project, 1988-2006, undated; Series 5. Other publications, projects, and research, 1963-2011, undated; Series 6. Professional activities, 1971-2007, undated; Series 7. Biographical and office files, 1963-2011, undated; Series 8. Artwork, 1978, undated
Biographical Note:
Donald J. Ortner was a biological anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). By the time of his death, Ortner had served in many positions at the Museum, including Acting Director (1994-1996). His areas of expertise included human paleopathology, human health in medieval England, bioarcheology of the ancient Near East, and the history and evoluton of human infectious diseases. Ortner was a founding member of the Paleopathology Association.
Ortner was born in 1938 in Stoneham, Massachusetts and arrived at the NMNH in 1963, working primarily with J. Lawrence Angel who had recently started as Curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology. While working at the Museum, Ortner completed his Master's in Anthropology in 1967 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1970. His doctoral dissertation was on The Effects of Aging and Disease on the Micromorphology of Human Compact Bone.
Ortner worked with Walter G. J. Putschar, a pathologist based at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, on a series of short-courses (1971-1974) on paleopathology at the Smithsonian. During the summer of 1974, Putschar and Ortner traveled to Europe (London, Edinburgh, Zurich, Strasbourg, Vienna, Prague) studying and photographing examples of skeletal pathology in museums and other repositories. The result of this research was the book Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains published in 1981, with later editions in 1985 and 2003.
In 1977, Ortner joined the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain directed by archaeologists Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub, focusing on the site of Bab edh-Dhra. Ortner studied the tombs and skeletons for data indicating cultural and biological changes, especially urbanization and connection to the development of other "Western civilizations." Ortner participated in two more field seasons in Bab edh-Dhra in 1979 and 1981. From his research at Bab-edh-Dhra, Ortner published many scholarly articles and recreated two tombs for the Hall of Western Civilization at NMNH.
In 1988, Ortner began his collaboration with the University of Bradford in Bradford, England, teaching short-courses on paleopathology. While a Visiting Professor at the University, he also participated in a project on human health and disease in Medieval England. The project focused on leprosy and syphilis in skeletons from St. James Hospital's leprosarium cemetery in Chichester, Wharram Perry, and Magistrates' Court in Kingston-upon-Hull. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University in 1995.
Donald J. Ortner died on April 29th, 2012 in Maryland.
Sources consulted:
Ubelaker, D. H. "Obituary: Donald J. Ortner (1938–2012)." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 149 (2012): 155–156.
Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Ann Kaupp. "Donald J. Ortner, Sr. (1939-2012)." Anthropolog: Newsletter of the Department of Anthropology, Spring 2012: 1-3.
Chronology
1938 -- Born on August 23 in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
1960 -- Received B.A. in Zoology from Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland.
1963 -- Began working at the Smithsonian Institution.
1967 -- Received M.A. in Anthropology from Syracuse University.
1969 -- Promoted to Assistant Curator.
1970 -- Received Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
1971 -- Promoted to Associate Curator.
1971-1975 -- Taught part-time at the University of Maryland.
1974 -- Spent summer with Dr. Walter G. J. Putschar studying pathological specimens in Europe.
1976 -- Promoted to Curator in the Anthropology Department, National Museum of Natural History.
1977 -- First field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1979 -- Second field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1981 -- Third field season at Bab edh-Dhra cemetery site in Jordan.
1988 -- Began association with the University of Bradford in Bradford, England.
1988-1992 -- Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History.
1994-1996 -- Acting Director of the National Museum of Natural History.
1995 -- Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of Bradford.
1999-2001 -- President of the Paleopathology Association.
2005 -- Received Eve Cockburn Award from the Paleopathology Association in recognition of his contributions in the field of paleopathology.
2012 -- Died on April 29 in Maryland.
Related Materials:
The following photo lots depicting Donald J. Ortner can be found at the NAA:
Photo Lot 7D: Photograph of attendees after American Anthropological Association annual meeting, 1965
Photo Lot 7A: Portraits made at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1970
Photo Lot 77-45: Photograph of Smithsonian Institution physical anthropologists, circa 1977
Photo Lot 4822: Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of physical anthropologists, undated
Sound recordings of Donald J. Ortner at the NAA:
John Lawrence Angel Papers, Sound Recordings, "How Humans Adapt: A Biocultural Odyssey," November 9, 1981
Other collections at the NAA in which Donald J. Ortner is a correspondent or creator of material:
Records of the Department of Anthropology, 1877-1980
Department of Anthropology Annual Reports, 1920-1983
John Lawrence Angel Papers, 1930s-1980s
Three films that document Ortner's work in Bab edh-Dhra are located in the Human Studies Film Archives (HSFA):
Film number 2000.9.1, The Bones of Bab edh-Dhra, ca. 1970s
Film number 2000.9.3, Bab edh-Dhra Film Project, 1970-1980
Film number 2014.3, City of the Dead, 1978
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds the original City of the Dead in Accession 05-282, Office of Telecommunications, Productions.
Provenance:
These papers were transferred to the NAA from the Department of Anthropology in 2014.
Restrictions:
The Donald J. Ortner Papers are open for research.
Access to the Donald J. Ortner Papers requires an appointment.
Requests to view forensic files are subject to review by the NAA. Forensic files can only be
viewed in the National Anthropological Archives reading room. No copies are permitted unless
permission is granted by the agency the report was written for.
Electronic records are unavailable for research. Please contact the reference archivist for
additional information.
Use of audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
50 Stereographs (circa 50 printed stereographs, halftone and color halftone)
1,000 Stereographs (circa, albumen and silver gelatin (some tinted))
239 Prints (circa 239 mounted and unmounted prints, albumen (including cartes de visite, imperial cards, cabinet cards, and one tinted print) and silver gelatin (some modern copies))
96 Prints (Album :, silver gelatin)
21 Postcards (silver gelatin, collotype, color halftone, and halftone)
Photographs relating to Native Americans or frontier themes, including portraits, expedition photographs, landscapes, and other images of dwellings, transportation, totem poles, ceremonies, infants and children in cradleboards, camps and towns, hunting and fishing, wild west shows, food preparation, funeral customs, the US Army and army posts, cliff dwellings, and grave mounds and excavations. The collection also includes images of prisoners at Fort Marion in 1875, Sioux Indians involved in the Great Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, the Fort Laramie Peace Commission of 1868, Sitting Bull and his followers after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
There are studio portraits of well-known Native Americans, including American Horse, Big Bow, Four Bears, Iron Bull, Ouray, Red Cloud, Red Dog, Red Shirt, Sitting Bull, Spotted Tail, Three Bears, and Two Guns White Calf. Depicted delegations include a Sauk and Fox meeting in Washington, DC, with Lewis V. Bogy and Charles E. Mix in 1867; Kiowas and Cheyennes at the White House in 1863; and Dakotas and Crows who visited President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Images of schools show Worcester Academy in Vinita, Oklahoma; Chilocco Indian School; Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Haskell Instittue, and Albuquerque Indian School.
Some photographs relate to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876; World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893; Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, 1903; and Centennial Exposition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railraod, 1876. Expedition photographs show the Crook expedition of 1876, the Sanderson expedition to the Custer Battlefield in 1877, the Wheeler Survey of the 1870s, Powell's surveys of the Rocky Mountain region during the 1860s and 1870s, and the Hayden Surveys.
Outstanding single views include the party of Zuni group led to the sea by Frank Hamilton Cushing; Episcopal Church Rectory and School Building, Yankton Agency; Matilda Coxe Stevenson and a companion taking a photographs of a Zuni ceremony; John Moran sketching at Acoma; Ben H. Gurnsey's studio with Indian patrons; Quapaw Mission; baptism of a group of Paiutes at Coeur d'Alene Mission; court-martial commission involved in the trial of Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds, 1877; President Harding at Sitka, Alaska; Walter Hough at Hopi in 1902; and Mrs. Jesse Walter Fewkes at Hopi in 1897.
Biographical/Historical note:
George V. Allen was an attorney in Lawrence, Kansas and an early member of the National Stereoscope Association. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Allen made an extensive collection of photographs of the American West, mostly in stereographs, but also including cartes-de-visite and other styles of mounted prints, photogravures, lantern slides, autochromes, and glass negatives.
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Book Reviews by Knez regarding India, Korea, and Museums, 1955-1987.
Collection Creator:
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010 Search this
Container:
Box 5
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents note:
Includes a review of Brandt, Vincent S. R., A Korean Village: Between Farm and Sea, 1972, and Fischer and Shah, Rural Craftsman and Their Work: Equipment and Techniques in the Mer Village of Ratadi in Sanrashitra, India, 1970; Evelyn McCune, "The Arts of Korea: an Illustrated History," 1961; and Joan V. Underwood, Concise English-Korean Dictionary, 1955.
Collection Restrictions:
The Eugene Irving Knez papers are open for research.
Access to the Eugene Irving Knez papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Eugene Irving Knez papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010 Search this
Extent:
3 Folders
Container:
Box 10
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents note:
Contains memoranda to and from Knez along with copies forwarded to him for information purposes. Subject contents include appraisal and recommendations for purchasing collections; missing NMNH collections; Department of Anthropology collection policy changes and curators' response to the new policy, 1978; requests for Knez to provide tours for foreign visitors; requests to borrow Museum collections for Smithsonian exhibitions; information about slide sets and scripts for mounted exhibitions; requests by Knez to change label information in some of the exhibition halls and his involvement with Hall 26. There is also a request that Knez serve on the Curatorial Committee on Decorative Arts, 1976.
Collection Restrictions:
The Eugene Irving Knez papers are open for research.
Access to the Eugene Irving Knez papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Eugene Irving Knez papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010 Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
1946-1977
Scope and Contents note:
The images in this series document cultural object collections, people, culture, and geographical locations. The initial basis for the description to this series comes from the finding aid written by Barbara Coons in April 1980. Additional information about the collections have been found since that date and additional images have been transferred to the Knez papers after 1980. As a result, the series description and notes to specific collections have been revised. Most of the photographic materials which comprise this series were collected from various sources by Knez and relate to his work as Curator of Asian Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History (previously the United States National Museum), Smithsonian Institution. A good segment of the photographic materials in this series document the arts, crafts, buildings, and people of the Pakistani states of Sind and Baluchistan. Because most of the photographs were labeled "West Pakistan," it can be assumed that they were taken prior to December, 1971, when war separated Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) from Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan). The remainder of the series includes photographs of Thailand, Tibet, pictures of the opening of a 1973 Smithsonian exhibition on Bhutan, objects in a Korean Art exhibition, a Chinese temple, Japanese folk art, Korean art, culture, and archeology, and India. Photographs documenting Knez's family dating back to the 1930s, field trips in the Southwest around the late 1930s, his army activities during World War II, photographs taken in Korea from around the 1920s to the 1940s and during the Korean War will be found under series thirteen, biographical and autobiographical material. Photographs may also be found in the series subject file, exhibitions, and research projects. Some of the photographic content overlap between all of these series. There are also some photographs in the geographical and publication series. This series consists of black and white prints (many with negatives), color prints and negatives, color slides, glass plates, postcards, and photo cards.
Collection Restrictions:
The Eugene Irving Knez papers are open for research.
Access to the Eugene Irving Knez papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Eugene Irving Knez papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010 Search this
Container:
Box 143
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents note:
Contains black and white 4x5 prints and negatives of approximately two-hundred different examples of Sindhi arts and crafts. The collection was probably created by Dr. and Mrs. Sherman A. Minton during his visiting professorship at the postgraduate Medical Center in Karachi, Pakistan, 1958-1962. The photographs are arranged according to Minton Collection numbers and are interfiled with numerous duplicate prints and lengthy descriptions typewritten on 5x8 cards or handwritten on 5x8 slips of paper. Includes many pictures of clothing, jewelry, and textiles.
Collection Restrictions:
The Eugene Irving Knez papers are open for research.
Access to the Eugene Irving Knez papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Eugene Irving Knez papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Knez, Eugene I. (Eugene Irving), 1916-2010 Search this
Container:
Box 145
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents note:
Approximately two-hundred and fifty 4x5 black and white prints and negatives of the arts and crafts of West Pakistan. The prints are filed according to the Fuller collection numbers appearing on the verso of the prints. Prints not bearing Fuller collection numbers have arbitrarily assigned numbers which appear in brackets. Captions for seventy-four of the items, as well as negative and multiple prints, are interfiled according to those numbers. Most have indications of scale and three digit cataloging classifications. Subject matter includes pictures of jewelry, clothing and other textiles. There are also eighteen envelope of strip negatives and eight boxes of slides of these same items.
Collection Restrictions:
The Eugene Irving Knez papers are open for research.
Access to the Eugene Irving Knez papers requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Eugene Irving Knez papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
