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Creator:
Asch, Timothy, 1932-1994  Search this
Correspondent:
Albert, Bruce  Search this
Andrews, Scott  Search this
Balikci, Asen, 1929-  Search this
Beidelman, Tom  Search this
Bermudez, Beatrice  Search this
Brigard, Emilie de  Search this
Cardozo, Jesus  Search this
Carpenter, Edmund, 1922-2011  Search this
Chagnon, Napoleon A., 1938-  Search this
Connor, Linda  Search this
Fox, James  Search this
Freeman, Derek  Search this
Harrison-Pepper, Sally  Search this
Heider, Karl  Search this
Homiak, John P. (John Paul), 1947-  Search this
Jules-Rosette, Benneta  Search this
Kamerling, Lenny  Search this
Lewis, Doug  Search this
Lizot, Jacques  Search this
Loizos, Peter  Search this
Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978  Search this
Mello, James F., 1936-  Search this
Middleton, John  Search this
Piault, Collette  Search this
Preloran, Jorge, 1933-2009  Search this
Rouch, Jean  Search this
Ruby, Jay  Search this
Smith, Patrice  Search this
Storas, Frode  Search this
Tax, Sol, 1907-1995  Search this
Wayang, Mark  Search this
Wayang, Mary  Search this
Young, Tao  Search this
Extent:
62 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound recordings
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Photographs
Place:
Venezuela
Date:
1947-1995
Summary:
Timothy Asch was an anthropologist and ethnographic film maker who devoted his professional life to using film as a recording and teaching medium. His papers cover the period from 1966 until his premature death in 1994 and reflect his active career in the field. A large portion of the files relates to his work among the Yanomami people of Venezuela and to his concern with bias in film making.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Timothy Asch document his career as an anthropologist, educator, photographer and filmmaker through correspondence, photographs, research files (articles and notes), and teaching materials (course information and lecture notes). The files relating to Asch's film projects include articles, field notes, and reviews. The major correspondents in this collection are Patsy Asch, Tom Beidelman, Napoleon Chagnon, James Fox, Robert Gardner, Douglas Lewis, Peter Loizos, David & Olga Sapir, and Minor White.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into the following 13 series: Series 1) Correspondence (1953-1994) Series 2) College and graduate School (1955-1965) Series 3) Teaching materials (1964-1993) Series 4) Film projects (1964-1991) Series 5) Articles and reviews (1972-1994) Series 6) Alpha-Subject (1955-1989) Series 7) Conferences, film festivals, and film organizations (1963-1993) Series 8) Grants (1962-1993) Series 9) Other people's work (1952-1995) Series 10) Personal and family (1951-1994) Series 11) Photographs (1947-1991) Series 12) Sound recordings (bulk 1960s-1970s) Series 13) Note slips, rolodexes, and business cards (1987, undated)
Biographical note:
Asch studied photography at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. While serving in the United States Army in Japan from 1951-55 he spent his off-duty hours photographing rice production and household activities in remote Japanese villages. After his military service, he enrolled in Columbia University graduating in 1959 with an undergraduate degree in Anthropology. After graduation, he went to work at the Peabody Museum at Harvard as an assistant editor to John Marshall on the Kung Bushmen film project. In 1964, he received a Masters Degree in Anthropology from Boston University where he studied in the African Studies Progam and read Anthropology with T.O. Beidelman at Harvard. In 1968, Asch and Marshall founded Documentary Educational Resources, a film distribution company. Anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon approached Asch in 1968 to film among the Yanomammmi people of Venezuela. This collaboration led to a major project resulting in over thirty films. Chronology 1950-1951 -- California School of Fine Arts and Apprenticeships with photographers Minor White, Edward Weston and Ansel Adams 1953-1954 -- Military Service in Korea 1959 -- B.S. in Anthropology Columbia University 1959-1962 -- Ethnographic film consultant, Harvard University's Peabody Museum 1964 -- M.A. in Anthropology Harvard University 1965-1966 -- Curriculum Consultant, Ethnographic studies and the Bushmen Social Studies Curriculum Project (initially Educational Services, Inc., later called Educational Development Center) 1966-1968 -- Lecturer in Anthropology and Theater Arts, Brandeis University 1966-1968 -- Anthropology Curriculum and Media Consultant to the Newton Public Schools 1967-1994 -- Co-Founder and Director of Documentary Educational Resources, Watertown, Massachusetts, a non-profit curriculum development corporation distributing educational media 1968-1970 -- Visiting Assistant Professor, Anthropology Department, New York University 1969-1973 -- Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University 1973-1979 -- Research Fellow in Ethnographic film, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 1974-1976 -- Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University 1975 -- Research Cinematographer, National Anthropological Film Center, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1976-1981 -- Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Institute of Advanced Studies, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia 1982 -- Visiting Research Scholar, Department of Anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia 1983-1994 -- Director, Center for Visual Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California
Related Materials:
The Human Studies Film Archives holds 93,000 feet (43 hours) of original film footage and the accompanying sound as well as the edited films from the 1968 and 1971 film projects by Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon documenting the Yanomamo Indians of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil (between the Negro and Upper Orinoco rivers).
Provenance:
Donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Patsy Asch in 1996.
Topic:
Anthropology  Search this
Film -- theory  Search this
Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Correspondence -- 1953-1994
Manuscripts
Photographs -- 1947-1991
Citation:
Timothy Asch papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.1996-16
See more items in:
Timothy Asch papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3ebe64d9d-33d2-4af7-9417-8f21f639c754
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-1996-16