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Catalog Data

Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Names:
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology  Search this
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400  Search this
Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874-1965  Search this
Columbus, Christopher  Search this
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948  Search this
Collection Creator:
Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961  Search this
Extent:
10 Boxes
Culture:
Indians of North America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Notes
Manuscripts
Writings
Date:
1911-1959, bulk 1945-1949
Scope and Contents:
This subseries of the Notes and writings on special linguistic studies series represents John P. Harrington's miscellaneous writings on a variety of linguistic topics. The subseries is divided into three subsections. The first and largest contains a mixture of preliminary notes, rough drafts, and final drafts for approximately 120 proposed announcements, articles, and papers. The second section contains contributions to the works of others in the form of rough drafts, introductions, and translations, while the third consists of reviews of a number of books and papers, mostly written by friends and colleagues. Within each section papers have been arranged alphabetically. The papers are based largely on research in secondary sources and cover a broad spectrum of anthropological topics. Some, such as those on binomial nomenclature, captioning, and various inventions, reflect Harrington's interest in scientific method and the technical aspects of the linguistic field. Others deal with the history of linguistic study and, in particular, the contributions of the Bureau of American Ethnology. One common theme throughout many of the articles is the genetic relationship of the American Indian languages. These papers illustrate Harrington's belief that "language sheds more light on the early history of the American Indian than archeology." Another focus in many of the writings is the importance and uniqueness of the American Indian, especially from the point of view of sign language. Articles on non-American languages and on the etymologies of certain words reveal his constant sense of curiosity and the numerous sidelines he pursued, as do a set of papers on such historical figures as Chaucer, Columbus, Churchill, and Ghandi. Still other papers ("Counting," for example) were written as part of the "war effort." Harrington authored all but two of the papers-"New Russian Alphabet Praised by Ethnologist" and "[Translation of the Lord's Prayer]." These items are filed here because they are either based largely on notes from Harrington or contain many quotes from him. A number of the papers were coauthored by associates.
Local Numbers:
Accession #1976-95
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this
Language and languages  Search this
Linguistics  Search this
Indians of North America -- Languages  Search this
Genre/Form:
Notes
Manuscripts
Writings
Collection Citation:
John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
Identifier:
NAA.1976-95, Subseries 8.18
See more items in:
John Peabody Harrington papers
John Peabody Harrington papers / Series 8: Notes and Writings on Special Linguistic Studies
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw32f923530-94f0-4a6b-baa5-bd4de0984116
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-1976-95-ref15679