Search Results

Photographer:

Nelson, Edward William, 1855-1934  Search this

Extent:

19 Photographs

Culture:

A:shiwi (Zuni)  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

September 1888

Summary:

This collection contains 19 photographs of the A:shiwi (Zuni) reservation in New Mexico, September 1888. The photographs may have been shot by field naturalist Edward W. Nelson.

Scope and Contents:

P18754-18772

This collection contains 19 photographs believed to have been shot by Edward W. Nelson in September 1888. The photographs depict scenes from the A:shiwi (Zuni) reservation and surrounding areas in western New Mexico. The photographs include landscapes and flora; activities such as carrying water and husking corn; scenes of the village including gardens and multi-level adobe buildings; and portraits.

The original acquisition paperwork lists E. N. Nelson as the photographer. However, after further research, it is believed that the photographs may have been shot by Edward William Nelson, who was a field naturalist for the U.S. Government and was living in Arizona at the time these photographs were shot. The photographer's handwritten notes that accompanied this set of photographs, indicate that they conducted a previous survey in 1886, which indicates that these images were most likely photographed for professional purposes. Additionally, the handwriting in the NMAI note appears to match the handwriting in Edward W. Nelson's fieldnotes held by Smithsonian Institution Archives. Further research will be required to positively identify the photographer.

Arrangement:

Photographs arranged in folders by catalog #.

Biographical / Historical:

It is uncertain if Edward W. Nelson is photographer of this collection or if E. N. Nelson is. Additional research is required.

Below is a biography of Edward W. Nelson from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives (collection ID: NAA.PhotoLot.171).

Edward William Nelson (1855-1934) was an explorer and naturalist for the United States government known for his studies in Alaska, California and Mexico. Born near Manchester, New Hampshire, Nelson grew up with an ardent interest in birds and the outdoors. With the help of Henry W. Henshaw and Smithsonian Assistant Secretary Spencer F. Baird, he gained a post as a weather observer with the Signal Corps in 1877. Nelson was stationed in St. Michael, Alaska, for the next four years, during which time he collected ethnological data and natural history collections for the Smithsonian Institution. In 1890, Nelson joined the Bureau of Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture as a Special Field Agent on the Death Valley Expedition of Clinton Hart Merriam. After this Expedition disbanded in 1891, Nelson continued to work in California under orders from the Bureau and met his future expedition partner Edward Alphonso Goldman. A three month field survey in Mexico in 1892 evolved into fourteen years of research by the pair, during which they made extensive investigations of Mexican mammalogy, ornithology, and ethnology. Following these studies, Nelson moved into an administrative role in the Bureau, holding appointments as Chief Field Naturalist, 1907-1912; Assistant in Charge of Biological Investigations, 1913-1914; Assistant Chief, 1914-1916; Chief, 1916-1927; and Senior Biologist, 1927-1929.

Related Materials:

The National Anthropological Archives and Smithsonian Institution Archives also hold Edward W. Nelson collections.

Provenance:

Gift of Robert F. Hale, 1956.

Restrictions:

Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Edward W. Nelson photographs from New Mexico, image #, NMAI.AC.311; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAI.AC.311

Archival Repository:

National Museum of the American Indian

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4263d384d-e2e5-49d5-847b-a0aa9f39fccf

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmai-ac-311

Collector:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Donor Name:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Culture:

Haida  Search this

Object Type:

Botanical

Place:

Prince Of Wales Island / Klinkwan, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

11 Feb 1919

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

063245

USNM Number:

E306365-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/342f7541f-280c-42b0-bfd2-4b892987de71

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8388247

Collector:

Clyde L. Eastman  Search this

Donor Name:

Col. Clyde L. Eastman  Search this

Culture:

Athabascan (Athabaskan)  Search this

Object Type:

Legging

Place:

Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

8 Jun 1954

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

202367

USNM Number:

E393161-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3d86ba252-bed0-4b19-be2e-cd70df2e0dec

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8423051

Donor Name:

Edward W. Nelson  Search this

Culture:

Eskimo, Yup'ik  Search this

Object Type:

Mask

Place:

Pastolik, Yukon River, Mouth, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

1880

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

80A00050

USNM Number:

E43770-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/382becb97-517f-4f3d-bbba-327d3509119b

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8462722

Donor Name:

Edward W. Nelson  Search this

Object Type:

Mask

Place:

Pastolik, Yukon River, Mouth, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

1880

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

80A00050

USNM Number:

E43779-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/341626db5-4190-404d-9945-7b30b9948a2d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8462731

Donor Name:

Charles L. McKay  Search this

Object Type:

Figure

Place:

Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

2 Dec 1882

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

012164

USNM Number:

E72902-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3d4731b78-ddd9-46bf-9a56-1d0b8e29e99c

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8476658

Donor Name:

Charles L. McKay  Search this

Object Type:

Kayak Model / Figure

Place:

Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

2 Dec 1882

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

012164

USNM Number:

E72903-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/33ed875ec-3dba-4b69-a7e4-eae6712768fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8476660

Donor Name:

Charles L. McKay  Search this

Object Type:

Figure

Place:

Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

2 Dec 1882

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

012164

USNM Number:

E72904-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3e58df2d8-b706-4eb6-807e-8d64bdf4ed3b

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8476661

Donor Name:

Charles L. McKay  Search this

Object Type:

Carving

Place:

Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

2 Dec 1882

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

012164

USNM Number:

E72905-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3ea0ea6a4-6a24-43fe-97de-2d8f4ef9a9d0

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8476662

Collector:

William J. Fisher  Search this

Donor Name:

William J. Fisher  Search this

Culture:

Ahtna  Search this

Object Type:

Knife

Place:

Copper River (Area), Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

1884

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

015687

USNM Number:

E74721-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/316537bb0-8f05-4333-9aa8-eadfed6ec10d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8478282

Collector:

Captain Riedell  Search this

Donor Name:

Dr. William H. Dall  Search this

Height - Object:

31.5 cm

Culture:

Aleut (Unangax^ ; Unangan; Unangas)  Search this

Object Type:

Mask

Place:

Unga Island / Delarof Harbor, Port Moller Quad / Aleutian Islands / Shumagin Islands, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

26 Jan 1869

Collection Date:

1868

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

69A00010

USNM Number:

E7604-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/349fbc171-56f2-4f03-81d8-47a557c2be3d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8479203

Collector:

Dr. Thomas T. Minor  Search this

Donor Name:

Dr. Thomas T. Minor  Search this

Culture:

Aleut (Unangax^ ; Unangan; Unangas)  Search this

Object Type:

Mask

Place:

Unga Island / Delarof Harbor, Port Moller Quad / Aleutian Islands / Shumagin Islands, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

1869

Collection Date:

1868

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

001499

USNM Number:

E7946-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/319b5cff5-45d2-4887-8f69-cf13842d5241

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8480424

Creator:

Slusser, Mary Shepherd  Search this

Extent:

7.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Place:

Laos

Vietnam

Nepal

Ipiutak Site (Point Hope, Alaska)

Southeast Asia

Arctic regions

Date:

circa 1950 - circa 1995

Scope and Contents:

The papers relate to three phases of Mary Slusser's life: archaeological study; her life and work in Vietnam and Laos; and her work in Nepal. The latter is fairly narrowly focused on her scholarly work, particiularly on her Nepal monograph. The Southeast Asian material more broadly concerns her life in Southeast Asia, including personal letters and journals.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Arrangement:

The colletion is organized into 3 series: (1) Arctic Archaeology, A possible culture connection between the Eurasian Steppe and the Ipiutak Site of northern Alaska, with photographs, photograph of Helge Larsen; (2) Laos and Vietnam, including alphabetical file, ethnographic notes, manuscript on Vietnam people, and photographs; and (3) Nepal, including correspondence, subject file, maps and plans, and writings.

Biographical Note:

Mary Shepherd Slusser (1918-2017) was born in Canada and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1934. She was educated at the University of Michigan and Columbia University (Ph.D., 1950). The main focus of her graduate work was on archaeology. She also studied at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, and she took archaeology courses at Harvard University.

In 1951-1958, Slusser worked for the United States Department of State, responsible for anthropological reports concerning Latin America and then Southeast Asia. Following her husband's posting in Vietnam, she was stationed in Saigon beginning in 1954. While there, she produced basic ethnological studies of Vietnam and Laos.

In more recent years, Dr. Slusser accompanied her husband on other assignments. For five years she lived in Yugoslavia, then West Africa, and finally more than six years in Nepal. At the request of the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History, on her arrival in Nepal in 1965 she made for them a small ethnographic collection from the Kathmandu Valley. Confronted by a dearth of basic works on Nepalese history and culture, she began research that would continue the next twenty years and lead to the publication of Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of Kethmandu Valley, 2 volumes, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1982. Her bibliography also includes numerous academic papers and two more books devoted to Nepalese art and culture.

Returning to Washington, D.C. in 1971 she worked for the privately founded Museum of African Art (which later fused with the National Museum of African Art) and completed the writing of the above mentioned two-volume study. In 1989 she received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution which led to a position as Senior Research Associate. Also in 1989 she was invited to Kathmandu to oversee the establishment of the Patan Museum devoted to the art of Nepal. She was a member of the Society of Women Geographers for which she recorded an oral history in 2012.

Related Materials:

The Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress holds an oral history interview with Slusser in the Society of Woman Geographers records, 1905-2015. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives also holds a copy of the interview.

Restrictions:

Access to the Mary Shepherd Slusser papers requires an appointment.

Citation:

Mary Shepherd Slusser papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.1983.0407

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3e048c45a-13a7-4ff2-a243-38f5c6db5569

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-1983-0407

Collector:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Donor Name:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Culture:

Tlingit  Search this

Object Type:

Burial Box

Place:

Prince Of Wales Island / Tuxekan, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

11 Feb 1919

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

063245

USNM Number:

E306305-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3b7310ec8-657c-4fb4-9504-0792a4e4c6cc

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8388187

Collector:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Donor Name:

Dr. Edwin Kirk  Search this

Culture:

Tlingit  Search this

Object Type:

Burial Box

Place:

Prince Of Wales Island / Tuxekan, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

11 Feb 1919

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

063245

USNM Number:

E306306-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/32ca3f609-9ee4-4215-b889-cb4b5c5441c1

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8388188

Collector:

Mrs J. Frohman  Search this

Donor Name:

Victor J. Evans  Search this

Culture:

Haida  Search this

Object Type:

Hat

Place:

British Columbia, Canada, North America

Accession Date:

20 Mar 1931

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

113605

USNM Number:

E360685-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3c0152c63-6592-4016-bd7f-df69678ebda6

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8407541

Collector:

Lt P.H. Ray  Search this

John Murdoch  Search this

Middleton Smith  Search this

Donor Name:

Lt P.H. Ray  Search this

Object Type:

Knife

Place:

Point Barrow, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

23 Nov 1883

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

013712

USNM Number:

E89678-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3acf33fb3-ecc8-4176-8744-4648590e4a34

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8486034

Collector:

Lt P.H. Ray  Search this

John Murdoch  Search this

Middleton Smith  Search this

Donor Name:

Lt P.H. Ray  Search this

Object Type:

Knife

Place:

Point Barrow, Alaska, United States, North America

Accession Date:

23 Nov 1883

Topic:

Ethnology  Search this

Accession Number:

013712

USNM Number:

E89679-0

See more items in:

Anthropology

Data Source:

NMNH - Anthropology Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3469536e8-333e-4d6c-90d2-060b36804c55

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhanthropology_8486035

Creator:

De Laguna, Frederica, 1906-2004  Search this

McClellan, Catharine  Search this

Swanton, John Reed, 1873-1958  Search this

Guédon, Marie Françoise  Search this

Emmons, George Thornton  Search this

Correspondent:

Stearns, Mary Lee  Search this

Aberle, David F. (David Friend), 1918-2004  Search this

Arensberg, Conrad M. (Conrad Maynadier), 1910-1997  Search this

Baird, Melissa  Search this

Balzer, Marjorie  Search this

Bersch, Gretchen  Search this

Birket-Smith, Kaj  Search this

Black, Lydia  Search this

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942  Search this

Chowning, Ann  Search this

Clark, J. Desmond (John Desmond), 1916-2002  Search this

Codere, Helen F., 1917-2009  Search this

Collins, Henry B. (Henry Bascom), 1899-1987  Search this

Colton, Harold Sellers, 1881-1970  Search this

Conklin, Harold C., 1926-2016  Search this

Corbett, John M.  Search this

Darnell, Regna  Search this

Dauenhauer, Nora  Search this

Dauenhauer, Richard  Search this

Davenport, William  Search this

Dockstader, Frederick J.  Search this

Drucker, Philip, 1911-1982  Search this

Du Bois, Cora Alice, 1903-1991  Search this

Duff, Wilson, 1925-  Search this

Fair, Susan  Search this

Fitzhugh, William W., 1943-  Search this

Foster, George McClelland, 1913-  Search this

Garfield, Viola Edmundson, 1899-1983  Search this

Giddings, James Louis  Search this

Gjessing, Gutorm, 1906  Search this

Grinev, Andrei V.  Search this

Hanable, William S.  Search this

Hara, Hiroko, 1934-  Search this

Haury, Emil W. (Emil Walter), 1904-1992  Search this

Heizer, Robert F. (Robert Fleming), 1915-1979  Search this

Helm, June, 1924-  Search this

Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963  Search this

Holtved, Erik  Search this

Jenness, Diamond, 1886-1969  Search this

Kahn, Mimi  Search this

Kan, Sergei  Search this

Krauss, Michael E., 1934-  Search this

Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960  Search this

Larsen, Helge, 1905-1984  Search this

Leer, Jeff  Search this

Lindgren, E. J. (Ethel John), 1904-1988  Search this

Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002  Search this

Low, Jean  Search this

Mathiassen, Therkel, 1892-1967  Search this

Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978  Search this

Olson, Wallace  Search this

Rainey, Froelich G. (Froelich Gladstone), 1907-1992  Search this

Riddell, Francis A. (Francis Allen), 1921-2002  Search this

Ritchie, William A. (William Augustus), 1903-1995  Search this

Schneider, William  Search this

Schumacher, Paul J. F.  Search this

Shinkwin, Anne D.  Search this

Spier, Leslie, 1893-1961  Search this

Spiro, Melford E., 1920-2014  Search this

Underhill, Ruth, 1883-1984  Search this

VanStone, James W.  Search this

Weiner, Annette B., 1933-  Search this

Weitzner, Bella, 1891?-1988  Search this

White, Leslie A., 1900-1975  Search this

Woodbury, Natalie Ferris Sampson  Search this

Woodbury, Richard B. (Richard Benjamin), 1917-2009  Search this

Workman, Karen Wood  Search this

Workman, William B.  Search this

Names:

American Anthropological Association  Search this

Bryn Mawr College  Search this

Photographer:

Smith, Harlan Ingersoll, 1872-1940  Search this

Extent:

2 Map drawers

38 Linear feet (71 document boxes, 1 half document box, 2 manuscript folders, 4 card file boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 oversize box)

Culture:

Yakutat Tlingit  Search this

Tutchone  Search this

Tsimshian  Search this

Indians of North America -- Subarctic  Search this

Tlingit  Search this

Tanana  Search this

Kawchodinne (Hare)  Search this

Ahtna (Ahtena)  Search this

Athapascan Indians  Search this

Northern Athabascan  Search this

Chugach  Search this

Kalaallit (Greenland Eskimo)  Search this

Indians of North America -- California  Search this

Eyak  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America  Search this

Degexit'an (Ingalik)  Search this

Arctic peoples  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Map drawers

Manuscripts

Maps

Field notes

Correspondence

Photographs

Sound recordings

Place:

Alaska -- Archaeology

Aishihik (Yukon)

Angoon (Alaska)

Alaska -- Ethnology

Chistochina (Alaska)

Greenland

Copper River (Alaska)

Klukshu (Yukon)

Hoonah (Alaska)

Kodiak Island (Alaska)

Klukwan (Alaska)

Saint Lawrence River Valley

New Brunswick -- Archaeology

Yukon Island (Alaska)

Date:

1890-2004

bulk 1923-2004

Summary:

These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Frederica de Laguna. The collection contains correspondence, field notes, writings, newspaper clippings, writings by others, subject files, sound recordings, photographs, and maps. A significant portion of the collection consists of de Laguna's correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and students, as well as her informants from the field. Her correspondence covers a wide range of subjects such as family, health, preparations for field work, her publications and projects, the Northwest Coast, her opinions on the state of anthropology, and politics. The field notes in the collection mainly represent de Laguna and her assistants' work in the Northern Tlingit region of Alaska from 1949 to 1954. In addition, the collection contains materials related to her work in the St. Lawrence River Valley in Ontario in 1947 and Catherine McClellan's field journal for her research in Aishihik, Yukon Territory in 1968. Most of the audio reels in the collection are field recordings made by de Laguna, McClellan, and Marie-Françoise Guédon of vocabulary and songs and speeches at potlatches and other ceremonies from 1952 to 1969. Tlingit and several Athabaskan languages including Atna, Tutchone, Upper Tanana, and Tanacross are represented in the recordings. Also in the collection are copies of John R. Swanton's Tlingit recordings and Hiroko Hara Sue's recordings among the Hare Indians. Additional materials related to de Laguna's research on the Northwest Coast include her notes on clans and tribes in Series VI: Subject Files and her notes on Tlingit vocabulary and Yakutat names specimens in Series X: Card Files. Drafts and notes for Voyage to Greenland, Travels Among the Dena, and The Tlingit Indians can be found in the collection as well as her drawings for her dissertation and materials related to her work for the Handbook of North American Indians and other publications. There is little material related to Under Mount Saint Elias except for correspondence, photocopies and negatives of plates, and grant applications for the monograph. Of special interest among de Laguna's writings is a photocopy of her historical fiction novel, The Thousand March. Other materials of special interest are copies of her talks, including her AAA presidential address, and the dissertation of Regna Darnell, a former student of de Laguna's. In addition, materials on the history of anthropology are in the collection, most of which can found with her teaching materials. Although the bulk of the collection documents de Laguna's professional years, the collection also contains newspaper articles and letters regarding her exceptional performance as a student at Bryn Mawr College and her undergraduate and graduate report cards. Only a few photographs of de Laguna can be found in the collection along with photographs of her 1929 and 1979 trips to Greenland.

Scope and Contents:

These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Frederica de Laguna. The collection contains correspondence, field notes, writings, newspaper clippings, writings by others, subject files, sound recordings, photographs, and maps.

A significant portion of the collection consists of de Laguna's correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and students, as well as her informants from the field. Her correspondence covers a wide range of subjects such as family, health, preparations for field work, her publications and projects, the Northwest Coast, her opinions on the state of anthropology, and politics. Among her notable correspondents are Kaj Birket-Smith, J. Desmond Clark, Henry Collins, George Foster, Viola Garfield, Marie-Françoise Guédon, Diamond Jenness, Michael Krauss, Therkel Mathiassen, Catharine McClellan, and Wallace Olson. She also corresponded with several eminent anthropologists including Franz Boas, William Fitzhugh, J. Louis Giddings, Emil Haury, June Helm, Melville Herskovitz, Alfred Kroeber, Helge Larsen, Alan Lomax, Margaret Mead, Froelich Rainey, Leslie Spier, Ruth Underhill, James VanStone, Annette Weiner, and Leslie White.

The field notes in the collection mainly represent de Laguna and her assistants' work in the Northern Tlingit region of Alaska from 1949 to 1954. In addition, the collection contains materials related to her work in the St. Lawrence River Valley in Ontario in 1947 and Catharine McClellan's field journal for her research in Aishihik, Yukon Territory in 1968. Most of the audio reels in the collection are field recordings made by de Laguna, McClellan, and Marie-Françoise Guédon of vocabulary and songs and speeches at potlatches and other ceremonies from 1952 to 1969. Tlingit and several Athapaskan languages including Atna, Tutochone, Upper Tanana, and Tanacross are represented in the recordings. Also in the collection are copies of John R. Swanton's Tlingit recordings and Hiroko Hara's recordings among the Hare Indians. Additional materials related to de Laguna's research on the Northwest Coast include her notes on clans and tribes in Series VI: Subject Files and her notes on Tlingit vocabulary and Yakutat names specimens in Series 10: Card Files.

Drafts and notes for Voyage to Greenland, Travels Among the Dena, and The Tlingit Indians can be found in the collection as well as her drawings for her dissertation and materials related to her work for the Handbook of North American Indians and other publications. There is little material related to Under Mount Saint Elias except for correspondence, photocopies and negatives of plates, and grant applications for the monograph. Of special interest among de Laguna's writings is a photocopy of her historical fiction novel, The Thousand March.

Other materials of special interest are copies of her talks, including her AAA presidential address, and the dissertation of Regna Darnell, a former student of de Laguna's. In addition, materials on the history of anthropology are in the collection, most of which can found with her teaching materials. The collection also contains copies of photographs from the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899. Although the bulk of the collection documents de Laguna's professional years, the collection also contains newspaper articles and letters regarding her exceptional performance as a student at Bryn Mawr College and her undergraduate and graduate report cards. Only a few photographs of de Laguna can be found in the collection along with photographs of her 1929 and 1979 trips to Greenland.

Arrangement:

Arranged in 12 series: (1) Correspondence, 1923-2004; (2) Field Research, 1947-1968; (3) Writings, 1926-2001; (4) Teaching, 1922-1988; (5) Professional Activities, 1939-2001; (6) Subject Files, 1890-2002; (7) Writings by Others, 1962-2000; (8) Personal, 1923-2000; (9) Photographs, 1929-1986; (10) Card Files; (11) Maps, 1928-1973; (12) Sound Recordings, 1904-1973

Biographical / Historical:

Frederica Annis Lopez de Leo de Laguna was a pioneering archaeologist and ethnographer of northwestern North America. Known as Freddy by her friends, she was one of the last students of Franz Boas. She served as first vice-president of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) from 1949 to 1950 and as president of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) from 1966-1967. She also founded the anthropology department at Bryn Mawr College where she taught from 1938 to 1972. In 1975, she and Margaret Mead, a former classmate, were the first women to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Born on October 3, 1906 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, de Laguna was the daughter of Theodore Lopez de Leo de Laguna and Grace Mead Andrus, both philosophy professors at Bryn Mawr College. Often sick as a child, de Laguna was home-schooled by her parents until she was 9. She excelled as a student at Bryn Mawr College, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in politics and economics in 1927. She was awarded the college's prestigious European fellowship, which upon the suggestion of her parents, she deferred for a year to study anthropology at Columbia University under Boas. Her parents had recently attended a lecture given by Boas and felt that anthropology would unite her interests in the social sciences and her love for the outdoors.

After a year studying at Columbia with Boas, Gladys Reichard, and Ruth Benedict, de Laguna was still uncertain whether anthropology was the field for her. Nevertheless, she followed Boas's advice to spend her year abroad studying the connection between Eskimo and Paleolithic art, which would later became the topic of her dissertation. In the summer of 1928, she gained fieldwork experience under George Grant MacCurdy visiting prehistoric sites in England, France, and Spain. In Paris, she attended lectures on prehistoric art by Abbe Breuil and received guidance from Paul Rivet and Marcelin Boule. Engaged to an Englishman she had met at Columbia University, de Laguna decided to also enroll at the London School of Economics in case she needed to earn her degree there. She took a seminar with Bronislaw Malinowski, an experience she found unpleasant and disappointing.

It was de Laguna's visit to the National Museum in Copenhagen to examine the archaeological collections from Central Eskimo that became the turning point in her life. During her visit, she met Therkel Mathiassen who invited her to be his assistant on what would be the first scientific archaeological excavation in Greenland. She sailed off with him in June 1929, intending to return early in August. Instead, she decided to stay until October to finish the excavation with Mathiassen, now convinced that her future lay in anthropology. When she returned from Greenland she broke off her engagement with her fiancé, deciding that she would not able to both fully pursue a career in anthropology and be the sort of wife she felt he deserved. Her experiences in Greenland became the subject of her 1977 memoir, Voyage to Greenland: A Personal Initiation into Anthropology.

The following year, Kaj Birket-Smith, whom de Laguna had also met in Copenhagen, agreed to let her accompany him as his research assistant on his summer expedition to Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. When Birket-Smith fell ill and was unable to go, de Laguna was determined to continue on with the trip. She convinced the University of Pennsylvania Museum to fund her trip to Alaska to survey potential excavation sites and took as her assistant her 20 year old brother, Wallace, who became a geologist. A close family, de Laguna's brother and mother would later accompany her on other research trips.

In 1931, the University of Pennsylvania Museum hired de Laguna to catalogue Eskimo collections. They again financed her work in Cook Inlet that year as well as the following year. In 1933, she earned her PhD from Columbia and led an archaeological and ethnological expedition of the Prince William Sound with Birket-Smith. They coauthored "The Eyak Indians of the Copper River Delta, Alaska," published in 1938. In 1935, de Laguna led an archaeological and geological reconnaissance of middle and lower Yukon Valley, traveling down the Tanana River. Several decades later, the 1935 trip contributed to two of her books: Travels Among the Dena, published in 1994, and Tales From the Dena, published in 1997.

In 1935 and 1936, de Laguna worked briefly as an Associate Soil Conservationist, surveying economic and social conditions on the Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona. She later returned to Arizona during the summers to conduct research and in 1941, led a summer archaeological field school under the sponsorship of Bryn Mawr College and the Museum of Northern Arizona.

By this time, de Laguna had already published several academic articles and was also the author of three fiction books. Published in 1930, The Thousand March: Adventures of an American Boy with the Garibaldi was her historical fiction book for juveniles. She also wrote two detective novels: The Arrow Points to Murder (1937) and Fog on the Mountain (1938). The Arrow Points to Murder is set in a museum based on her experiences at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the American Museum of National History. Fog on the Mountain is set in Cook Inlet and draws upon de Laguna's experiences in Alaska. Both detective novels helped to finance her research.

De Laguna began her long career at Bryn Mawr College in 1938 when she was hired as a lecturer in the sociology department to teach the first ever anthropology course at the college. By 1950, she was chairman of the joint department of Sociology and Anthropology, and in 1967, the chairman of the newly independent Anthropology Department. She was also a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1947-1949; 1972-1976) and at the University of California, Berkeley (1959-1960; 1972-1973.)

During World War II, de Laguna took a leave of absence from Bryn Mawr College to serve in the naval reserve from 1942 to 1945. As a member of WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service), she taught naval history and codes and ciphers to women midshipmen at Smith College. She took great pride in her naval service and in her later years joined the local chapter of WAVES National, an organization for former and current members of WAVES.

In 1950, de Laguna returned to Alaska to work in the Northern Tlingit region. Her ethnological and archaeological study of the Tlingit Indians brought her back several more times throughout the 1950s and led to the publication of Under Mount Saint Elias in 1972. Her comprehensive three-volume monograph is still considered the authoritative work on the Yakutat Tlingit. In 1954, de Laguna turned her focus to the Atna Indians of Copper River, returning to the area in 1958, 1960, and 1968.

De Laguna retired from Bryn Mawr College in 1972 under the college's mandatory retirement policy. Although she suffered from many ailments in her later years including macular degeneration, she remained professionally active. Five decades after her first visit to Greenland, de Laguna returned to Upernavik in 1979 to conduct ethnographic investigations. In 1985, she finished editing George Thornton Emmons' unpublished manuscript The Tlingit Indians. A project she had begun in 1955, the book was finally published in 1991. In 1986, she served as a volunteer consultant archaeologist and ethnologist for the U. S. Forest Service in Alaska. In 1994, she took part in "More than Words . . ." Laura Bliss Spann's documentary on the last Eyak speaker, Maggie Smith Jones. By 2001, de Laguna was legally blind. Nevertheless, she continued working on several projects and established the Frederica de Laguna Northern Books Press to reprint out-of-print literature and publish new scholarly works on Arctic cultures.

Over her lifetime, de Laguna received several honors including her election into the National Academy Sciences in 1976, the Distinguished Service Award from AAA in 1986, and the Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. De Laguna's work, however, was respected by not only her colleagues but also by the people she studied. In 1996, the people of Yakutat honored de Laguna with a potlatch. Her return to Yakutat was filmed by Laura Bliss Spann in her documentary Reunion at Mt St. Elias: The Return of Frederica de Laguna to Yakutat.

At the age of 98, Frederica de Laguna passed away on October 6, 2004.

Sources Consulted

Darnell, Regna. "Frederica de Laguna (1906-2004)." American Anthropologist 107.3 (2005): 554-556.

de Laguna, Frederica. Voyage to Greenland: A Personal Initiation into Anthropology. New York: W.W. Norton Co, 1977.

McClellan, Catharine. "Frederica de Laguna and the Pleasures of Anthropology." American Ethnologist 16.4 (1989): 766-785.

Olson, Wallace M. "Obituary: Frederica de Laguna (1906-2004)." Arctic 58.1 (2005): 89-90.

Related Materials:

Although this collection contains a great deal of correspondence associated with her service as president of AAA, most of her presidential records can be found in American Anthropological Association Records 1917-1972. Also at the National Anthropological Archives are her transcripts of songs sung by Yakutat Tlingit recorded in 1952 and 1954 located in MS 7056 and her notes and drawings of Dorset culture materials in the National Museum of Canada located in MS 7265. The Human Studies Film Archive has a video oral history of de Laguna conducted by Norman Markel (SC-89.10.4).

Related collections can also be found in other repositories. The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania holds materials related to work that de Laguna carried out for the museum from the 1930s to the 1960s. Materials relating to her fieldwork in Angoon and Yakutat can be found in the Rasmuson Library of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in the papers of Francis A. Riddell, a field assistant to de Laguna in the early 1950s. Original photographs taken in the field in Alaska were deposited in the Alaska State Library, Juneau. Both the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress and the American Philosophical Library have copies of her field recordings and notes. The American Museum of Natural History has materials related to her work editing George T. Emmons' manuscript. De Laguna's papers can also be found at the Bryn Mawr College Archives.

Provenance:

These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Frederica de Laguna.

Restrictions:

Some of the original field notes are restricted due to Frederica de Laguna's request to protect the privacy of those accused of witchcraft. The originals are restricted until 2030. Photocopies may be made with the names of the accused redacted.

Rights:

Contact repository for terms of use.

Topic:

Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this

Anthropology -- History  Search this

Genre/Form:

Manuscripts

Maps

Field notes

Correspondence

Photographs

Sound recordings

Citation:

Frederica de Laguna papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.1998-89

See more items in:

Frederica de Laguna papers

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3363424fd-e665-498b-a37c-9f4a81302a35

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-1998-89

Container:

Box 92 of 154

Type:

Archival materials

Collection Restrictions:

Inquiries related to specimens should be directed to the appropriate museum registrar.

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 189, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda

See more items in:

Correspondence and Memoranda

Correspondence and Memoranda / Box 92

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-sia-faru0189-refidd1e9293