The Albert Clanton Spaulding Papers consist of correspondence, field project data, manuscripts, and teaching notes documenting his work at the University of Michigan, University of California Santa Barbara, the National Science Foundation, and field work at the Arzberger Site and Agattu.
Scope and Contents:
The Albert Clanton Spaulding Papers consist of correspondence, field project data, manuscripts, and teaching notes documenting his work at the University of Michigan, University of California Santa Barbara, the National Science Foundation, and field work at the Arzberger Site and Agattu. Although it has been noted that there are significant and inexplicable lucunae in Spaulding's papers, they nevertheless touch on most phases of his professional life. There is, however, relatively little field material.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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:
1. Correspondence, 1948-1982; 2. manuscript of Spaulding writings; 3. material concerning students; 4. site reports and field project data; 4. material regarding conferences and committees; 6. material related to work as National Science Foundation archeology program director; 7. student notebooks and dissertation; 8. material regarding the Arzberger site; 9. administrative material regarding the University of Michigan; 10. academic papers collected by Spaulding, teaching aids, and lecture notes; 11. Philip C. Phillips and Gordon R. Willey file; 12. James A. Ford file; 13. correspondence regarding publications; 14. miscellany; 15. photographs
Biographical note:
Albert C. Spaulding was trained at Montana State University (B.A. in economics, 1935), the University of Michigan (M.A. in ahthropology, 1937), and Columbia University (Ph.D., 1946). In 1946-1947, he taught at the University of Kansas and was an assistant curator at the university's Museum of Anthropology. From 1947-1961, he taught at the University of Michigan and was curator of that university's Museum of Anthropology. In 1959-1961, Spaulding was first program director for the History and Philosophy of Science Program of the National Science Foundation and the NAS program director for anthropology. In 1963-1966, he was professor and chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Oregon. In 1967-1971, he became dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara and continued at that institution as professor of anthropology until 1983. Spaulding served the Society for Amercian Archeology as associate editor, secretary, vice president, and president. In 1964, he was vice president for Section H of American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Although Spaulding carried out several significant field projects, he is best rememberd for his theoretical and methodological concerns. In relating his first archeological field work, he declared: "My fundamental interest at the time (and now) was clarification of the basic concepts of archeology, which led me into explicit definitions of archaeological problems in terms of relationship between or among well-defined variables." Spaulding produced many articles and book reviews in which he dealt with such problems. Some of the best-known appeared in the pages of American Antiquity in 1953 and 1954 when be debated James A. Ford in general terms concerning teh most productive methods of archeology in general and the nature of archeological types and methods of defining them in particular. Because of his espousal of rigor in method, Spaulding is considered on of the main forerunners of the "new archeology" of the 1960s. For his work, he received the SAA distinguished Service Award in 1981.
Restrictions:
The Albert Clanton Spaulding papers are open for research.
Access to the Albert Clanton Spaulding papers requires an appointment.
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.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Frederica de Laguna papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Ernest S. and Eloise Carter collection includes photographic prints, negatives and slides taken between 1950 and 1976 in the American Southwest, Mexico and Bolivia. The Carters were research associates for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation between 1964 and 1975 and focused much of their research on petroglyphs and pictographs. In addition to photographic material there is also correspondence and documentation about the photographs in the collection.
Scope and Contents:
The Ernest S. and Eloise Carter collection includes photographic prints, negatives and slides taken between 1950 and 1976 in the American Southwest, Mexico and Bolivia as well as documentation and notes regarding their work. The bulk of the photographs and notes were made by the Carters from 1964 to 1976 while they were research associates for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The Carters spent much of their time photographing and researching petroglyph and pictograph sites in Arizona, New Mexico, California and Nevada producing black and white and color negatives, color slides, and photographic prints that were sent back to the MAI along with maps, notes, and reports as they were completed.
Series 1: Photographs, 1950-1975, is organized into four separate subseries. Subseries 1.1 Mexico and Bolivia, Landscapes and People, 1950-1951, includes photographs taken in Bolivia, circa 1950-1951 and in Mexico in 1964. Although it is unclear whether or not Ernest Carter took the Bolivia photographs himself or acquired them while he was traveling there, the photographic prints include landscape views and portraits shot in around the city of Potosí, Bolivia. The photographs shot in Mexico include black and white negatives the Carters took at the Monte Alban and Mitla ruins in Oaxaca, Mexico in July, 1964. Subseries 1.2 US Southwest: Landscapes and Petroglyphs, 1964-1973, the largest group of materials in the collection, includes the bulk of the work done by the Carters for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The subseries is arranged chronologically and then by location including sites in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Utah. Both Eloise and Ernest shot photographs, though Eloise generally shot in black and white and Ernest in color. This subseries includes negatives(5x7 and 35mm), slides (120 and 35mm), and photographic prints of various sizes, some mounted. Images include wide shots of petroglyph, pictograph, and acorn grinding sites, close-ups of petroglyphs as well as landscape views.
The Carters were also prolific collectors of kachinas and other ethnographic objects from the Southwest. Subseries 1.3 Object Photography: Kachinas, Pottery, Baskets and Other Objects, 1967-1975 includes photographs of the Carter kachinas, pottery and basket collections as well as several photographs of the Carters in their home alongside their collections. Subseries 1.4: Educational Materials and Other Selected Studies, 1970-1973 includes photographs the Carters put together for use by the educational department. Mostly mounted prints and slides, these photographs generally were sent with specific descriptions and were selected to highlight the variations between the petroglyph sites. This subseries also includes "Pueblo Life and Work" a series of photographs shot by the Carters at Taos Pueblo, Ildenfonso Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo and Hopi Pueblo in 1973.
Series 2: Correspondence and Photograph Documentation, 1964-1987, includes correspondence and documentation about the photographs in the Carter collection. The majority of the correspondence is between Ernest Carter and Frederick Dockstader, director of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (MAI), regarding the donation of photographs and objects from the Carters to the museum between 1964 and 1976. The correspondence also includes detailed expense records which document where the Carters where traveling when as well as when shipments of photographs and objects were being made through the years. The documentation includes detailed reports from the Carters research on petroglyphs, maps of various petroglyph sites, photograph lists with descriptions as well as drawings and notes.
Arrangement note:
This collection is arranged into two series. Series 1: Photographs, 1950-1976, is organized in four subseries. Subseries 1.1: Mexico and Bolivia, Landscapes and People, 1950-1951, 1964; Subseries 1.2: US Southwest: Landscapes and Petroglyphs, 1964-1973; Subseries 1.3: Object Photography: Kachinas, Pottery, Baskets and Other Objects, 1967-1975; Subseries 1.4: Educational Materials and Other Selected Studies, 1970-1973. These subseries are then arranged chronologically. Series 2: Correspondence and Photograph Documentation is arranged alphabetically and then by document number.
Biographical/Historical note:
Ernest Carter was born Ernest (Eryst of Eruie) Sigmund Schickler in Vienna, Austria in 1922. Following World War II, he left Europe for South America where he spent four years in the Andes on climbing expeditions. He changed his name from Schickler to Carter when he moved to the United States in 1951 and officially became an American citizen in 1957. Eloise Carter was born in Nebraka in 1928 and eventually became a dental assistant in the Bay Area, California, where she met and married Ernest around 1960. In 1964 Ernest and Eloise were made research associates of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation which began a long term relationship with the MAI. During this time the Carters traveled throughout California, Nevada and other location in the Southwest and Mexico to photograph petroglyphs and pictographs which were subsequently shipped to the Museum. They also collected objects which were donated to the MAI including baskets, pottery and kachinas among other items. Their relationship with the MAI tapered off after Frederick Dockstader left the museum in 1975. The Carters continued to travel and work with communities in the southwest and eventually settled in Mountain View, California.
Provenance:
Donated by Ernest and Eloise Carter between 1964-1975 with additional photographs donated in 1986.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 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 Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, 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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ernest S. and Eloise Carter collection, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
