The papers of John Joseph Honigmann (1914-1977) consist largely of research material of a specialist in personality, socialization, and social problems of Subarctic and Arctic people. Trained at Yale University (M.A., 1943; Ph.D., 1947), Honigmann spent most of his professional career at the University of North Carolina (1951-77) and was chairman of its Department of Anthropology from 1970-1975. Some material reflects his classroom teaching and administrative work. There are also general reference materials and materials relating to the history of anthropology.
Correspondents include David F. Aberle, Saeed K. Alizai, Nels Anderson, Asen Balikci, Victor Barnouw, Harry Basehart, Ronald Berndt, William E. Bittle, Gordon Blackwell, Walter Boek, Paul J. Bohannan, Robert J. Braidwood, Robert Carneiro, Joseph B. Casagrande, Norman A. Chance, Yehudi A. Cohen, Earl W. Count, David Damas, William Davis, Pierrette Desy, Cora du Bois, Richard Duncan, Fred R. Eggan, Loren C. Eiseley, Gary L. Emmons, Vincent Erickson, Sam J. Ervin, Arthur Evans, Lita B. Fejos, Paul Fejos, William N. Fenton, F.L. Fischer, Regina Flannery, Don Charles Foote, Clellan Ford, Morris Freilich, Clifford Geertz, Mickey Gibson, John P. Gillin, Thomas F. Gladwin, Walter R. Goldschmidt, Ward H. Goodenough, Theodore D. Graves, John Gulick, Zachary Gussow, Charles Hamori-Torok, Asael T. Hansen, Edward B. Harper, S.I. Hayakawa, Dwight B. Heath, June Helm, Maria Herzmaier, George K. Hindley, Tom R. Hopkins, Francis L.K. Hsu, Katherine Jocher, Berton H. Kaplan, Michael Kenny, Solon T. Kimball, Harriet J. Kupferer, Gordon B. Laing, L.L. Langness, Margaret L. Lantis, Oscar Lewis, Nancy O. Lurie, Donald S. Marshall, Abraham H. Maslow, John S. Matthiasson, Selz C. Mayo, Tom F.S. McFeat, Margaret Mead, Betty J. Meggers, George P. Murdock, Raoul Naroll, George Nelleman, Arthur Niehall, Marrilee Oakes, Morris E. Opler, Harold Orlans, Cornelius Osgood, Simon Ottenberg, John G. Peck, William Pollitzer, Ruben E. Reina, David Reisman, Marcel Rioux, Frank H.H. Roberts, Jr., Edward S. Rogers, Irving Rouse, Beate R. Salz, A.H.A. Siddiqi, Norman Simpkins, Leon Sinder, Richard Slobodin, Edward H. Spicer, Leslie Spier, Robert F.G. Spier, George D. Spindler, Sol Tax, Morton I. Teicher, Laura Thompson, Mischa Titiev, Brian du Toit, John Trudeau, Arthur Tuden, Victor F. Valentine, Frank G. Vallee, Clark Vincent, Fred W. Voget, Evon Z. Vogt, C. Von Furer-Haimendorf, Willard Walker, Anthony F.C. Wallace, Gene Weltfish, and Eric R.Wolf.
Arrangement note:
The Honigmann papers are not fully processed and are only broadly desccribed in this finding aid. The collection is arranged into (1) Churchill, five northern towns, and Schefferville, undated; (2) the Cree of Attawapisdat, Ontario, 1947-1956; (3) Frobisher Bay, 1963; (4) Great Whale River; (5) Inuvik, 1967; (6) Material concerning the Kaska of Lower Post, British Columbia, and Southern Yukon Territory, 1944-1945; (7) General anthropological subjects and teaching;(8) General and miscellaneous material on peoples of the world; (9) West Pakistan; (10) Canadian Wildlife Service Arctic Ecology Map; (11) Understanding Culture; (12) Miscellany; (13) Correspondence, ca. 1950s-1970s
Biographical / Historical:
Honigmann was regularly in the field. In 1943, this began with an ethnographic study of the Fort Nelson Slave in Canada. In 1944-1945, he was with the Kaska in British Columbia. In 1947-1948, he worked at Attawapiskat on James Bay and, in 1949-1950, at Great Whale River on Hudson Bay. He investigated town life in Pakistan in 1952 and 1957-1958. During the summers of 1960-1962, 1964-1966, 1972, and 1975, his studies carried him to a village in Austria. In 1963, he worked at Frobisher Bay and in 1967 at Inuvik.
1914 -- Born June 7, New York City, New York
1937 -- Married Irma Grabel
1942 -- Student at Columbia University Received BA from Brooklyn College
1943 -- Received MA from Yale University Field trip with the Fort Nelson Slave in Fort Nelson (3-6 months)
1944-1945 -- Field trip with the Kaska in British Columbia, Canada (3-6 months)
1946-1947 -- Assistant professor of Sociology and anthropology at State College, Washington
1947 -- Received PhD in anthropology from Yale University
1947-1948 -- Field trip at Attawapiskat, James Bay, Ontario, Canada Research anthropologist for the National Committee for Community Health Studies in Toronto, Canada
1948-1951 -- Assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at New York University
1949 -- Published Anthropology, Culture and Ethos of the Kaska Society
1949-1950 -- Field trip at Great Whale River, Hudson's Bay, Ontario, Canada
1951-1955 -- Associate professor of anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
1952 -- Field trip at Pakistan
1955 -- Field trip at Attawapiskat, James Bay, Ontario, Canada
1955-1957 -- Professor of anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill
1957-1958 -- Field trip at Pakistan
1959 -- Published The World of Man
1960 -- Field trip at Austria
1962 -- Published Foodways in a Muskeg Community Field trip at Austria
1963 -- Published Understanding Culture Field trip at Frobishers Bay, Baffin Island, Canada
1964 -- Field trip at Austria
1965 -- With wife Irma, co-authored Eskimo Townsmen
1966 -- Field trip in Austria
1967 -- Published Personality in Culture Field trip at Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
1967-1970 -- Postdoctoral fellowship and grants: NSF grant
1970 -- Co-authored Arctic Townsmen Chairman of the department of anthropology, UNC, Chapel Hill
1972 -- Field trip at Austria
1975 -- Field trip at Austria
1977 -- Died at Chapel Hill, NC, August 4
Provenance:
Most of Honigmann's papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Irma Honigman, his wife, between October 1977 and January 1979. Honigmann's daughter, Karen Honigmann Schaefer, donated her father's field journals in July 1993.
Restrictions:
Some materials concerning the operations of the University of North Carolina Department of Anthropology are restricted.
Rights:
Honigmann used pseudonyms when referring to his informants in publications. Irma Honigmann has requested that researchers refrain from publishing their names.
The collection consists of twenty (20) drawings by Henry Wood Elliott. There are fifteen large black-and-white watercolor and pencil views of fishing and hunting in Alaska, two small watercolors made in British Columbia, and three ink sketches made while Elliott was serving with the Hayden Survey in Wyoming in 1870.
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.
Biographical Note:
Henry Wood Elliott (1846-1930) was a conservationist, naturalist, artist and scientist. From 1862-1878 he worked for the Smithsonian Institution, studying and sketching natural history. In 1864 he travelled to British Columbia in his first field expedition. From 1869-1871 Elliott worked on the U.S. Geological Survey. Between 1872 and 1890 Elliott made three trips to Alaska to investigate seal conditions on the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea. His sketches of St. Paul's Island provided persuasive evidence of the need to stop the seal slaughter. He authored the first international wildlife conservation treaty, the Hay-Elliott Fur Seal Treaty of 1911. When not in the field Elliott lived in Cleveland, tending to local business matters and his vineyards.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 7119
Related Materials:
Drawings by Henry Wood Elliott are held by the Smithsonian Institution Archives; Archives of American Art; Cleveland Museum of Natural History; University of Alaska Museum; Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks; and others.
Separated Materials:
An oil painting by Elliott, Tlingit Indians Raking in Eulachon, was transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum (1985.66.397,304).
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Drawings
Watercolors
Citation:
MS 7119 Henry Wood Elliott drawings, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The collection documents Hall's Arctic exploration.
Scope and Contents:
Diaries, journals, notebooks, scrapbooks, business cards, correspondence, ships' logs, navigation charts and documents on Hall's Arctic exploration. The correspondence includes letters to and from Henry Grimmell, William Grimmell, J. Carson Brevoont, John Barrow, Cyrus Field, Edward Everett, Clement Markham, Joseph Henry, and the Royal Geographic Society.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
The Arctic explorer Charles Francis Hall was born about 1821, either Vermont or New Hampshire; there are very few details about his early life. He is most notable for spending over ten years in the Arctic among the Inuit, initially focused on locating evidence of the lost British Expedition under Sir John Franklin, and then, in two later expeditions, searching for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole.
Before becoming a polar explorer, Hall began as a blacksmith's apprentice at a young age in Rochester, NH. Sometime in the 1840's he married and moved westward eventually coming to Cincinnati, where Charles opened a business making engraving plates and seals, in 1849. Later he published a small newspaper in Cincinnati, The Cincinnati Occasional.
While publishing news stories of arctic expeditions related to the Franklin expedition, Hall became enamored with the idea of polar exploration. In 1857 he began collecting any material he could gather on the landscape and survival in the Arctic, previous expeditions, and John Franklin's expedition itself, while at the same time seeking financial support for his expedition.
After detailed preparation and a small amount of financial backing, Hall boarded a ship for Greenland, and then on to the "Terra Incognita" of the Arctic. Despite being an amateur explorer with very little support for his first expedition, Hall believed that by living amongst the indigenous Inuit people, a non-native could survive long periods living in the arctic. In May 1860, Hall arrived in Frobisher Bay, Canada and with not much more than a small boat and basic supplies, Hall met befriended local Inuit who took him in for the next two years.
Over those two years, Hall found little evidence of the Franklin expedition, but what he did find proved to be more valuable. While an avid and writer, Hall lived, learned and daily documented in his journals more about the Inuit people that any visitor before him. His journals describe Inuit society, traditions, oral histories, language and culture, as well as the skills necessary to survive in such an unforgiving climate. He also travelled and mapped much of the unknown Frobisher Bay area, correcting many previously incorrect maps that depicted area as an open strait, rather than a closed bay.
Once Hall returned to the United States, he began working on publishing his writings and preparing for a second expedition to Frobisher Bay. In 1864, he left for his second trip spending almost five years living amongst the Inuit, searching for the Franklin expedition and mapping unknown portions of the Arctic.
As soon as he arrived home in 1869, Hall began again planning his next and bigger expedition, but times had changed in the U.S. The Civil War was over and the United States government was now interested in polar exploration and the race to the North Pole. Gaining the attention of President Grant, Hall was appointed as joint commander of the Polaris Expedition.
Departing in 1871, the expedition began with critical problems. The "joint-command" of the expedition put Hall in direct conflict with the other two expedition commanders, each one believing they should have been appointed as sole commander. This eventually led to incredible disasters throughout the expedition, resulting in the total failure of the mission, loss of the ship, as well as the death of Charles Francis Hall. Hall died on the expedition in November 1871, possibly from poisoning by one of his co-commanders. His body was exhumed in 1969 and tested, revealing the presence of arsenic. While Hall claimed on his deathbed he had been poisoned by a crew member, many 19th century medicines contained arsenic.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
