The Priscilla Reining papers, 1916-2007, primarily document the professional life of Reining, a social anthropologist and Africanist who worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 1974 to 1989. Her area of specialty was sub-Saharan Africa, specializing in desertification, land tenure, land use, kinship, population, fertility, and HIV/AIDS. During the 1970s, she pioneered the use of satellite imagery in conjunction with ethnographic data. She is also known for her ground-breaking research in the late 1980s that showed that uncircumcised men were more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS than circumcised men.
The collection contains correspondence, field research, research files, writings, day planners, teaching files, student files,
photographs, maps, sound recordings, and electronic records. Reining's research files, particularly on the Red Lake Ojibwa, the Haya, HIV/AIDS, and satellite imagery, form a significant portion of the collection.
Scope and Contents:
These papers primarily document the professional life of Priscilla Reining. The collection contains correspondence, field research, research files, writings, day planners, teaching files, student files, photographs, maps, sound recordings, and electronic records.
Reining's research files, particularly on the Red Lake Ojibwa, the Haya, HIV/AIDS, and satellite imagery, form a significant portion of the collection. Her consultancy work is also well-represented, as well as her involvement in a large number of professional organizations. The collection also contains a great deal of material relating to her work on different programs and projects at AAAS, including the Committee on Arid Lands, Ethnography of Reproduction Project, and Cultural Factors in Population Programs. Also present in the collection are materials from her time as Urgent Anthropology Program Coordinator at the Smithsonian Institution, her files as an instructor and professor, and her files as a student at University of Chicago. Materials from her personal life can also be found in the collection, such as correspondence and childhood mementos.
Arrangement:
The Priscilla Reining papers are organized in 13 series: 1. Correspondence, 1944-2007; 2. Research, 1955-1970; 3. AAAS, 1971-1990; 4. Professional Activities, 5. 1957-2007; Daily Planners and Notebooks, 1960-2002; 6. Writings, 1952-1996; 7. Smithsonian Institution, 1964-1971; 8. University, 1958-1994; 9. Student, 1937-1975; 10. Biographical and Personal Files, 1934-2004; 11. Maps, 1916-1989, undated; 12. Photographs, circa 1950-1987, undated; 13. Electronic records.
Biographical / Historical:
Priscilla Copeland Reining was a social anthropologist and Africanist who worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 1974 to 1989. Her area of specialty was sub-Saharan Africa, specializing in desertification, land tenure, land use, kinship, population, fertility, and HIV/AIDS. During the 1970s, she pioneered the use of satellite imagery in conjunction with ethnographic data. She is also known for her ground-breaking research in the late 1980s that showed that uncircumcised men were more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS than circumcised men.
Reining was born on March 11, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois. She studied anthropology at University of Chicago, where she earned both her A.B. (1945) and Ph.D. (1967) in anthropology. During her graduate studies, she studied peer group relations among the Ojibwa of the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota (1947, 1950-51). Her husband, Conrad Reining, accompanied her to the field, an experience that inspired him to also become an anthropologist.
In 1951-53 and 1954-55, Reining conducted fieldwork among the Haya of Bukoba District, Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania) as a Fellow of the East African Institute of Social Research. While research for her dissertation focused on the agrarian system of the Haya, Reining also conducted fertility surveys for the East African Medical Survey, studying the relationship between STDs and fertility in Buhaya and Buganda. During the 1980s, Reining became interested in AIDS when she observed that the Haya were dying from the disease at a much higher rate than neighboring groups. When she learned of a possible link between circumcision and the spread of HIV, she drew a map of circumcision practice among the ethnic groups of Africa and found that uncircumcised men were 86% more likely to contract HIV than circumcised men. These results were published in "The Relationship Between Male Circumcision and HIV Infection in African Populations" (1989), which she coauthored with John Bongaarts, Peter Way, and Francis Conant.
Beginning in the 1970s, Reining began exploring the use of satellite imagery in ethnographic research. In 1973, she used Landsat data to identify individual Mali villages, the first use of satellite data in anthropology (Morán 1990). That same year, as a consultant for USAID, she also used ERTS-1 imagery to estimate carrying capacity in Niger and Upper Volta (now known as Burkino Faso). She continued to apply satellite data in her research throughout her career, including in 1993, when she returned to Tanzania to study the environmental consequence of population growth and HIV/AIDS among the Haya.
In 1974, Reining joined the Office of International Science of AAAS as a research associate. She stayed on to become Project Director for the Cultural Factors in Population Programs and to direct a number of projects under the Committee on Arid Lands. She also served as Project Director of the Ethnography of Reproduction project, for which she conducted fieldwork in Kenya in 1976. In 1990, she left AAAS for an appointment as Courtesy Professor of African Studies at University of Florida.
Prior to working for AAAS, Reining worked at the Smithsonian Institution (1966, 1968-70), during which she was the coordinator for the Urgent Anthropology Program in the now defunct Center for the Study of Man. She also taught at University of Minnesota (1956-59), American University (1959-60), and Howard University (1960-64). In addition, she worked as a consultant for various organizations, including Department of Justice, Peace Corps, International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD), Food and Agriculture Organization, and Carrying Capacity Network.
Reining was also actively involved in various organizations. She served as Secretary of the AAAS Section H (Anthropology) and was a founding member of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Task Force on AIDS. She was also a fellow of the African Studies Association, AAA, AAAS, East African Academy, Society for Applied Anthropology, and Washington Academy of Science. In 1990, she was honored with a Distinguished Service Award from AAA.
Reining died of lung cancer at the age of 84 on July 19, 2007.
Sources Consulted
PR Vita. Series 10. Biographical and Personal Files. Priscilla Reining Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Morán, Emilio F. 2000. The Ecosystem Approach in Anthropology: From Concept to Practice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Page 359
Schudel, Matt. 2007. Anthropologist Broke Ground on AIDS, Satellite Mapping. Washington Post, July 29. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/28/AR2007072801190.html (accessed December 8, 2011).
1923 -- Born March 11 in Chicago, Illinois
1944 -- Marries Conrad C. Reining
1945 -- Earns A.B. from University of Chicago
1947, 1950-51 -- Conducts field research on the Ojibwa of Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota.
1949 -- Earns A.M. from University of Chicago
1951-1953, 1954-1955 -- Field research on Haya of Tanzania
1967 -- Earns Ph.D. from University of Chicago
1972 -- Returns to Tanzania for IBRD consultancy work
1974 -- Begins working at AAAS as a research associate in the Office of International Science
1975 -- Project Director, AAAS
1976 -- Field research on Kikuyu of Kenya for Ethnography of Reproduction
1986-89 -- Program Director, AAAS
1990 -- Courtesy Professor of African Studies at University of Florida Receives Distinguished Service Award from AAA
1993 -- Field research in Tanzania studying environmental consequences of population growth and HIV/AIDS among the Haya
2007 -- Dies of lung cancer at the age of 84 on July 19
Related Materials:
Additional materials at the NAA relating to Priscilla Reining can be found in the papers of Gordon Gibson and John Murra, as well as in the records of the Center for the Study of Man and the records of the Department of Anthropology. Photo Lot 97 contains two Haya photos taken by Reining that are not duplicated in this collection. The papers of her husband, Conrad Reining, are also at the NAA.
The archives of the American Association for the Advancement of Science also holds Reining's papers relating to her work for the organization.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Priscilla Reining's sons, Robert Reining and Conrad Reining, in 2009.
Restrictions:
The Priscilla Reining papers are open for research.
Some materials from the East African Medical Survey and Ethnography of Reproduction project contain personal medical history and are thus restricted. Grant applications sent to Reining to review are also restricted as well as her students' grades, and recommendation letters Reining wrote for her students. Electronic records are also restricted.
A small portion of the materials relating to Reining's Haya research, Ethnography of Reproduction project, and IBRD ujamaa research suffered severe mold damage. These materials have been cleaned and may be accessed. The legibility of some of the documents, however, is limited due to water and mold stains. Mold odor is also still present.
Edited film of a motorcycle expedition by six Austrians who traversed Africa from October 1935 to March 1936. Footage documents the rigors of overland travel on motorcycle as well as encounters with three tribal groups: Zulus in South Africa, Kikuyu in Kenya, and Latukas in the Sudan. Film includes ceremonial dance at a Zulu wedding, Zulu homesteads, and activities around a mission school; Kikuyu women on the way to market and in a market and distinctive ear ornamentation worn by these women; and Latuka homesteads and kraals. Also included are shots of Victoria Falls, expedition members with African bearers climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro, crossing the Nubian Desert, and logistics of setting up a mobile camp.
Collection also contains sound recordings and annotations (recorded narratives), photographs, field notes and maps.
Legacy Keywords: Dwellings circular thatched Zululand ; Schools mission schools South Africa ; Dance weddings Zulu South Africa ; Hair wearing of Zulu South Africa ; Markets marketwomen Kikuyu Kenya ; Corrals kraals Latuka Sudan ; Mutilation ear lobes Kikuyu Kenya ; Adornment ear ornaments Kikuyu Kenya ; Tents use in expedition camping ; Motorcycles Putsh as overland transport Africa ; Water wheels ox-driven Sudan ; Architecture Great Pyramids Egypt ; Language and culture
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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Local Number:
HSFA 1979.1.1
Provenance:
Received from Josef Bohmer in 1979.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Photographs made on Hector Acebes's expeditions in Africa and South America, mostly during the 1950s. Many of the images document people and markets in Africa (1949 and 1953), including Kikuyu, Masai, Mangbetu, Fulani, and Bassari peoples. There are also photographs made in the French Sudan, Guinea, Togo, Dahomey, Cameroon, the Congo Republic, Ruanda, Kenya, and Tanganyika. These prints were made for an exhibit.
Other sets include images of Jivaro, January, 1950; the Vaupés River and nearby tribes, September, 1950; a journey up the Orinoco to the Guaica, February, 1951; Arhuaco peoples, 1958; and Yuco peoples, 1960. Many photographs depict scenery and dwellings or are portraits (some show body and face paint). There are also images of fishing and hunting (Guaica); musical pipes (Guaica), a bridge, weaving, and bows and arrows (Arhuaco). Some photographs depict expedition members, including Acebes. The collection also includes photographs of the cover of Acebes' Orinoco Adventure, 1954, and coverage of his expeditions in Look, April 8, 1952, and Time (Latin American edition), December 24, 1951.
Biographical/Historical note:
Hector Acebes was born in 1921 in New York City and raised in Madrid and Bogota. While in college at the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology, he operated his own photo studio. After graduating from MIT in 1947 with a degree in mechanical engineering, he moved back to Bogota. Throughout the late 1940s and the 1950s, Acebes undertook expeditions in Africa and South America and started to work as a professional filmmaker and lecturer. Acebes wrote, filmed, directed, and edited each of the forty-three films his production company, Acebes Productions, released.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 94-28
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Uaica photographs collected by Acebes held in the National Anthropological Archives in MS 4389.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 94-28, Hector Acebes photographs of African and South American peoples, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The photographs document African businesses, cities, industry, landscapes, peoples and resources. The collection documents various locations within Kenya, Tanzania, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Zimbabwe, Uganda and South Africa. Peoples represented include Kikuyu, Maasai, Bangi, Chagga, Ndombe, Poto, Bangala, Zulu, and Kongo peoples. There are many images of agriculture, hunting, making pottery, mining diamonds and gold, church services at a Catholic mission, a gathering of chiefs at a court, a lion-killing ceremony, and war dances. Businesses and industries shown include coffee plantations; the DeBeers Diamond Mine; a diamond mine compound and crushing mill; fishing boats; a hemp plantation; ivory trade; a market; and the stock market.
Scope and Contents:
The photographs document African businesses, cities, industry, landscapes, peoples and resources. Place documented include Moshi Province, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, the Serengeti Plain (Kenya), and Zanzibar in German East Africa (now Tanzania); Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); Cape Town, Devil's Peak, Johannesburg, Kimberly, Natal Province, and Port Elizabeth in South Africa; the waterfront of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Soko, Boma, Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), and Stanley Falls (now Boyoma Falls). There are also photographs of the Nile during a flood.
People portrayed include a Kikuyu man paying brideprice for a wife; Kikuyu women carrying water vessels and planting beans; Maasai women building houses; Swahili people dancing; Swahili women using a power figure to ward off evil; and Zulu men training for war. Other peoples portrayed include Bangala, Bangi, Chagga, Kongo, Ndombe and Poto.
Activities documented include buying ivory, carrying rubber, clearing the ground for a coffee plantation, fishing, gambling, grinding corn, hunting zebra, making pottery, mining diamonds and gold, peeling bark for bark cloth, picking coffee, preparing food, smoking meat, threshing beans, and tying house poles. There are also images of church services at a Catholic mission, a gathering of chiefs at a court, a lion-killing ceremony, and war dances.
Businesses and industries shown include coffee plantations in Rhodesia; the DeBeers Diamond Mine in South Africa; a diamond mine compound and crushing mill; fishing boats off Cape Town; a hemp plantation in Uganda; ivory trade in Mombasa, Kenya; a market; and the stock market in Johannesburg.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1882 the Underwood and Underwood Company began operations in Kansas. Founded by brothers Bert Elias (1862-1943) and Elmer (1860-1947) Underwood, the company pioneered the technique of selling stereographs door-to-door. By 1884, Underwood and Underwood's operations had expanded to the West Coast, and the company soon opened offices throughout the world. In the 1890s, the firm began selling images to publications such as Illustrated London News and Harper's Weekly. At its peak in the early 19th century, the company produced 25,000 images per day.
In the late 1910s, Underwood and Underwood was purchased by a competing stereograph company, the Keystone View Company.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Photographs taken and lantern slides collected by Andrew and Martha Ruch to document their experiences as missionaries in Africa during the 1920s. The photographs document Andrew and Martha Ruch's missionary work and their activities among the Kikuyu people. Places shown include Cairo, Egypt; the Mediterranean Sea; a beach in Mombasa, Kenya; Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; Port Said, Egypt and the Suez Canal. Activities depicted include building houses, carrying loads such as grass (for thatching), luggage, water and wood; cooking; drying skins; grinding millet; pounding sugar cane and selling items from boats to ship passagers. Ceremonies included are baptisms and church ceremonies. Portraits of people include Christian converts; chiefs, children; families; Muhia, Ruchs' assistant; the Ruches; and warriors. Many of the portraits document African clothing, ornaments, scarification and weapons. Architectural images include building materials, grain bins, houses (including Ruch's home), mosques, museums in Cairo, pyramids, railroads, temples in Egypt and villages. Boats, motorcycles and ships are also pictured. Nature scenes of landscapes and animals vary greatly and include mountains, trails, rivers, vegetation, waterfalls as well as birds, camels, cattle, donkeys, lizards and a lion.
Arrangement note:
Images indexed by negative number.
Biographical/Historical note:
Andrew H. Ruch, 1899-1966, missionary and pastor; graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, 1921, received ThD from Webster University, 1930. Martha W. Ruch, 1898-1989, wife of Andrew Ruch, graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, 1922.After Martha Ruch graduated from Moody in 1922, they married and left for Africa. They set up a mission in a Kikuyu Reserve in Ruiru, Kenya, and worked there until 1925, when they returned to the United States. Andrew Ruch spent most of his life as a pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Lantern slides
Black-and-white photographs
Photographic prints
Identifier:
EEPA.1991-013
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Footage shot by artist Paul Travis during a trip through Africa and Southern Europe during 1927 and 1928.
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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds the Paul B. Travis papers, 1925-1989.
Provenance:
Received from the Archives of American Art in 1989.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
silent films
Citation:
Paul Travis films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
M. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson collection, EEPA 1985-009, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
M. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson collection, EEPA 1985-009, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
By Ethel Freeman's instructions, the collection was restricted for ten years dating from the receipt and signing of the release forms on October 12, 1972. Literary property rights to the unpublished materials in the collection were donated to the National Anthropological Archives.
Access to the Ethel Cutler Freeman papers requires an appointment.
Seminole recordings cannot be accessed without the permission of the Seminole Tribe.
By Ethel Freeman's instructions, the collection was restricted for ten years dating from the receipt and signing of the release forms on October 12, 1972. Literary property rights to the unpublished materials in the collection were donated to the National Anthropological Archives.
Access to the Ethel Cutler Freeman papers requires an appointment.
Seminole recordings cannot be accessed without the permission of the Seminole Tribe.
Additional Text on verso reads: "Kikuyu Market. -Marketing Day is a leisurely proceeding and is not in full swing till 11 a.m. Tuck's Post Card. Printed in England. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd."
Local Numbers:
EEPA KE-16-01
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Image indexed by catalogue number or subject.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Additional text on verso reads: "D. Evaristo Coutinho, Photographer, Mombasa. Printed in Germany."
Local Numbers:
EEPA KE-20-13
General:
Image indexed by catalogue number and subjects.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Text on recto reads: "Kikuyu Family. British East Africa. Photo : Knowles."
Additional Text on verso reads: "The Standard P. & P. Works, Nairobi and Mombasa, B. E. Africa. Printed in Great Britain."
Local Numbers:
EEPA KE-20-16
General:
Title source: Postcard caption.
Image indexed by catalogue number or subject.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
