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Frederica de Laguna papers

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

Online Media:

Hunter's hat

Culture/People:: probably Sugpiaq (Alutiiq) (attributed) Search this

Collector:: Dorr F. Tozier (D. F. Tozier), Non-Indian, 1843-1946 Search this

Previous owner:: Dorr F. Tozier (D. F. Tozier), Non-Indian, 1843-1946 Search this; Seattle Land and Improvement Company Search this; Fred E. Sander (Fred Everett Sander), Non-Indian, 1854-1921 Search this

Seller:: Seattle Land and Improvement Company Search this; Fred E. Sander (Fred Everett Sander), Non-Indian, 1854-1921 Search this

Seller agent:: George Louis Berg (G. L. Berg), Non-Indian, 1868-1941 Search this

Object Name:: Hunter's hat

Media/Materials:: Spruce root, glass bead/beads, paint, dentalium shell/shells, wool cloth, sea lion whiskers

Techniques:: Twined, painted, stitched

Dimensions:: 58 x 29 x 16 cm

Object Type:: Hunting/Fishing/Warfare

Place:: Kodiak Island; Koniag Native Corporation; Alaska; USA

Archipelago:: Gulf of Alaska Islands

Island Name:: Kodiak Island

Date created:: 1820-1860

Catalog Number:: 6/9253

Barcode:: 069253.000

See related items:: Sugpiaq (Alutiiq); Hunting/Fishing/Warfare

Data Source:: National Museum of the American Indian

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ws6c112cb22-3c80-4c4e-88f2-ea912ce51639

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:NMAI_74602

Online Media:

view Aeshna septentrionalis digital asset number 1

Aeshna septentrionalis

Collector:: [Not Stated] Search this

Expedition:: U.S. Fish Commission Search this

Prep Count:: 1

Preparation:: Envelope

Sex:: Female

Stage:: Adult

Place:: Kodiak Island; Lake Karluk, Kodiak Island, Alaska, United States

Collection Date:: 20 Jul 1903 to 31 Jul 1903

Taxonomy:: Animalia, Arthropoda, Insecta, Odonata, Anisoptera, Aeshnidae

Published Name:: Aeshna septentrionalis Burmeister, 1839

Barcode:: USNMENT00332669

USNM Number:: USNMENT332669

See more items in:: Specimen Inventory

Data Source:: NMNH - Entomology Dept.

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/320f92b37-8ad5-4ff8-8572-96c7e5b4a6c5

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:nmnhentomology_9247248

No Image Available

Astarte borealis

Collector:: W. J. F. Search this

Ocean/Sea/Gulf:: North Pacific Ocean Search this

Preparation:: Dry

Place:: Kodiak Island, Alaska, United States, North Pacific Ocean

Published Name:: Astarte borealis (Schumacher, 1817)

Other Numbers:: Sort Order : SL-R27-C078-025

USNM Number:: 73673*

See more items in:: Invertebrate Zoology; Mollusca; Stearns Collection

Data Source:: NMNH - Invertebrate Zoology Dept.

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3e1da237d-d741-45fb-94ab-9c8907c54fd0

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:nmnhinvertebratezoology_14034431

view Phleum alpinum L. digital asset number 1

Phleum alpinum L.

Collector:: William Trelease Search this; De Alton Saunders Search this

Expedition:: Harriman Alaska Expedition Search this

Place:: Kodiak Island., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:: 1 Jul 1899

Taxonomy:: Plantae Monocotyledonae Poales Poaceae Pooideae

Published Name:: Phleum alpinum L.

Barcode:: 01193245

Other Numbers:: Work Unit : 0590

USNM Number:: 376510

See more items in:: Botany; Flowering plants and ferns; GPI : Historical Collections

Data Source:: NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3fa3606d6-0e34-42c4-a163-215b7f8d6a45

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:nmnhbotany_11026796

Online Media:

view Poa pratensis L. digital asset number 1

Poa pratensis L.

Collector:: William Trelease Search this; De Alton Saunders Search this

Expedition:: Harriman Alaska Expedition Search this

Place:: Kodiak Island., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:: 1 Jul 1899

Taxonomy:: Plantae Monocotyledonae Poales Poaceae Pooideae

Published Name:: Poa pratensis L.; Poa pratensis L.

Barcode:: 01193420

Other Numbers:: Work Unit : 0598

USNM Number:: 376576

See more items in:: Botany; Flowering plants and ferns; GPI : Historical Collections

Data Source:: NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3451f50e1-0196-4986-b95c-93a9ce2b9284

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:nmnhbotany_11032268

Online Media:

Aleš Hrdlička papers

Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Correspondent:: American Association of Physical Anthropologists Search this

Names:: American Journal of Physical Anthropology Search this; Army Medical Museum (U.S.) Search this; Hyde Exploring Expedition (1902-1903) Search this; Institute of Population Search this; International Congress of Americanists Search this; Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.) Search this; Smithsonian Institution. Department of Anthropology. Division of Physical Anthropology Search this

Extent:: 206.71 Linear feet (294 boxes, 138 folders, 9 rolled items, and 4 folios)

Culture:: Indians of North America Search this

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials

Place:: Saint Lawrence Island (Alaska) -- Archaeology; Australia; Alaska -- Archaeology; Mexico -- Anthropology; Florida -- Archaeology; Egypt -- Archaeology; Czechoslovakia; Peru -- Physical anthropology; Kodiak Island (Alaska)

Date:: 1875-1966; bulk 1903-1943

Summary:: The papers of Aleš Hrdlička, curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, offer considerable insight into the development of physical anthropology in the first half of this century. The papers include honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). In addition, there is material of a personal nature. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the USNM.

Scope and Contents:: This collection is comprised of both professional and personal materials. The professional material includes honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). The personal material primarily consists of correspondence with his first wife (Marie Dieudonnée Strickler) and other family members, but there are also financial records. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Hrdlička investigated all major questions confronting physical anthropologists of his day (the fossil record of early humans, the arrival of humans in the Americas, human variation, evolution, and eugenics) and made valuable contributions in all these areas. Hrdlička's interests in the establishment of physical anthropology as a distinct and important field, the welfare of the Czech people, early hominids, and variation within the human species are all documented in the collection as are the services he performed for various United States government agencies. He pursued field studies in many different parts of the world, but there are relatively few field notes as such among his papers. There is instead the edited journal "My Journeys," photographs, and physical anthropological forms. There is also relatively little material on his administrative involvement in the USNM. There is no material from Hrdlička's time at the Pathological Institution of the New York State Hospitals; after he resigned, fire destroyed the anthropological records Hrdlička collected as a member of the staff. There are materials in the collection which contradict, or at least complicate, many long-held criticisms of Hrdlička, particularly claims that he was racist and opposed feminist ideas. The collection contains materials of interest to genetic research, including anthropometric measurements, hair clippings and fingerprints.

There are a few items in the collection which are dated earlier than the collection's date span. These are publication dates, and the folders containing the items have been dated accordingly, but they have not affected the dates of the series or collection. There are also a few items which are dated after Hrdlička's death. These dates reflect the fact that the collection was added to by the Department of Physical Anthropology after Hrdlička's death and have been taken into account when formulating dates for the series and collection.

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:: This collection is arranged in 37 series:

(1) Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1875-1940

(2) Early Personal Correspondence, 1883-1919

(3) Correspondence, 1885-1953

(4) News Clippings and Printed Matter, 1893-1953

(5) Financial Papers, 1910-1943

(6) Journeys to the Southwestern United States and Mexican Indians, 1898-1919

(7) Journeys to the Dakota, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, 1916-1917

(8) Florida Survey, 1918, 1918-1927

(9) Alaska Archeological Expeditions, 1912-1938 (bulk 1926-1938)

(10) Panama-California Exposition Expeditions, 1912-1914

(11) Journey to Egypt, Europe, and Russia, 1908-1909

(12) Journey to South America, 1910, 1910-1912

(13) Journey to the Far East, 1920, 1900-1930

(14) Journey to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe, 1924-1925

(15) Anthropometric Measurements of Indians Taken at the United States National Museum, 1904-1905, most undated

(16) Bone Studies, 1893-1929, most undated

(17) Old Americans, 1914-1930

(18) Children Who Run on All Fours, 1928-1936

(19) Early Man Studies, 1906-1930

(20) European Ethnic History, 1908-1938

(21) Miscellaneous Research Notes, 1887-1930

(22) Manuscripts of Writings, 1901-1944, most undated

(23) Writings by Other Authors, 1877-1942

(24) Anthropometry, undated

(25) "From My Journeys", 1898-1938

(26) -- American Journal of Physical Anthropology -- , 1918-1931

(27) American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1924-1931

(28) International Congress of Americanists, 1900-1928

(29) Institute of Population, 1942

(30) Department of Anthropology, 1914-1943

(31) Lecture Notes, 1920-1932

(32) Maps and Charts, 1900-1932

(33) Miscellany, 1895-1954

(34) Index Cards, 1899-1948

(35) Bibliographic Index, undated

(36) Physical Anthropology Folios, undated

(37) Photographs, 1887-1944

Biographical Note:: Aleš Hrdlička was born in Bohemia in 1869 and came to America when he was thirteen. As a young man, he was trained in medicine at New York's Eclectic Medical College and the New York Homeopathic Medical College, receiving degrees from each. His first professional work was as a private practitioner, but he gave that up in 1894 when he joined the staff of the New York State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. There, in addition to other duties, he began studies of the physical characteristics of inmates. This set in motion developments that would eventually lead him to become one of the world's most prominent anthropologists who has sometimes been referred to as "the founder of physical anthropology in America."

In 1896, in preparation for a research appointment with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, Hrdlička went to Paris and studied with Leon Manouvrier. After his return to America, he worked for a short period with the Pathological Institute and came into contact with G.S. Huntington of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Hrdlička arranged and studied Huntington's large collection of skeletal material, thus gaining knowledge of a well-documented collection representing largely normal persons of European ancestry. He came to the attention of Frederic Ward Putnam, of the American Museum of Natural History, who arranged for his first anthropological field studies.

It was thus that Hrdlička became a member of the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. In 1898, he traveled to Mexico with Carl Lumholtz to study the Tarahumaras, Huichols, and neighboring tribes. In subsequent years, he returned to Mexico and the Southwest alone and studied physical characteristics and medical conditions of several American Indian tribes. With this experience and examinations of the Trenton and Lansing skeletal material for Putnam, Hrdlička came fully into the world of anthropology. In 1903, he was appointed head of the newly formed Division of Physical Anthropology in the United States National Museum.

While in his position at the Smithsonian, Hrdlička returned to the Southwest for studies of Pima and Apache children in 1905 and, in the following year, traveled to Florida to examine allegedly ancient remains of man. In 1908, he worked among a number of Indian tribes, including the Menominee, Oglala Dakota, Quinailt, Hupa, and Mohave, in a study of tuberculosis among them. In 1909, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in order to study living Egyptians and to examine remains of Egypt's past population. The following year took him to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. In the first of these, he again examined allegedly ancient remains of man. In Peru, he made a large collection of skeletal material near Trujillo, at Pachamac, and in the Chicama Valley.

From 1912-1914, Hrdlicka undertook a physical anthropological exhibit for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and, for this, traveled to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Peru, and Florida. He also examined fossil remains of man in Europe and directed field work of other anthropologists in South and East Africa, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Philippines, eastern Siberia, and the Ukraine. In 1915, for the Department of Justice, he assessed the racial makeup of Chippewas on the Leech Lake and White Earth reservations in Minnesota and also studied Dakota Indians. In 1917, his field work was directed toward white American families with longtime residence in the United States. In 1918, he carried out a survey of ancient sites in eastern Florida for the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1920, he traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in connection with an appointment to lecture at the Peking Union Medical College. As director of the American School for Prehistoric Studies in France, he again studied fossil remains of man in Europe in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, he carried out work in India, Ceylon, Java, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In 1927, he was again in Europe to deliver the Huxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal Anthropological Society in Great Britain. Between 1929 and 1938, he traveled frequently to Alaska to carry on an anthropological survey. In 1939, he traveled to Russia and Siberia.

Beginning with much of the skeletal collection of the Army Medical Museum, which had been transferred to the Smithsonian in 1898 before he was appointed there, Hrdlička amassed a bone collection that included, among many other specimens, the Huntington collection, casts of fossil remains of man, and a large and diverse North American collection. He also gathered a large collection of human brains. Over three hundred publications resulted from his study of this material, his field work, and his study of specimens in other museums. In addition, he was involved in many other activities. For United States government agencies, he provided services ranging from examinations of human remains for law enforcement officials to providing information and opinions concerning national origins and traits that were needed to interpret laws and form foreign policy. During World War II, he also advised government officials on policies to be pursued with certain national groups following the war.

In 1918, Hrdlička founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and remained its editor until 1942. In 1928, he was the major force behind the organization of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He was also president of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1907, the American Anthroplogical Association from 1925 to 1927, and the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1928 to 1929. He was chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1918 and secretary of the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council in 1917. From the 1920s to the 1940s Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and prepared exhibits for various eugenics congresses. In addition, Hrdlička was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He represented the Smithsonian at several international gatherings of scholars, including meetings of the International Congress of Americanists.

Chronology

1869 March 29 -- Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička (Aleš Hrdlička) born in Humpolec, Bohemia

1882 September -- Emigrated to New York City

1888 -- While stricken with typhoid, met M. Rosenbleuth, a physician who arranged for Hrdlička to enroll at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City

1892 -- Enrolled in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital Published first article, "Scheme of Examination (Medical)," Publications of the Eclectic Medical College Graduated first in his class from the Eclectic Medical College

1894 -- Graduated first from his class from the Homeopathic Medical College Became research intern at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York, where he began his studies in physical anthropology Passed state board examination (allopathic)

1895 -- Joined staff of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals as associate in anthropology

1896 -- Studied anthropology under Leon Manouvrier in Paris

1896 August 6 -- Married Marie Stickler (Dieudonnée)

1898 March-July(?) -- Accompanied Carl Lumholtz on his expedition to northern Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and visited the Tarahumara, Huichol, and Tepecan Indians

1899 Spring -- Resigned from the Pathological Institute to take charge of physical and medical anthropological research on the Hyde Expeditions of the AMNH to the southwestern United States

1899 August -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to excavate the site of Pueblo Bonito and to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; visited Grand Gulch caves in southern Utah; included visits to the Navahos and southern Utes

1900 -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; included visits to the Apaches, Yumas, and Pueblo Indians

1902 January-September -- Hyde expeditions for AMNH to southwestern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico to conduct somatological surveys; included visits to the Tepecanos, Papagos, Opatas, Pimas, Yaquis, Mayos, Huichols, Otomis, Tepehuanes, Maricopas, Yumas, Yavapais, Paiutes, Walapais, and Havasupais

1902 October-December -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Mexico for Hrdlička to complete his somatological investigations; included visits to the Tepehuanes, Coras, Huichols, "Nahuas," "Aztecs," and Tarascans

1903 May 1 -- Became assistant curator in charge of the new Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution

1905 -- Expedition under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology to Arizona and New Mexico to complete the observations on the tribes of this region; Hrdlička especially studied Apache and Pima Indian children

1906 February -- Expedition to western Florida to investigate remains of alleged ancient man

1907 -- President of the Anthropological Society of Washington

1908 -- Expedition to Indian schools and reservations in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Arizona, and South Dakota to study tuberculosis for a report to the International Congress of Tuberculosis

1908 December - 1909 May -- Traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Germany to examine human skeletal remains from an excavation in Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to study peoples of the Near East

1910 March 28 -- Promoted to curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology

1910 April-September -- Attended the 17th International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires and Mexico City Traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Panama

1912 -- Planned and directed seven expeditions for the physical anthropology exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition held at San Diego in 1915; expeditions included Hrdlička to Siberia and Mongolia and later to Peru; Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands; Vojtech Suk to Africa; Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine; and Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia

1912 May-Summer -- Traveled to London to attend 18th International Congress of Americanists Traveled to Siberia and Mongolia for the Panama-California Exposition

1912 September -- Traveled to Geneva for the 14th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology

1913 January-April -- Expedition to Peru as part the effort for the Panama-California Exposition

1914 November 18 - 1915 January 18 -- Attended Panama-California Exposition

1915 May -- Research for the Department of Justice at the White Earth and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota to determine non-Indian mixture among Chippewas

1915 December -- Served as General Secretary for the 19th International Congress of Americanists held in Washington

1916 Fall -- Traveled to Florida to examine remains of supposed ancient man

1917 March-July -- Served as Secretary on the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council

1917 Summer -- "Old American" research at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia and in Tennessee

1917 August -- Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, traveled to Oklahoma to visit the Shawnee Agency in eastern Oklahoma and the Kickapoo Indians in McCloud to search for adequate samples of pure blood Indians

1918 -- Elected to the American Philosophical Society Served as Chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and became its long-time editor Surveyed prehistoric sites on the southwest coast of Florida

1918 October 8 -- Death of his wife Marie

1920 -- Anthropometry published by the Wistar Institute Elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain

1920 Summer -- Married Mina (Vilemina) Mansfield

1920 January-May -- Visited Japan, Korea, Manchuria, northern China, Mongolia, and Hawaii Lectured at Peking Union Medical College in China

1920 Fall -- Visited Minnesota Chippewa (at the White Earth Reservation?) to help the Department of Justice setter the question of mixed and pure bloods among the Chippewa

1921 -- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

1922 -- Visited Spain, France, Germany, Moravia, and England Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from the University of Prague Chairman of the American delegation to the 20th International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janiero

1923 -- Served three and one-half months as Director of the American School in France for Prehistoric Studies Visited England, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Italy

1925 -- The Old Americans published by Williams and Wilkins Co.

1925 March-October -- Traveled to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe on a trip sponsored by the Buffalo [New York] Society of Natural Science to obtain cranial measurements of Australian aborigines and Tasmanians, to investigate the Rhodesian Man site in South Africa, to survey the field of early man, and to collect data to support his hypothesis about the peopling of the Earth

1925-1926 -- President of the American Anthropological Association

1926 -- Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from University of Brno and D.Nat.Sc. degree from Brunn University

1926 May-September -- First fieldwork in Alaska: reconnaissance down the Yukon River to its mouth, around the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast to Point Barrow

1927 -- Received Huxley Memorial Medal and gave Huxley Lecture on "the Neanderthal Phase of Man" before the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain

1928 -- Helped found the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)

1928-1929 -- President of the Washington Academy of Sciences

1928-1932 -- Served as first president of the AAPA

1929 -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Yukon River from Tanana to its mouth, to St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands, to Cape Prince of Wales, up to Point Barrow and back to Unalaska Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from Charles University, Prague

1930 -- Published The Skeletal Remains of Early Man, Vol. 83 Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections Published "Anthropological Survey in Alaska," Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 21-374

1930 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Kuskokwim River from Bethel down river to Apogak and up river to Stony River

1931 -- Children Who Run on All Fours published by McGraw-Hill Book Co.

1931 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island

1932 -- Kober Foundation lecturer of Georgetown University

1932 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island

1934 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed Cooks Inlet sites and the mainland opposite the Our Point site

1935 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site

1936 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed the Dutch Harbor caves, some of the Aleutian Islands, and the mummy cave on Kagamil Island

1937 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands

1938 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor caves, and Commander Islands

1939 April 4 -- Testimonial dinner given by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in honor of his 70th birthday

1939 April-June -- Recuperated in London hospital after suffering a coronary occlusion

1942 March 31 -- Retired from curatorship at United States National Museum, becoming an associate in anthropology

1942 December -- Resigned as editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology

1943 -- Alaska Diary published by Cattell Press

1943 September 5 -- Died of heart attack

1944 -- Anthropology of Kodiak Island published by Wistar Institute

1945 -- The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants published by Wistar Institute

1969 -- Tenth Anthropological Congress of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences dedicated to Hrdlička in the 100th anniversary year of his birth

Selected Bibliography

1908 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Bulletin 34, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1908.

1912 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Early Man in South America. Bulletin 52, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912.

1919 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physical Anthropology: Its Scope and Aims. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1919.

1920 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropometry. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1920.

1925 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Old Americans. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co., 1925.

1930 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Skeletal Remains of Early Man. Vol. 83, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. City of Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1930. Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropological Survey in Alaska. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.

1931 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Children Who Run on All Fours, and Other Animal-like Behaviors in the Human Child. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931.

1943 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. Lancaster, PA: The Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.

1944 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropology of Kodiak Island. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1944.

1945 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945.

Related Materials:: Additional material in the National Anthropological Archives relating to Aleš Hrdlička can be found in the papers of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, and Frank Spencer; records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution); and glass negatives of Indians collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution illustrations.

Additional related photographs can be found in Photo Lot 8, Division of Physical Anthropology collection; Photo Lot 9, Photographs of Indians for the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego; Photo Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum photographs of American Indians; Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology portrait file; Photo Lot 78, Miscellaneous negatives; Photo Lot 97, Division of Ethnology collection ("USNM" Collection); Photo Lot 73-26B, Aleš Hrdlička photographs relating to the Panama-California Exhibition; Photo Lot 73-26G, Miscellany; Photo Lot 77-48, Group portraits of International Congress; Photo Lot 79-38, Division of World Archeology collection; Photo Lot 83-41, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of human bones; and Photo Lot 92-46, Anthropology lantern slides.

Related films can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1982.2.1, 1982.2.2, 1986.12.1, and 2015.13.1.

Hrdlička's extensive collection of reprints is maintained in the Division of Physical Anthropology.

Frank Spencer's doctoral dissertation "Aleš Hrdlička, M.D., 1869-1943: A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist" (1979) is the only book length biography of Hrdlička. The Frank Spencer papers, 1836-1999, are available at the NAA and contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece; and an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute.

Further material may be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

The University of Alaska Anchorage holds diaries relating to Hrdlička's Expeditions to Alaska in 1936, 1937, and 1938 in the Alan G. May papers. The finding aid for this collection is avialable online at https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0690/ and a trascription of May's diaries from the expeditions is available online at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/11850

Provenance:: Hrdlička bequeathed his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. The Division of Physical Anthropology maintained them until they were deposited in the National Anthropological Archives in the 1960s. Some papers have come into the collection since then, most recently in 2018. These new accretions came to the collection through Donald Ortner, David Hunt, T. Dale Stewart, the Department of Anthropology, and the University of Alaska.

Restrictions:: The Aleš Hrdlička papers are currently restricted pending ethics review. Please contact the archive to discuss access or request an appointment.

Rights:: Contact the repository for terms of use.

Topic:: Human evolution Search this; Physical anthropology Search this; Children -- Physical anthropology Search this; anthropometry Search this; Ethnology Search this; Fossil hominids Search this

Citation:: Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:: The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers

Identifier:: NAA.1974-31

See more items in:: Aleš Hrdlička papers

Archival Repository:: National Anthropological Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3d88b75be-491f-4f90-b56a-104765d885eb

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-naa-1974-31

Online Media:

Aleš Hrdlička films

Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Extent:: Film reels (black-and-white silent, 16mm)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Film reels; Silent films

Place:: North America; Alaska

Date:: circa 1931-1939

Scope and Contents:: Collection consists of films of an archeological expedition with Aleš Hrdlička to the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island, Alaska and footage taken by or for Hrdlička in conjunction with his book "Children Who Run on All Fours." These materials form part of the Aleš Hrdlička papers in the National Anthropological Archives.

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 National Anthropological Archives holds the Aleš Hrdlička papers.

Provenance:: Transferred from the National Anthropological Archives in 1982, 1990, and 2015.

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.

Topic:: Physical anthropology Search this

Genre/Form:: silent films

Citation:: Aleš Hrdlička films,, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:: HSFA.1982.02

See more items in:: Aleš Hrdlička films

Archival Repository:: Human Studies Film Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pc905efdbcb-5fb6-4373-b87d-81cc6c942db9

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-hsfa-1982-02

No Image Available

Hrdlička on Kodiak Island

Collection Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Extent:: 1 Film reel (6 minutes, black-and-white silent; 160 feet, 16mm)

Type:: Archival materials; Film reels

Date:: 1931

Scope and Contents:: Footage of anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička excavating in Our Point and Uyak Bay on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

Local Number:: HSFA 1982.2.2

Collection 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.

Collection Rights:: Contact the repository for terms of use.

Collection Citation:: Aleš Hrdlička films,, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution

See more items in:: Aleš Hrdlička films

Archival Repository:: Human Studies Film Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pc97fed0cec-915e-4126-9833-856e546e1d20

EDAN-URL:: ead_component:sova-hsfa-1982-02-ref1

No Image Available

Excavations on Kodiak Island

Collection Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Extent:: 1 Film reel (9 minutes, black-and-white silent; 300 feet, 16mm)

Type:: Archival materials; Film reels

Date:: 1934

Scope and Contents:: Footage shot of an archeological expedition led by archaeologist Aleš Hrdlička on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

Local Number:: HSFA 1986.12.1

Collection 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.

Collection Rights:: Contact the repository for terms of use.

Collection Citation:: Aleš Hrdlička films,, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution

See more items in:: Aleš Hrdlička films

Archival Repository:: Human Studies Film Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pc93819729d-f10e-4714-8ecf-eba197822143

EDAN-URL:: ead_component:sova-hsfa-1982-02-ref2

No Image Available

Hrdlička in the Aleutian Islands

Collection Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Extent:: 1 Film reel (black-and-white silent; 600 feet, 16mm)

Type:: Archival materials; Film reels

Date:: circa 1937-1938

Scope and Contents:: Footage of anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička's excavations on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Documented are excavation techniques including undercutting, excavation of bone-nest, and removal of human skull. Also included is footage of Hrdlicka at work.

Local Number:: HSFA 1982.2.1

Collection 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.

Collection Rights:: Contact the repository for terms of use.

Collection Citation:: Aleš Hrdlička films,, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution

See more items in:: Aleš Hrdlička films

Archival Repository:: Human Studies Film Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pc92740459b-c9d4-42d8-b511-982f2140c744

EDAN-URL:: ead_component:sova-hsfa-1982-02-ref3

No Image Available

Hrdlička on Kodiak Island

Collection Creator:: Hrdlička, Aleš, 1869-1943 Search this

Extent:: 1 Film reel (black-and-white silent; 99 feet, 16mm)

Type:: Archival materials; Film reels

Date:: 1939

Scope and Contents:: Footage of anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička excavating on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Shots of bay as boat approaches island. Shots of Hrdlička excavating in an area covered with waist high plants. Woman wearing mosquito netting hat is behind him and she too digs at one point. This sequence shows what looks like a square slab of stone on the ground. Man hands something to Hrdlicka to examine. A boy is also shown in one shot behind the woman who is near Hrdlicka. One shot of a skull. Film ends with shots of dog swimming.

Local Number:: HSFA 2015.13.1

Collection 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.