Carol Laderman was a medical anthropologist best known for her research on Malay traditional medicine. Her work focused on beliefs and practices regarding childbirth and nutrition as well as shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. This collection consists of the professional papers of Carol Laderman, medical anthropologist and university professor. The bulk of the collection pertains to her research on childbirth, nutrition, and shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. These materials include field notes, surveys, transcripts of Main Peteri ceremonies, grant applications, photographs, and sound recordings. Of special interest are her photographs of midwives and shamans treating patients, including Main Peteri ceremonies, as well as traditional Malay weddings and festivals. Also noteworthy are her recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies and her interviews with midwives and shamans. The collection also contains her unpublished and published writings; her dissertation; a report on her undergraduate fieldwork with pregnant Puerto Rican teenagers; her lecture notes and files as a university professor; files documenting her involvement in professional associations; and correspondence with colleagues.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the professional papers of Carol Laderman, medical anthropologist and university professor. The bulk of the collection pertains to her research on childbirth, nutrition, and shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia. These materials include field notes, surveys, transcripts of Main Peteri ceremonies, grant applications, photographs, and sound recordings. Of special interest are her photographs of midwives and shamans treating patients, including Main Peteri ceremonies, as well as traditional Malay weddings and festivals. Also noteworthy are her recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies and her interviews with midwives and shamans. The collection also contains her unpublished and published writings; her dissertation; a report on her undergraduate fieldwork with pregnant Puerto Rican teenagers; her lecture notes and files as a university professor; files documenting her involvement in professional associations; and correspondence with colleagues.
Arrangement:
This collection is organized in 8 series: Series 1. Research, 1972, 1975-1977, 1981, 1985, 1987, 2000-2003, undated; Series 2. Writings, 1970, 1975, 1978-2001, 2004, undated; Series 3. Student Files, 1972, 1975, 1979, undated; Series 4. Teacher Files, 1977, 1979-1982, 2001-2002, 2007, undated; Series 5. Correspondence, 1974-1981, 1985-2005, 2009, undated; Series 6. Professional Activities, circa 1981, 1989-1990, 1994, 2004, undated; Series 7. Photographs, circa 1975-1977, circa 1982, undated; Series 8. Sound Recordings, 1976-1977, 1982, 2003, undated.
Biographical/Historical note:
Carol Laderman was a medical anthropologist best known for her research on Malay traditional medicine. Her work focused on beliefs and practices regarding childbirth and nutrition as well as shamanic healing practices in rural Malaysia.
Laderman (née Cohen) was born on October 25, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York. When she was 6, her father changed their family's surname to Ciavati due to his difficulty as a Jew finding an engineering job. Laderman grew up with musical aspirations, intending to become a concert pianist. She attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan and majored in music at Brooklyn College. In 1953, she married Gabriel Laderman, a painter and later an art professor. She took a leave from college to follow her husband after he was drafted into the U.S. Army five months following their wedding. Her hiatus from college spanned fifteen years, during which time she had two sons (1958, 1965). She also worked as a legal secretary in Ithaca, New York, and as a social secretary and translator for an opera singer when she and her family lived in Italy.
After returning to New York City, she enrolled in evening classes at Hunter College. Although she planned to resume her studies in music, her academic focus changed after taking an anthropology course taught by medical anthropologist Rena Gropper. In 1972, she earned her B.A. in Anthropology, and with the assistance of a Danforth Foundation Fellowship, she attended graduate school at Columbia University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1979.
As an undergraduate student, Laderman conducted fieldwork at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City (1972-1973), assisting in a project on pregnant teenagers and nutritional health. She was assigned to collect data on Puerto Rican adolescent mothers, which exposed her to humoral beliefs in food, medicine, and people. This experience would later inspire her to conduct her graduate fieldwork on nutrition and childbirth in Malaysia, where humoral beliefs were also held but not well-explored by researchers.
From 1975 to 1977, Laderman and her family lived in Merchang, in Trengganu (now Terengganu), Malaysia. Working under the auspices of the Malaysian Ministry of Health of the Institute for Medical Research, Laderman studied both traditional and hospital-based medicine. As part of her fieldwork, she received training from a hospital to collect blood samples to study the effects of birthing and dietary practices on women's health. She also apprenticed herself to a traditional midwife (bidan kampung), whom she assisted in a number of births. By comparing food ideologies and actual food intake of pregnant and postpartum women, Laderman was able to refute the prevailing view of scholars that malnutrition among rural Malays was largely due to dietary restrictions based on the humoral system. In her dissertation, "Conceptions and Preconceptions: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia," Laderman describes how Malay women adapt their diets to their needs and that their customs allow for interpretation and manipulation. In 1983, a revised version of her dissertation was published as Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia.
While seeking to gain an understanding of traditional Malay medicine in its entirety, Laderman also became exposed to theatrical spirit séances known as Main Peteri (also Puteri or Teri). At that time Main Peteri was no longer performed in most Malaysian states but was still thriving in Trengganu and nearby Kelantan. Performed primarily as healing ceremonies by shamans (bomoh), Main Peteri was a last resort for the afflicted. These performances were characterized by entranced patients, spirit possessions, singing, music, dancing, and an audience. Laderman attended and participated in a number of these ceremonies and became a student and adopted daughter to a shaman. She recorded and transcribed several Main Peteri performances and received an NEH grant (1981-1985) to translate the texts. She also returned to Merchang in 1982 to conduct further research on traditional healing ceremonies. In her monograph Taming the Wind of Desire (1991), she discusses Main Peteri and its relationship to the Malay concept of Inner Winds (angin), which determine a person's personality, talents, and drives. In 1987 to 1990, she returned to her musical roots to collaborate with ethnomusicologist Marina Roseman to transcribe, analyze, and interpret the music of Main Peteri. Together, she and Roseman also edited The Performance of Healing (1996). In addition, Laderman became interested in the effects of urbanization and globalization on traditional Malay healing practices, a topic which she addressed in a collection of her writings, The Life and Death of Traditional Malay Medicine (in press).
Laderman was a professor at the Department of Anthropology at City University of New York City College (1990-2010). She was also an associate professor at Fordham University (1982-1990) and taught briefly at Hunter College (1978-1980), Brooklyn College (1979-1980), and Yale University (1980-1982).
She died on July 6, 2010 at the age of 77.
Sources Consulted
[Autobiographical statement], Series 2. Writings, Carol Laderman Papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Laderman, Carol. 1983. Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Laderman, Carol. 1991. Taming the Wind of Desire: Psychology, Medicine, and Aesthetics in Malay Shamanistic Performance. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Maizura, Intan. 2003, September 28. A bidan, a bomoh & a New Yorker. Nuance: 16-18.
Roseman, Marina, Laurel Kendall and Robert Knox Dentan. 2011. Obituaries: Carol Laderman (1932-2010). American Anthropologist 113(2): 375-377.
1932 -- Born October 25 in Brooklyn, New York
1953 -- Marries Gabriel Laderman and takes a leave from Brooklyn College
1972 -- Earns B.A. in Anthropology from Hunter College
1972-1973 -- Conducts research at Mt. Sinai Hospital on ethnic eating patterns, food beliefs, and anemia in adolescent Puerto Rican mothers
1975-1977 -- Conducts fieldwork in Merchang in Trengganu, Malaysia
1979 -- Earns Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University
1982 -- Returns to Malaysia to conduct fieldwork on shamanism and trance healing
1982-1988 -- Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Fordham University
1988-1990 -- Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Fordham University
1990-2010 -- Professor, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York City College
2010 -- Dies on July 6
Related Materials:
Two videotapes were received with the Carol Laderman papers and transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives.
Some of Laderman's original field recordings are at Columbia University's Center for Ethnomusicology. Copies of those recording are in this collection and are so noted.
Provenance:
These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Carol Laderman's sons, Raphael and Michael Laderman in 2012.
Restrictions:
The Carol Laderman Papers are open for research. Access to the Carol Laderman Papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use. Permission to use sound recordings of Main Peteri ceremonies transcribed and published in Taming the Wind of Desire must be obtained from Columbia University's Center for Ethnomusicology.
An interview of Barbara Lee Smith conducted 2009 March 16-17, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Smith's home, in Gig Harbor, Washington. Smith speaks of moving around a lot with her family as a child; most of her childhood memories in Cape May, New Jersey where she recalls an early love of the ocean; playing piano from early childhood through young adulthood and its continued influence in her visual art; attending Douglass College at Rutgers University where she graduated with a home economics major; the first time she saw an Abstract Expressionist exhibition in college and the memory of those paintings; her love of color through sunsets and music; learning machine embroidery as a young mother from a Better Homes & Gardens article in the 1960s; falling in love with embroidery and learning as much as she could about the art form; being influenced by artists such as Mariska Karasz and Constance Howard; taking initiative after the Human Potential Movement and started pursuing embroidery art full time; participating in local, national and international embroidery and craft guilds; her love of historic embroideries; receiving her MFA Northern Illinois University; various techniques from her early years of making that still find their way into her work today; teaching workshops and seminars as an adult education teacher for almost 40 years; the influence of traveling to places such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom has had on her work; early abstract works in comparison to her recent, more representational work; the role maps have played in a good portion of her work; her work process and rather painterly approach to creating; the love of making and creating; the challenge and problem-solving qualities of taking commissions; writing the book, "Celebrating the Stitch" and the subsequent exhibitions that traveled around the world; the use of layering in her work to create clear layers of color; a collaborative book project with fellow artist, Jane Dunnewold; various exhibitions she has participated in and curated; her studio in Gig Harbor, Washington; relocating to Washington after 30 years in Chicago, Illinois and the influence the move had on her work. Smith also recalls Jill Nordforsclark, Randall Lanou, John Pemberton III, Jane Buckley, Jean Ray Laury, Jens Jensen, Bucky King, Henry Stahmer, Mary Lee Hu, Barbara Krug, Diane and Bill Itter, Renie Breskin Adams, Dimitri and Avra Liakos, Michael James, Chris Timmons, Studs Terkel, Bertil Vallien, Deidre Scherer, Jan Beaney, Tadao Andu, Jacquline Govin, Jean Littlejohn, and Billie Ruth Sudduth among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Barbara Lee Smith (1938- ) is a mixed media artist known for sculptural drawings constructed from fabric and lives and works in Gig Harbor, Washington.
General:
Originally recorded as 6 sound files. Duration is 5 hr., 21 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
An interview of Tommy Simpson conducted 2004 May 6-July 2, by Edward S. Cooke, Jr., for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.
Simpson speaks of growing up in rural Illinois; making things as a child; discovering his interest in art at Northern Illinois University; getting an MFA in painting at Cranbrook Academy of Art; using the wood shop at Cranbrook; exhibiting at various galleries in New York City and moving to Connecticut; showing work in the "Fantasy Furniture" exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design; visiting Europe; the New York studio furniture market in the 1960s; writing the book, "Fantasy Furniture"; exhibiting in "Objects USA;" working as artist in residence at the Fairtree Gallery; teaching at the University of Hartford; his work ethic and productivity; living and working in Greenwich, Connecticut; the constraints of being classified as a furniture maker; teaching briefly at the Program In Artisanry and other schools; the increased public interest in fine woodworking in the 1980s; changes in the craft market; writing the book, "Two Looks to Home"; the influence of events on his work; his current interest in making whole interiors; working on commission; the current public interest in craft; expressing themes in his work; his working process in his studio; the future of fine woodworking; the difficulties of working with galleries; designing rugs; and visiting China. Simpson also recalls Zoltan Sepeshy, Wendell Castle, Paul Smith, Sam Maloof, Edward Zucca, Wendy Maruyama, Richard Newman, Judy McKie, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Tommy Simpson (1939- ) is a furniture maker and sculptor from Washington Depot, Connecticut. Edward S. Cooke, Jr. is a professor from Newtonville, Massachusetts.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hr., 54 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
From child art to visual language of youth : new models and tools for assessment of learning and creation in art education / edited by Andrea Kárpáti and Emil Gaul
This series consists of the business and personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert and the Downtown Gallery. For the most part, this series is general business correspondence concerning routine activities of the Downtown Gallery, including the American Folk Art Gallery and the Daylight Gallery, both operated by the Downtown Gallery on the same premises. Included are correspondence with clients, employees, other galleries, and colleagues concerning sales, loans, purchases, appraisals, and so forth; arrangements for shipping, framing, photography, reproduction permissions, and insurance; and gallery housekeeping and improvements, ordering of supplies, and other administrative concerns.
Also included is personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert. There are letters and greeting cards from nieces, nephews, and other relatives; correspondence with longtime friends, including some who were art collectors, museum curators, or museum directors; and correspondence concerning upkeep and improvement of her Newtown, Connecticut, country home and entertaining there.
See Appendix A for a list of selected correspondents from Series 1
Arrangement note:
Letters (with enclosures) are arranged chronologically, with those of the same date alphabetized by name of correspondent; undated material is arranged alphabetically, followed by unidentified correspondents and letters bearing illegible signatures.
Box numbers provided in the Container Listing are approximate.
Appendix A: List of Selected Correspondents in Series 1:
Names and titles indicated in this list are those that appear on the letters. Where appropriate, terms have been standardized and cross-referencing provided. Because filing is not always consistent, researchers are advised to check both the name of an individual and the institution that he or she represented.
Abate Associates, Inc., 1956
Abbot and Land, 1965
Abbot, B. Vincent, 1944
Abbot, Bernice, 1957
Abbot, John E., 1945, 1948
Abbot Laboratories, 1950, 1952
ABC Employment Agency, 1951
Richard Abel and Co., Inc., 1968
Abendroth, Robert W., 1966-1967
Abercrombie and Fitch Co., 1962
Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, undated, 1949, 1954
Abingdon Square Painters, 1965
Abraham and Straus, 1930, 1960, 1965-1966, 1968
Abraham, Mae C., 1965
Abrahamsen, Mrs. David, 1962
Abramowitz, M., 1958
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1958-1960, 1965-1966, 1968-1969
"HemisFair '68," 1968 (see also: "International Exposition, HemisFair '68")
Hemmenway, Catherine C., 1961
Hemmingsen, R. V., 1963
Hemmingson, Victoria, 1965
Henderson, Hanford, 1960
Henderson, Priscilla A. B. (Mrs. A. I.), 1934-1955
Henderson, Ray, 1956
Hendrick, Mrs. James Pomeroy, 1961
Heninger, Helen, undated, 1963, 1969
Henquet, Roger, 1948, 1965
Henri, Robert, 1926-1927
Henry, David T., 1964
Henry, Helen (Mrs. Charles), undated, 1949
Henry, James F., 1958
Henry Street Settlement, 1958, 1962-1963
Hentschel, R. A. A., 1951-1954
Hepburn, Katharine, 1952
Herbert, Elmer, 1962
Herbert, James D., 1962
Herider, Ed. L., 1961
Heritage Gallery, 1960, 1964
Herman, Stanley, 1964
Herman, Vic, 1968
Herring, Audrey L., 1964
Herrington, Nell Ray (Mrs. A. W. S.), 1962, 1965
John Herron Art Institute, undated, 1934, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1957-1958, 1962-1964, 1967 (see also: Art Association of Indianapolis; Art School of the John Herron Art Institute)
Hertslet, G. Gordon, 1962, 1966
Hertz, Richard C., 1965
Hertzberg, Stuart E., 1967-1968
Heschel, Mrs. Abraham, 1961
Hess, Elaine Marie, 1965
Hess, Mrs. Thomas B., 1954
Hetzel, Margaret deL. (Mrs. Joseph L.), 1948
Hewitt, Ada M., 1953
Edwin Hewitt Gallery, 1953
Heydenryk, Henry, 1954, 1960, 1964
Heynick, Carla Marian, 1965
Hickok, M., 1958
Hiddens, Mrs. Earl, 1952
Hiersoux, Arne, 1966
Hi Fi/Stereo Review, 1960
High Museum of Art, 1950, 1955, 1961-1962, 1965-1968 (see also: Atlanta Art Association; Atlanta Art Association and High Museum of Art)
Highway Antique Shop, 1954
R. Hill and Son, Ltd., 1960
Hill, Ralph Nading, 1952, 1962
Hille, Elise B., undated
Hille and Curran, 1954
Hilleman, Alex L., 1956
Hiller, Paula, 1962
Hilles, Mrs. Frederick W., 1956
Hillman, Mrs. Joel, II., 1960
Hillside Hospital Clinic, 1949, 1953
Hillstrom, Richard L., 1958, 1962, 1964-1965
Hilltop Theatre, Incorporated, 1952
Hilsenrath, Yakov R., 1965
Hilson, Catherine [Katy] and/or John S., undated, 1958-1959, 1961-1966
Himel, Irving, 1963
Himmelsfarb, Samuel, 1955
Hines, Felrath, 1961
Hinkhouse, Inc., 1960, 1964
Hirsch, B., 1961
Hirsch, E. W., 1954
Hirschberg, J. Cotter, 1956
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., 1958, 1960, 1963-1965, 1968
Hirschland, Dr. and/or Mrs. F. H., undated, 1959
Hirschland, Paul Michael, 1945
Hirschburg, Mrs. Roy, undated
S. A. Hirsh Manufacturing Co., 1966
Hirshberg, Henrietta, 1961
Hirshhorn, Mrs. Arthur, 1960
Hirshhorn, Joseph H., 1946, 1948, 1951-1954, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1965
Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection, 1959-1960, 1962-1963, 1965-1966
[incomplete; without signature], undated, 1953, 1961, 1967, 1968
Collection Restrictions:
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Collection Rights:
The Downtown Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Prior to publishing information regarding sales transactions, researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from both artist and purchaser involved. If it cannot be established after a reasonable search whether an artist or purchaser is living, it can be assumed that the information may be published sixty years after the date of sale.
Collection Citation:
Downtown Gallery records, 1824-1974, bulk 1926-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing, microfilming and digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Near-looking : a close-focus look at the basic thread of American art : exhibition / organized by Dorathea K. Beard ; catalog: preface and introduction, Dorathea K. Beard ; entries [by] students and faculty, Art Department, Northern Illinois University
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