Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr.'s papers include personal material concerning awards and his investigation of Christian Science; material on mammalogical research including
extensive correspondence with Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas of the British Museum; and material on Miller's research with primates, especially the Piltdown Man and primate
behavioral patterns.
Historical Note:
Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr., (1869-1956) was born in Peterboro, New York, and grew up on a large estate in central New York. In this relatively isolated setting and through
the influence of his great uncle, an ornithologist, Miller developed an early interest in natural history. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1894, Miller joined the
Biological Survey in the Department of Agriculture and worked under Clinton Hart Merriam. In 1898 he joined the United States National Museum as Assistant Curator of Mammals
and in 1909 became Curator of that Division. He continued in that position until 1940 when he retired and remained as an Associate in biology at the Smithsonian Institution
until his death.
Miller's major contributions to mammalogy were his series of checklists of North American mammals, 1901, 1912, and 1924; The Families and Genera of Bats, 1907; and
the Catalogue of the Mammals of Western Europe in the Collection of the British Museum, 1912. He also was an early critic of the claimed discovery of the Piltdown Man
in England. He published several papers on the controversy and corresponded with many of the principal investigators. Another of his fields of interest was primate behavioral
patterns and their possible influence on the beginnings of human social development.
Frank Spencer was a historian of biological anthropology who began his career as a medical laboratory technician. His papers include correspondence, manuscripts, notes, research files, teaching materials, photographs, and audiotapes. Spencer's research on the Piltdown hoax as well as the Piltdown research of Ian Langham, whose work Spencer continued after his death in 1984, and Spencer's research on the life and career of Aleš Hrdlička for his dissertation are both represented in the collection.
Scope and Contents:
This collection documents the research and professional activities of anthropologist Frank Spencer through his correspondence, manuscripts, notes, research files, teaching materials, photographs, and audiotapes. As a historian of physical anthropology, Spencer did a great deal of archival research. Well-represented in the collection is Spencer's research on the Piltdown hoax as well as the Piltdown research of Ian Langham, whose work Spencer continued after Langham's death in 1984. Among the materials collected are negatives of Piltdown-related papers and negatives of Sir Arthur Keith's papers held at the Royal College of Surgeons. Spencer, who theorized that Keith was behind the Piltdown hoax, had organized his papers with a grant from Wenner-Gren. Also represented in the collection is Spencer's research on the life and career of Aleš Hrdlička for his dissertation. Although most of Hrdlička's papers and photos that Spencer collected are copies of materials held at the National Anthropological Archives (NAA), the collection does contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; and copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece. The collection also contains an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute. Spencer's 1975 taped interviews with Henry Collins, Harry Shapiro, Ashley Montagu, and Lucille St. Hoyme can also be found in the collection. Other projects represented in the collection include A History of Physical Anthropology: An Encyclopedia, The Origins of Modern Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence, and Fallen Idols, Spencer's unpublished book on the history of scientific attitudes towards human origins. In addition, the collection contains copies of Physical Anthropology News, which Spencer co-founded and edited. Photos in the collection include images of Frank Spencer as well as of the 1981 and 1988 annual meetings of the Association of American Physical Anthropologists (AAPA) and the 1980 symposium Spencer and Noel T. Boaz organized on the history of American physical anthropology.
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.
Frank Spencer was born in Chatham, England, on May 1, 1941. Best known as a historian of biological anthropology and for his book Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery (1990), Spencer began his career as a medical laboratory technician, publishing two books on medical laboratory procedures in 1970 and 1972. He immigrated to Canada, where he earned his BA in anthropology at the University of Windsor in Ontario in 1973. The following year, he enrolled at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with C. Loring Brace as his advisor. Spencer wrote his dissertation on the life and career of Aleš Hrdlička and was awarded his PhD in biological anthropology in 1979. That same year he joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at Queens College as an assistant professor and was soon promoted to department chair in 1984. Over the course of his career, he wrote and edited several books on the history of physical anthropology including A History of Physical Anthropology, 1930-1980 (1992), The Origins of Modern Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence (1984), Ecce Homo: An Annotated Bibliographic History of Physical Anthropology (1986), and History of Physical Anthropology: An Encyclopedia (1997). Spencer was also a co-founder and editor of the Physical Anthropology News bulletins. It was his book Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery, however, that garnered him the most attention. In this book, he theorized that the well-respected Sir Arthur Keith master-minded the Piltdown hoax. On May 30, 1999 Frank Spencer died of cancer at the age of 58.
1941 -- Born on May 1 in Chatham, Kent, England
1964 -- Obtained Associate diploma in Clinical Microbiology, [Britain], Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences
1966 -- Fellowship diploma in Clinical Parasitology
1971 -- Advanced diploma in Clinical Biochemistry & Microbiology, Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Technology
1973 -- BA (Anthropology) University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
1974 -- MA (Biological Anthropology) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1976-1977 -- Adjunct Lecturer, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Windsor
1979 -- PhD, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, "Biological Anthropology, Aleš Hrdlička, MD (1869-1943): A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist"
1979-1982 -- Hired as Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Queens College
1982 -- Published A History of American Physical Anthropology, 1930-1980
1983 -- Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Queens College
1984 -- Published The Origins of Modern Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence
1986 -- Full professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Queens College Published Ecce Homo: An Annotated Bibliographic History of Physical Anthropology
1990 -- Published Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery Published The Piltdown Papers 1908-1955: The Correspondence and Other Documents Relating to the Forgery
1997 -- Published The History of Physical Anthropology: An Encyclopedia
1999 -- Passed away on May 30 of cancer
Related Materials:
Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Provenance:
Donated in 2002 by Elena Peters-Spencer, wife of Frank Spencer.
Restrictions:
To protect the privacy of individuals, some materials have been separated and access to them has been restricted.
Access to the Frank Spencer papers requires and appointment.
5.35 Linear feet (12 boxes and 2 oversize folders)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1836-1997
Scope and Contents:
Spencer became interested in the Piltdown hoax while working on his dissertation after coming across a suggestive letter between Aleš Hrdlička, who was suspicious of the Piltdown specimens, and Sir Arthur Keith. Spencer began to research Keith's involvement in the Piltdown dig and specimen study, but in 1983 he learned that another researcher, a man named Ian Langham from the History and Philosophy of Science Program at Sydney University, was also pursuing the same topic and the same suspect. Spencer believed that Langham would soon publish his theory, and he backed away from his research until Langham's sudden death in 1984. At that time, Spencer took over his project and, with the cooperation of Langham's widow and colleagues, extended Langham's research and published their theory in 1990 in Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery. An accompanying volume of primary documents, The Piltdown Papers 1908-1955: The correspondence and other documents relating to the Piltdown Forgery, was also published.
This series contains correspondence, research notes and materials (including newspaper clippings, publications, letters, and other Piltdown documents), and papers related to the publication of the two Piltdown books—drafts, edits, press releases, and reviews. In 1983 Spencer received a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation to prepare the Sir Arthur Keith (SAK) papers at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), and thus also included are papers related to this project. Boxes 12-14 contain copies of scholarly and popular press articles related to Piltdown, arranged chronologically by Langham and Spencer. Some are annotated, and there are some pages of notes by Spencer and Langham interfiled. Other materials of special interest in the series are a movie script based on Spencer's Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery and a copy of an advance uncorrected proof of The Piltdown Confession, a novel by Irwin Schwartz.
The correspondence within this series primarily pertains to Piltdown research and book publication, but also includes some correspondence not related to Piltdown (regarding other projects on which Spencer was working during the same years). Included are a few letters between Ian Langham and Spencer, correspondence related to the transfer of Langham's research to Spencer after his death, and letters of Langham given to Spencer.
Since Spencer incorporated Langham's research into his books, many of the research notes and documents were prepared and annotated by Langham. In order to help researchers, some of the folders are marked "IL" and/or "FS" in order to distinguish Spencer's notes from Langham's. There are also handwriting samples in box 7, directly following the correspondence. Some of Langham's Piltdown correspondence is also included, as well as some of Langham's papers concerning other research projects, including work related to his dissertation for his PhD in the History of Science from Princeton University on British social anthropology (later published in 1981 as "The Building of British Social Anthropology") and biographical information about him.
Additional materials relating to Spencer's Piltdown research can be found in Series 7: Subject Files, Series 13: Photographs, and Series 14: Audiotapes. Please also see Series 5: Projects, Sub-series 5.1: Brixham Cave Project.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged by topic. Documents within folders are arranged chronologically, with undated documents at the back. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Collection Restrictions:
To protect the privacy of individuals, some materials have been separated and access to them has been restricted.
Access to the Frank Spencer papers requires and appointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Frank Spencer papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Piltdown hoax and human evolution : new light on the impact of Sir Arthur Keith, Ian Langham, Raymond Dart and Australopithecus / Phillip V. Tobias
Supplementary note on the discovery of a paleolithic human skull and mandible at Piltdown (Sussex) / by Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward ; with an appendix by Grafton Elliot Smith
