The Beatrice Medicine papers, 1913-2003 (bulk 1945-2003), document the professional life of Dr. Beatrice "Bea" Medicine (1923-2005), a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, anthropologist, scholar, educator, and Native rights activist. The collection also contains material collected by or given to Medicine to further her research and activism interests. Medicine, whose Lakota name was Hinsha Waste Agli Win, or "Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman," focused her research on a variety of topics affecting the Native American community: 1) mental health, 2) women's issues, 3) bilingual education, 4) alcohol and drug use, 5) ethno-methodologies and research needs of Native Americans, and 6) Children and identity issues. The collection represents Medicine's work as an educator for universities and colleges in the United States and in Canada, for which she taught Native American Studies courses. Additionally, because of the large amount of research material and Medicine's correspondence with elected U.S. officials and Native American leaders, and records from Medicine's involvement in Native American organizations, the collection serves to represent issues affecting Native Americans during the second half of the 20th century, and reflects what Native American leaders and organizations did to navigate and mitigate those issues. Collection materials include correspondence; committee, conference, and teaching material; ephemera; manuscripts and poetry; maps; notes; periodicals; photographs; training material; and transcripts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Beatrice Medicine reflect Medicine's interests as an academic and an activist, and contain correspondence, committee, conference, and teaching material, ephemera, manuscripts and poetry, maps, notes, periodicals, photographs, and training material (see series scope notes for further details on contents). The majority of the material is printed matter that Medicine collected, with less of her own work included. Taken together, the collection reflects issues affecting Native Americans during the second half of the 20th century, as well as the network of Native American leaders and organizations that navigated these issues. Student papers, letters of recommendation, evaluations, and documents containing personally identifiable information are restricted.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 24 series:
Series 1: Native American Culture and History, 1954-1962, 1967-1975, 1978-1989, 1991-1997, 1999-2002
Series 2: Appropriations, Economics, and Labor, 1955, circa 1970-1980, 1988, 1993, circa 1995-2000
Series 3: Archaeology, 1935-1950, 1952-1973, 1987-1995
Series 4: Native American Artists, Authors, Crafts, Film, and Poets, 1951-1969, 1972-2002
Series 5: Census, Demographic, and Poll Data, 1974, 1984-1986
Series 6: Civil Rights, 1972, 1980, 1983-1997
Series 7: Committee Material: Correspondence, Meeting Minutes, and Memos, 1985-1995
Series 8: Conference Material, 1955-1962, 1965, 1968-1974, 1976-2002
Series 9: Correspondence, 1952, 1959, 1962, 1966-2000
Series 10: Education: Native American Institutions and Teaching Material, 1948-2002
Series 11: Ephemera: Campaign, Pow-Wow, and Other Event Buttons, and Calendars, 1973, 1976, circa 1980-2000
Series 12: Health: Alcohol and Drug Addiction and Recovery, Disabilities, Healthcare, Mental Health, Nutrition, and Wellness, 1955, 1965, 1969-1999, 2004
Series 13: Historic Preservation, 1942, 1956, 1960-1969, 1979, circa 1985-1998
Series 14: Invitations, 1966-1979, 1982, 1991-2002
Series 15: Linguistics: Native American Languages, 1961, 1963, 1975, 1978-1981, 1987-1995
Series 16: Manuscripts, 1964-2003
Series 17: Maps, 1982-1991
Series 18: Museum Material: Native American Museums, Exhibit Preparation, and the National Museum of the American Indian, 1949, 1962, circa 1976-1998
Series 19: Oversized Material, 1962, circa 1965-1996, 1999
Series 20: Published material: Journals, Magazines, Monographs, and Newsletters, 1914, 1932, 1944, 1946-1947, 1952-2003
Series 21: Reports, 1947-1949, 1956-1998
Series 22: Training Material, 1968, 1988-2000
Series 23: Women and Gender, 1962, 1965, circa 1970-1997
Series 24: Restricted Material, 1972, 1978, 1987-1999
Biographical / Historical:
A member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, Beatrice "Bea" Medicine—also known by her Lakota name Hinsha Waste Agli Win, or "Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman"—was born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in Wakpala, South Dakota on August 1, 1923.
As a young adult, she studied at the South Dakota State University on the Laverne Noyes Scholarship, where she attained her B.A. in Anthropology in 1945. Between 1945 and 1951, Medicine worked a variety of teaching positions, including for three American Indian institutions (see Chronology for Medicine's complete work history). In 1951, Medicine went back to school and worked as a research assistant until she earned her master's degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Michigan State University in 1954. For the remainder of her life, Medicine served as faculty, visiting professor, and scholar-in-residence at thirty-one universities and colleges in the United States and Canada, teaching cultural and educational anthropology courses, as well as Native American Studies. As an educator, Medicine carried out her research on a variety of issues affecting Native American and First Nation communities, including: 1) mental health issues, 2) women's issues—professionalization, sterilization, socialization, and aging, 3) bilingual education, 4) alcohol and drug use and abuse, 5) ethno-methodologies and research needs, and 6) socialization of children and identity needs. Medicine's research in American Indian women's and children's issues, as well as her research in gender identity among the LGBT community was among the first to document the narratives of the members of these groups.
In 1974, Medicine testified alongside her cousin, Vine Deloria, Jr., as an expert witness in the Wounded Knee trial (United States v. Banks and Means). Following this, Medicine returned to school to pursue her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, which she completed in 1983 at the University of Wisconsin. With her experience as a researcher, educator, activist, and Lakota woman, medicine sought to create more opportunities for multicultural and bilingual education for minority students, especially those of Native American descent. Such education, she believed, provided students a means to preserve and legitimize their own cultural identity, debase negative stereotyes, and be recognized as individuals who are capable of academic and economic achievement.
Medicine was an active member of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and pursued her educational agenda further through the establishment of the Committee of Anthropologists in Primarily Minority Institutions (CAPMI) (1987-1995), which brought anthropologists out of retirement to teach at minority institutions. (See Chronology for a complete list of organizations and committees in which Medicine was involved.) The program was short-lived but provided a space for minority students to confront a field that historically misrepresented them, reclaim their narratives and languages, and instigate positive change as potential future anthropologists.
Medicine officially retired on August 1, 1989, but continued to be active in AAA and was honored many times for her contributions to the field of anthropology. Some of her recognitions include the Distinguished Service Award from AAA (1991) and the Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology (1996). One of Medicine's highest honors, however, was serving as the Sacred Pipe Woman at the 1977 Sun Dance. Medicine continued her research into retirement, and went on to publish her first book in 2001, Learning to Be an Anthropologist and Remaining "Native": Selected Writings. Medicine died in Bismarck, North Dakota on December 19, 2005. Medicine's final work, Drinking and Sobriety Among the Lakota Sioux was published posthumously in 2006. In honor of her life's work and dedication to education, the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) created the Bea Medicine Award, a scholarship travel grant for students to attend the Annual Meeting of the SfAA.
Chronology: Beatrice Medicine
1923 August 1 -- Beatrice Medicine (also known by her Lakota name, Hinsha Waste Agli Win, or "Returns Victorious with a Red Horse Woman") is born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in Wakpala, South Dakota.
1941-1945 -- Receives scholarship: Laverne Noyes Scholarship, South Dakota State University
1945 -- Receives Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology, South Dakota State University.
1945-1946 -- Teacher, Home Economics, Haskell Indian Institute (B.I.A.)
1947-1948 -- Health Education Lecturer, Michigan Tuberculosis Association
1948-1949 -- Teacher, Santo Domingo Pueblo, United Pueblos Agency, Albuquerque, New Mexico
1949-1950 -- Teacher, Navajo Adult Beginner's Program, Albuquerque Indian School
1950-1951 -- Teacher, Home Economics, Flandreau Indian School
1950-1954 -- Fellowship: Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs Fellowships
1951-1954 -- Research Assistant, Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University
1953-1954 -- Fellowship: John Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship
1954 -- Receives Master of Arts, Sociology and Anthropology, Michigan State University. Fellowship: American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
1954- -- Charter Member, American Indian Women's Service League
1955-1958 -- Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Washington
1956 -- Honor: Outstanding Alumna, South Dakota State University
1960 -- Mentioned as "Who's Who Among American Indians"
circa 1960 -- Alpha Kappa Delta, Sociology Hononary Phi Upsilon Omicron, Home Economic Honorary
1960-1963 -- Lecturer, Anthropology, University of British Columbia
1960-1964 -- Board of Directors, Native Urban Indian Centers in Vancouver, British Columbia and Calgary, Alberta
1963-1964 -- Lecturer/Sociology and Teacher/Counselor, Mount Royal College, Indian Affairs Branch Receives grant: American Council of Learned Societies Research Grant
1965 -- Lecturer, Social Science, Michigan State University
1966 -- Psychiatric Social Worker, Provincial Guidance Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1966-1967 -- Receives grant: Career Development Grant, National Institute of Mental Health
1966- -- Member, National Congress of American Indians (Education Issues)
1967 -- Receives grant: Ethnological Research Grant, National Museum of Canada
1967-1968 -- Lecturer, Sociology and Anthropology, University of Montana
1968 -- Teacher, "Cultural Enrichment Program," Standing Rock Indian Reservation, South Dakota Cited in "The Role of Racial Minorities in the United States," Seattle, Washington
1968 March -- Speaker: "The Pow-Wow as a Social Factor in the Northern Plains Ceremonialism," Montana Academy of Sciences
1968 May -- Speaker: "Patterns and Periphery of Plains Indian Pow-Wows," Central States Anthropological Society
1968 June -- Speaker: "Magic Among the Stoney Indians," Canadian Sociology and Anthropological Association, Calgary, Alberta
1968 August -- Speaker: "Magic Among the Stoney Indians," International Congress of Americanists, Stuttgart, German Speaker: "The Dynamics of a Dakota Indian Giveaway," International Congress of Americanists, Stuttgart, German
1968-1969 -- Director, American Indian Research, Oral History Project and Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of South Dakota
1968-1970 -- Consultant, Text Book Evaluation Committee, American Indians United
1969 -- Assistant Professor, Teacher Corps, University of Nebraska
1969 September -- Speaker: "The Red Man Yesterday," Governor's Interstate Indian Council, Wichita, Kansas
1969 December -- Speaker: "The Native American in Modern Society," Northwestern State College
1969-1970 -- Assistant Professor, San Francisco State University Speaker: "The Indian in Institutions of Higher Learning," Annual Conference, National Indian Education Association
1969-1975 -- Member, Editorial Board, American Indian Historical Society
1970 -- Mentioned for second time as "Who's Who Among American Indians" Steering Committee Member, Indian Ecumenical Convocation of North America Member, Planning Committee Indian Alcoholism and Drug Use
1970 August -- Speaker: "The Role of the White Indian Expert," 2nd Annual Conference, National Indian Education Association
1970 October -- Speaker: "The Ethnographic Study of Indian Women," Annual Convention, American Ethnohistorical Soceity
1970 November -- Speaker: "The Anthropologists as the Indian's Image Maker," Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association Speaker: "The Anthropologist and Ethnic Studies Programs," Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association
1970-1971 -- Associate Professor, Anthropology, San Francisco State University Member, Mayor's Committee on the Status of Women, San Francisco, California
1971 -- Member, Native American Scholars Board, Steering and Selection, American Indian Historical Society
1971 May -- Speaker: "Ethnic Studies and Native Americans," National Education Association
1971-1973 -- Pre-Doctoral Lecturer, Anthropology, University of Washington Consultant, American Indian Heritage Program
1972 -- Honored in "Potlatch" ceremony by Makah Tribal people at the National Indian Education Conference for contributions to Indian education Receives grant: American Council of Learned Societies Travel Grant, Americanist Annual Meeting, Rome, Italy Curriculum Advisor, Lakota Higher Education Center, Prine Ridge, South Dakota
1972 March -- Speaker: "Warrior Women Societies," Northwest Anthropological Conference
1972 April -- Chairperson and Speaker: "Racism and Ethnic Relations," Society for Applied Anthropology
1972 June -- Chairperson, Native American Studies Symposium, International Congress of Americanists, Mexico
1972 August -- Speaker: "Warrior Women of the Plains," International Congress of Americanists, Rome, Italy
1972 November -- Speaker: "Native Americans in the Modern World," Southwest Minnesota State College
1973 -- Expert Witness, Yvonne Wanro Trial, Spokane, Washington Member, Organization of American States, First Congress of Indigenous Women, Chiapas, Mexico Speaker: "Self-Direction in Sioux Education," American Anthropological Association Speaker: "North American Native Women: The Aspirations and Their Associations," presented as a Delegate to the Inter-American Commission on Indigenous Women, Chiapas, Mexico
1973-1974 -- Visiting Professor, Anthropology, Native American Studies Program, Dartmouth College
1973-1976 -- Member, Committee on Minorities in Anthropology, American Anthropological Association
1973- -- Consultant, Human Services Department, Sinte Gleska Community College
1974 -- Expert Witness, Wounded Knee Trial, Lincoln, Nebraska Speaker: "Indian Women's Roles: Traditional and Contemporary," Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association
1974-1975 -- Visiting Professor, Anthropology, Colorado College
1975-1976 -- Visiting Associate Professor, Anthropology, Stanford University
1975-1977 -- Member, Steering Committee, Council of Anthropology and Education, American Anthropological Association
1976 -- Visiting Professor, Educational Anthropology, University of New Brunswick Expert Witness, Topsky Eagle Feathers Trial, Pocatello, Idaho Panelist, White House Conference on Ethnic Studies, Washington, D.C.
1977 -- Expert Witness, Greybull Grandchildren Custody Case, Portland, Oregon American Indian representative to the World Conference on Indigenous People, Geneva, Switzerland Honor: Outstanding Alumna, South Dakota State University
1977 August 18 -- Medicine serves as Sacred Pipe Woman at the Sun Dance, Green Grass, South Dakota
1977-1980 -- Education Consultant, National Congress of American Indians, Washington, D.C.
1978 -- Cited in the Directory of Significant 20th Century American Minority Women, Gaylord Professional Publications Biographical Sketch in "Moving Forward" of the Bookmark Reading Program, Third Edition
1978 August -- Speaker: "Issues in the Professionalization of Native American Women," Annual Meeting, American Psychological Association
1978-1982 -- Advanced Opportunity Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1979 -- Visiting Professor, Department of Education Policy Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1979 August -- Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters, Northern Michigan University Speaker: "The Dakota Indian Memorial Feast: Reservation and Urban Manifestations," International Congress of Americanists, Lima, Peru
1980 -- Member, Nominations Committee, American Anthropological Association Biographical Sketch in "Native American Indian Personalities, Historical and Contemporary," Dansville, New York: The Instructor Publications, Inc.
1981 -- Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Washington-Seattle Speaker: "Linguistically Marginated: The Transformation of Dominated Speech Varieties," American Anthropological Association
1982 -- School of Social and Behavioral Science Academic Planning, California State University Speaker: "Policy Decisions: Federal Regulations and American Indian Identity Issues," Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association
1982-1983 -- Anthropology Department Curriculum Committee, California State University
1982-1985 -- Associate Professor of Anthropology, Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Program in American Indian Studies, California State University Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Program in American Studies Program, California State University
1982- -- President, Assembly of California Indian Women
1983 -- Receives Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, University of Wisconsin Expert Witness, Fortunate Eagle Trial, Reno, Nevada Award: Outstanding Woman of Color, National Institute of Women of Color, Washingtonton, D.C. (for anthropological contributions) Award: Outstanding Minority Researcher, American Educational Research Association Publishes book with Patricia Albers: The Hidden Half: Indian Women of the Northern Plains Honor: Significant Academic Book (The Hidden Half), Choice, Association of Colleges and Research Libraries, American Library Association
1983-1984 -- Student Affirmative Action Coordinating Council, California State University
1983-1986 -- Member, Executive Board, Southwest Anthropological Association Member, Governing Board, Common Cause
1984 -- Member, Advisory Board of National Research for Handicapped Native Americans, North Arizona University Scholarly Publications Award Selection Committee, California State University Award: Faculty Award for Meritorious Service, California State University Speaker: Field Work Methods: "Ties That Bond," Committee on the Status of Women in Anthropology," Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association Speaker: "Career Patterns of American Indian Women," Council of Education and Anthropology, Annual Meeting, American Anthropological Association
1984 November -- Faculty Award for Meritorious Service, California State University
1984-1985 -- Participant, Chancellor's Office Grant to "Cross-Cultural Perspectives in the Social Sciences," California State University
1985 November -- Speaker: Conference on "The Native American: His Arts, His Culture, and His History," West Virginia State College
1985-1986 -- Board of Directors, Naechi Institute on Alcohol and Drug Education
1985-1988 -- Professor, Department of Anthropology and Director, Native Centre, University of Calgary
1985-1989 -- Member, Malinowski Awards Committee, Society for Applied Anthropology
1987 -- Honor: Outstanding Minority Professorship Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks Visiting Professor, University of Michigan
1987-1995 -- Member, Committee of Anthropologists in Primarily Minority Institutions, American Anthropological Association
1988 August 1 -- Medicine officially retires.
1989 -- Volunteer (Committee of Anthropologists in Primarily Minority Institutions, American Anthropological Association), Standing Rock College Honor (twice): Outstanding Minority Professorship Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks Visiting Professor, Wayne State University.
1990 -- Honor: "Outstanding Contributions for the promotion of sex equity in Education," Illinois State Board of Education Honor: Outstanding Lakota Woman, Standing Rock College
1991 -- Honor: Distinguished Service Award, American Anthropological Association. Medicine was the first American Indian to receive this award.
1991 -- Visiting Professor, Saskatchewan Indian Federal College Visiting Professor, Colorado College Visiting Professor, Anthropology, Humboldt State University
1992 -- Visiting Distinguished Professor, Women's Studies, University of Toronto
1993 -- Visiting Professor, Rural Sociology, South Dakota State University Award: Distinguished Native American Alumna Award, South Dakota State University
1993-1994 December -- Research Co-ordinator, Women's Perspectives, Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
1994- -- Adjunct Professor, University of Alberta
1995 -- Scholar in Residence, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul Visiting Scholar, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia Award: Ohana Award, Multi-Cultural Counseling Excellence, American Association of Counselors
1996 -- Award: Bronislaw Malinowski Award, Society for Applied Anthropology. Buckman Professor, Department of Human Ecology, University of Minnesota
circa 1997- -- Associate Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, California State University
2001 -- Publishes book: Learning to Be an Anthropologist and Remaining "Native": Selected Writings.
2005 -- Award: George and Louise Spindler Award, Council on Anthropology and Education, American Anthropological Association.
2005 December 19 -- Medicine dies during emergency surgery in Bismarck, North Dakota.
2006 -- Book: Drinking and Sobriety Among the Lakota Sioux is published posthumously.
2008 -- The Society for Applied Anthropology creates the Bea Medicine Award.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Beatrice Medicine between 1997 and 2003, and by Ted Garner in 2006.
Restrictions:
Materials relating to student grades, letters of recommendation, and evaluations have been restricted.
These records include documents related to Nancy Shia's tenure as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, DC from 1982-184. Materials include correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, annual reports, grant proposals, newspaper clippings, and political fliers. Also contained in the collection are several editions of the Rock Creek Monitor, a newspaper of Adams Morgan and surrounding communities, and photographs by Nancy Shia of the annual Adams Morgan Day celebration.
Biographical/Historical Note:
Nancy Shia is a photographer, political artist, neighborhood activist, and longtime Adams Morgan resident. She received her B.A. in Sociology (with a minor in Photography) from City College of New York, her M.A. in Social Work from Columbia University, and came to Washington, DC in 1972 to attend Antioch School of Law (from which she received her J.D. in 1978). She has extensively documented the Adams Morgan neighborhood through photography since the early 1970s. She later worked for the Federal News Service and was elected to serve as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner from 1982-1984 and again from 2007-2010.
Provenance:
Donated by Nancy Shia in 2017.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of Reginald R. Isaacs measure 22.54 linear feet and date from 1842 to 1991, with the bulk of the material from 1928 to 1991. The collection includes Isaacs's personal and professional papers, as well as extensive research material he collected and created for his two-volume biography, Walter Gropius: The Man and His Work.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of of architect, instructor, writer, and city planner Reginald R. Isaacs (1911-1986) measure 22.54 linear feet and date from 1842 to 1991 with the bulk of the material dating from 1883 to 1985. The collection includes Isaacs's personal and professional papers, as well as extensive research material he collected and created for his two volume two-volume biography of Bauhaus architect, Walter Gropius: Walter Gropius: The Man and His Work. The bulk of Walter Gropius' papers are housed at the Busch Reisinger Museum at Harvard University, and the Bauhaus Archiv in Germany.
Series 1 to 12 contain contain biographical, legal, and financial material; personal and professional correspondence; project and subject files; writings and publications; teaching files; works of art; scrapbooks; printed material; and photographs relating to Isaacs' personal and professional career.
Series 13 forms the bulk of the collection and pertains specifically to the writing and publication of Isaacs' biography of Gropius. It contains research material, correspondence (much of it with Gropius), drafts of the manuscript, publication correspondence, photographs and illustrations, and printed material. Some of the research material, including some of the photographs and illustrations that were used in the biography, appear to have been original documents of Walter Gropius, while large portions of the material are photocopies of the originals, many of them in German.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into fourteen series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.
Series 7: Writings, 1940-1986, undated (Boxes 3-4, 22; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Teaching Files, 1954-1973 (Boxes 4-5; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 9: Works of Art, 1965-1967, undated (Box 5, OV 23; 3 folders)
Series 10: Scrapbooks, 1929-1969 (Box 5; 2 folders)
Series 11: Printed Material, 1842-1844, 1913-1986, undated (Box 5; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 12: Photographs, 1959-1981, undated (Boxes 5, 22; 7 folders)
Series 13: Walter Gropius Biography, circa 1880s-1991, undated (Boxes 6-22, OV 23, MGP 1, MGP 2, MGP 4; 16.0 linear feet)
Series 14: Unprocessed Addition, 1974-1985 (Box 24; 1.0 linear foot)
Biographical Note:
Born in Canada in 1911, Reginald R. Isaacs began working in architectural offices at age 14, later coming under the influence of "Beaux-Arts diplomes" at the University of Minnesota and Harvard and subsequently under that of Walter Gropius at Harvard University. He later studied sociology and planning at the University of Chicago under Louis Wirth and Rexford Guy Tugwell.
Isaacs served on the staffs of city planning commissions in Minneapolis, Syracuse, and Chicago, and in the federal government in the National Youth Agency, Public Housing Authority, and Housing and Home Finance Agency. His architectural practice in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and other cities included the design of housing, colleges, and hospitals. He was director of planning and development for Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, 1945-1953, where Walter Gropius, planner Walter Blucher, and sociologist Louis Wirth collaborated with him as consultants. He was a United Nations expert on regional planning in South America, and a planning consultant for the Ford Foundation, the U.S. State Department, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Recommended by Walter Gropius, Isaacs served as the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning at Harvard University from 1953-1978. He was also Chairman of the Graduate School of Design's Departments of City and Regional Planning as well as Landscape Architecture. Throughout his career he lectured at universities throughout the United States and in almost every country of Central and South America and in the Caribbean.
In 1962 Isaacs and Gropius began their collaboration on Walter Gropius: The Man and his Work, until the death of Gropius in 1969. The first volume of the biography was published in German in 1983, with the second volume following in 1984. Isaacs died of a massive heart attack in 1986, never realizing his goal to see an English-language edition which was published posthumously in 1991 by the Estate of Reginald Isaacs.
Missing Title
1911 -- Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1935 -- Received Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Minnesota
1939 -- Received Masters of Architecture degree from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
1947-1950 -- Studied sociology and planning with Louis Wirth and Rexford Guy Tugwell at the University of Chicago
1945-1953 -- Director of planning at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
1951-1953 -- Guest lecturer at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design with Walter Gropius and also served a two-year term as a member of the Board of Overseers Committee to Visit the Graduate School of Design
1953-1978 -- Named the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning
1953-1964 -- Chairman of the Department of City and Regional Planning
1953-1958 -- Chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture
1962 -- Began collaboration with Walter Gropius on the biography Walter Gropius - The Man and his Work
1969 -- Walter Gropius dies
1983 -- Walter Gropius, Der Mensch und Sein Werk, Volume 1 published by Gebr. Mann Nerlag, Berlin
1984 -- Walter Gropius, Der Mensch und Sein Werk, Volume 2, published by Gebr. Mann Nerlag, Berlin
1986 -- Isaacs dies
1991 -- Walter Gropius: An Illustrated Biography of the Creator of the Bauhaus, published by the Estate of Reginald Isaacs. The Papers of Reginald R. Isaacs donated to the Archives of American Art by his son, Henry Isaacs.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Henry Isaacs, son of Reginald Isaacs, in January 1991. An additional 1.0 linear foot was donated by Merry White, daughter of Reginald Isaacs, in 1997.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The collection is the result of research conducted by Dr. Alixa Naff (1920-2013) relating to the study of the early Arab immigrant experience in the United States from about 1880-World War II. The study began with oral history interviews in 1962 and became a major project in 1980 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It documents the assimilation of Arabic speaking immigrants in the United States.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the immigration and assimilation of mostly Christian Syrian-Lebanese who came to America at the turn of the twentieth century. The immigrants were predominately-small land-owning peasants and artisans from the village of Syria and Lebanon. According to Alixa Naff, immigrants knew exactly where they were going to live and what they were going to do once they immigrated to America. They mostly chose to live in cities where earlier immigrants had already created communities. The majority of the immigrants became peddlers. Peddlers carried packs containing scissors, razors, pins, buttons, ribbons, threads, needles, combs, mirrors, soap, voile and muslin, lace and crotchet crafts, perfume, scarves, picture frames, oriental rugs, fine linens, leather goods, pictures of saints, religious notions from the holy land, confections and cakes. Peddling offered the immigrants a source of income and a way to learn the English language, American customs and lifestyles. It often led to ownership of a small dry goods store. More successful businesspersons then went on to own a department store or a chain of stores. For those Syrian/Lebanese who chose not to pursue peddling as a source of income other occupations included farming, work in New England textile mills, Midwestern factories, Pittsburgh and Birmingham steel mills and Detroit's automobile assembly lines.
It was in these Syrian communities created by Arab immigrants that Dr. Naff sought interviews, photographs and personal papers. For Alixa Naff this pioneering generation of people offered a wealth of information on the immigrant experience and the critical role that peddling played. Naff conducted interviews in urban and small town communities with an emphasis on Midwestern states. Her informants included first and second generation Christians, Druze and Muslims. Locations of interviews included Detroit, Michigan because it was an industrial city with a large and stable Syrian population of all faiths. Cedar Rapids, Iowa was smaller, a railroad depot at the turn of the century and home to the earliest Muslim groups. Peoria, Illinois was also a small, railroad depot at the turn of the century and it consisted predominately of the Maronite Sect originally from one village in Mount Lebanon. Spring Valley, Illinois was a small mining town with a Christian community and the remnant of a once flourishing peddling settlement. Their Eastern Rite Syrian Orthodox Church was the only one in Illinois until 1961 and served smaller Syrian groups.
Oral history interviews deal with the sociological factors of the assimilation process. Most tapes have been fully transcribed or abstracted. Information from the interviews are supported with published articles; demographic statistics; articles from the Arab-American press, books, journals and dissertations published in the United States or in Arab countries. Personal papers collected from individuals and families provide evidence of the experiences discussed in the interviews and add a personal touch to the reference materials. While there are a number of original items included among the personal papers, there is a substantial amount of duplicate materials. Naff would often collect the originals make copies and then return the originals to the donors.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into the eight series created by Alixa Naff.
Series 1, Personal Papers, 1891-2002, undated
Series 2, Photographs, 1890-1996, undated
Series 3, Oral interviews, Abstracts, Transcripts and Supporting Materials, 1962-1995, undated
Series 4, Publications, 1862-2000, undated
Series 5, Subject Files, 1888-2000
Series 6, Project Files, 1977-1995
Series 7, Alixa Naff Personal Papers, 1943-1996, undated
Series 8, Audio Visual Materials, 1908-1994, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Faris and Yamna Naff Collection is the result of the dedication and research efforts of Dr. Alixa Naff, the daughter of Syrian-Lebanese immigrants. She spent most of her life documenting the early American experience of the generation of Arabs, mostly Christian, from Syria/Lebanon who came to this country around the turn of the century.
After an administrative career in private industry, Alixa Naff enrolled at the University of California to obtain her B.A. degree. During her senior year, she was required to write a paper for an American history seminar. The topic for the seminar was immigration. Alixa Naff chose Arabs in America as her subject. According to Naff, there was a lack of reference materials relating to her topic. Therefore, she relied mostly on conversations with her parents' friends. Impressed by her work, Alixa Naff's professor offered her a grant to collect Arab folklore.
Alixa Naff conducted her research during the summer of 1962. She interviewed eighty-seven people in sixteen communities across the United States and eastern Canada. All of her informants were at least sixty years old at the time of the interviews and represented the last surviving members of her parents' pioneer immigrant generation. After completing her fieldwork, Naff went on to earn her master's and Ph.D. degrees. She taught on the college level at California State University and the University of Colorado. In 1977, she left teaching citing anti-Arab feelings as the reason for her shift in career paths. Her desire to counter the anti-Arab stereotyping with accurate sources of information created yet another opportunity for her to pursue more research about Arab Americans.
Later in 1977, Alixa Naff served as a consultant on a documentary film relating to Arabs in America. She again realized existed on the subject of the Arab immigrant experience in America. Moreover, much of what she found conflicted with what pioneer informants had told her. Naff was also painfully aware that family members of decreased Arab immigrants often discarded the early artifacts, personal papers, photographs and books brought to America. Shortly after, she began working on a study on the history of Arab immigrants. In 1979, Alixa Naff met Gino Baroni, then undersecretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and founder of the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs. His center helped her secure funding for her research from the National Endowment for the Humanities and provided an office for her to work. The result of this work was a book entitled Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience published in 1985. Richard Ahlborn, then curator of the Smithsonian's Community Life Division (now its Department of Cultural Affairs), convinced Naff to donate the collection to the Smithsonian in honor of her parents, Faris and Yamna Naff, and their generation of Arabs who immigrated to America.
Alixa Naff died on June 1, 2013 at the age of 93.
Related Materials:
Materials at the National Museum of American History
The Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life)holds artifacts related to this collection including. See Accession #: 2007.3245.
Materials at the Smithsonian Institution
Photo Lot 2011-02, Alixa Naff photographs of Europe, the Middle East and the Mediterranean and audio tapes on Mediterranean folklore, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
The collection is the result of research conducted by Dr. Alixa Naff relating to the study of the early Arab immigrant experience in the United States from about 1880-World War II. The study began with oral history interviews in 1962 and became a major project in 1980 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Researchers must use microfilm copies. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Viewing film portions of collection require special appointment; please inquire with a reference archivist. Do not use when original materials are available on reference video or audio tapes.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Associations, institutions -- voluntarism Search this
The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.
Scope and Content Note:
The "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.
Correspondence, 1967-2007, concerns all aspects of production and coordination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, the public's response to the controversial Candice Van Ellison catalog introduction, letters of support, the 10th Anniversary celebration, and a letter from U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel.
Exhibition files for the original "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968-1969, include awards, budgets, construction and installation notes, floor plans, an installation log, invoices, notes, photographs, public relations, schedules, research, statistics, printed material and audio relating to the exhibition.
"Harlem on My Mind" exhibition re-creation files from 1978-2007 contain correspondence, project outline, and exhibition files including Harlem: USA/International Traveling Exhibition and Cultural Festival, 1985-1987; Columbia University Exhibition, 2006-2007; and I. P. Stanback Museum Exhibition, 2006-2007.
Harlem on My Mind book files, 1967-2007, consist of correspondence, invoices, outline, permissions, royalty statements, notes and writings.
Conferences and events, 1978-2007, include: "Harlem: The Last Ten Years," International Center of Photography, 1978-1979; Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music; "Global Cities," 1985-1992, Schomburg Conference, 1993-1999; "A Walk Through Harlem," Schomburg Center, 1999; "The (Un)making of the Black Cultural Mecca," the New School, 2003; "Harlem Displaced" and "Harlem in Our Eyes," Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, 1999-2006; and "Harlem Then and Now," Schomburg Center, 2007.
Printed material, 1968-2007, includes newspaper and magazine clippings, three editions of Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968 (1979, 1995 and 2007), and the book jacket for the 1968 edition.
Arrangement:
Most material is arranged chornologically unless noted otherwise in the series description.
The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records are organized into 6 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 2: Exhibition Files, -- Harlem on My Mind -- , Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967-1969 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet, ER01; 0.371 GB)
Series 3: -- Harlem on My Mind -- Re-creation, 1978-2007 (Box 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: -- Harlem on My Mind -- Book, 1967-2007 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Conferences and Events, 1978-2007 (Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, 1968-2007 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Allon Schoener (b.1926) is a writer, cultural historian, consultant, and organizer of exhibitions that focus on topics such as African Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, and the history of the Lower East Side. His best known exhibition was the highly controversial show "Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America." A graduate of Yale University, he currently lives in Los Angeles.
"Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968" was a 1969 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized by Allon Schoener. The exhibition documented life in Harlem through the use of photographs, film and audio recordings. It was created under the directorship of Thomas Hoving and contributed to the exhibition model commonly known as the "blockbuster" show.
At the time, the exhibition was much reviled, having received harsh criticism from critics, politicians, and the public alike. The initial spark was an essay in the accompanying book by 17-year-old Harlem high school student Candice Van Ellison. The essay contained prejudicial remarks about members of the Jewish, Irish and Puerto Rican communities. The book was quickly removed from the Museum and pulled from bookshelves by the publisher.
Additional criticism focused on several key issues, including the exhibition's multimedia platform; the lack of paintings and sculptures, particularly by African-American artists; and a thematic presentation that used documentary techniques that focused on sociological and cultural issues. Such criticism was compounded by the Harlem Cultural Council's withdrawal of support.
Schoener wrote that the objective of the exhibition was to "demonstrate that the black community in Harlem is a major cultural environment with enormous strength and potential? that this community has made major contributions to the mainstream of American culture in music, theater and literature." The exhibition documented Harlem from its beginnings in the early 20th century as a prosperous white neighborhood, through the influx of southern African-Americans, up to the civil rights movements of the late 1960s.
After the original exhibition ended, Schoener spent the next several decades working intermittently on re-creations of the exhibition, some of which failed to see fruition. Others succeeded, culminating as shows at Columbia University and the I. P. Stanback Museum. Schoener participated in numerous panel discussions, events and conferences, including the Schomburg Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
His book, Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, was reissued after a prolonged struggle to obtain the rights from its original publisher. Editions were published in 1979, 1995 and 2007, with forewords by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2009 by Allon Schoener.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains Search this
Extent:
3.57 Linear feet (10 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1929-1969
bulk 1944-1957
Summary:
The Frederick Johnson papers concerning the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains mainly comprise information and records pertaining to the committee. CRAR operated from 1945 to the mid 1970's with the goal of protecting archaeological remains from destruction and promoting salvage archaeology through government action. Frederick Johnson created the committee, organized its original members, and served as secretary during its early years. This collection includes correspondence, notes, meeting materials, and transcripts.
Scope and Contents:
The Frederick Johnson papers concern the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains (CRAR), for which Johnson served as secretary during the 1940's and 1950's. There is also some material concerning Johnson's other activities of the period, mainly including work for the Society of American Archaeology.
This collection mainly consists of correspondence, budgets, reports, notes, meeting materials, and transcripts.
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:
The material in this collection is arranged into four series: (1) Correspondence, 1944-1968; (2) Notes and meeting materials, 1929-1955; (3) Other anthropological organizations, 1944-1955; and (4) Transcripts of meetings, 1948-1949.
Biographical Note:
Frederick Johnson (1904-1994) was an archaeologist and advocate for the protection of archaeological remains, mainly active during the mid to late 20th century. Johnson received his B.A. in Sociology from Tufts College in 1929 and later joined the Robert S. Peabody Foundation at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, serving as curator and later, director. Johnson pursued a wide range of anthropological interests and was a leader in field of early radiocarbon dating methods. He was active in multiple organizations outside of the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains (CRAR), serving as president of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) in 1947 and as secretary of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) from 1949-1952.
Johnson created and acted as chair of the SAA's Planning Committee, a group which was tasked with evaluating archaeological needs and efforts relating to the Works Projects Administration. During this work, the members of the Planning Committee became concerned with the certain destruction of archaeological sites that would result from an approaching large-scale program for the construction of dams and other public works on America's rivers. Out of this concern, Johnson formed the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains with support from the Smithsonian, SAA, AAA, and the National Research Council. The original members of the CRAR consisted of Frederick Johnson, John O. Brew, Alfred V. Kidder, and William S. Webb. The group served as a lobbying and support organization for government action of salvage archeology which upheld professional standards in archaeology.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds material related to the result of the efforts of the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains in the River Basin Survey Records.
The National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology at the Phillips Academy, and Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles hold papers and photographs of Frederick Johnson.
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Frederick Johnson in 1982.
Restrictions:
The Frederick Johnson papers concerning the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains is open for research.
Frederick Johnson papers concerning the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
William Jones World War II Scrapbook, NASM.2006.0067, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection documents S. Colum Gilfillan, a charter member of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) in 1958 and his SHOT correspondence, particularly with Melvin Kranzberg.
Scope and Contents note:
The collection includes Gilfillan's correspondence during 1951-1978 and a number of papers written by him and (in some cases) published or delivered to professional societies; the dates of the papers range from 1921 to 1972. Gilfillan was a charter member of the Society for the History of Technology in 1958. His SHOT correspondence, particularly with Melvin Kranzberg, concerning several articles by Gilfillan published in SHOT's journal "Technology and Culture" constitutes a segment of the correspondence, 1957-1978. Gilfillan had made an unsuccessful attempt to organize a similar group, the Society for the Social Study of Invention in 1947. Some of the draft documents for this society are included.
Much of the correspondence concerns the ideas incorporated in Gilfillan's major work, Sociology of Invention (1935) and the Supplement to it published in 1971. Gilfillan's letters to others are complicated by his use of his own method of spelling using contractions of words and phonetic techniques to increase the number of words per page.
Also included in the collection are three "shoeboxes" of 3" x 5" cards filed alphabetically by author, representing a bibliography of writings on inventions and inventors. These cards, numbering several thousand, represent Gilfillan's research notes on his reading in his area of professional interest. Unfortunately their use is made difficult by Gilfillan's unique spelling system and the scrawled handwriting used on many of them.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Serties 1: Correspondence, 1951-1978
Series 2: Major Papers and Projects, 1921-1978
Series 3: Invention Authors and Bibliographic Notes, undated undated
Biographical/Historical note:
Seabury Colum Gilfillan was born (1889) in St. Paul, Minnesota and was graduated (AB in Social Science) from the University of Pennsylvania (1910). He served in the U.S. Army (1917 1919) and received master and doctorate degrees in sociology from Columbia University (1920). He was acting assistant professor and associate professor of social science at the University of the South (1921 1924). He was curator of transportation and social science at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (1929 1930) and assistant professor of social science, Purdue University (1937 1938). In 1940 he was a lecturer at Northwestern University and in 1941 1950 a research associate at the University of Chicago.
Gilfillan worked as an investigator for the President's Research Committee on Social Trends, 1930 1932 and for the Natural Resources Committee, 1936. He was a charter member of the Society for the History of Technology and a member of the Sociology Association and the Eugenics Society.
Provenance:
Donated by S. Colum Gilfillan to Wesley C. Williams, curator, History of Science and Technology Collection, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in November 1971. Melvin Kranzberg, formerly of Case Western Reserve, transferred it to the National Museum of American History where it was received by Archives Center May 20, 1992.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 25, Folder 18
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
2000 February 5
Scope and Contents:
Annual national observance of African American history month program. The 1999 program was called 'W.E.B. DuBois Symposium: "Souls of Black Folk" in the 21st Century: Implications of Race, Culture, and Pan Africanism in the Global Village'. This program honored one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, the distinguished social historian, scholar, and activist William Edward Burghardt DuBois. DuBois lived during the time period between reconstruction and the modern Civil Rights era. DuBois' work provided new inquiries for both historical and sociological inquiry into African American life and culture; new models for research and study of urban sociology; and new intellectual tools for the sociological analysis of the unique complexities of race and class in the United States. DuBois changed the way scholars and the public viewed the "Negro Problem" and put the African American struggle within the context of racism and colonialism.
Participants included:
Mary Frances Berry, Ph.D., Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought, University of Pennsylvania, teaches history and law
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Ph.D., director of the 21st Century DC AIDS Network organized to address the crisis in Africa, especially among women and orphans
The Honorable Ronald V. Dellums, President, Healthcare International Management Company
James C. Early, Director of Cultural Heritage Policy, Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Myrtle Gonza Glascoe, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Education and African American Studies, Gettysburg College
Clarence Lusane, Ph.D., assistant professor of Political Science, School of International Service, American University
Manning Marable, Ph.D., Professor of History and Political Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia University
Gay J. McDougall, Esquire, executive director of the Washington-based International Human Rights Law Group
Leith Mullings, Ph.D., Presidential Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center
Bernice Johnson Reagon, scholar, composer, singer, and activist
Her Excellency Sheila Violet Makate Sisulu, the South African Ambassador to the United States
Program number AC408.111.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
The Paul Riesman papers include material on the Fula peoples of West Africa from Riesman's research in Burkina Faso during the 1960s and 1970s. Riesman's research among the Fula peoples is primarily focused on social life and child-rearing practices. The collection consists of fieldnotes, journals, correspondence, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The Paul Riesman papers reflect Riesman's anthropological fieldwork among the Fula peoples of West Africa. Riesman began his fieldwork in Burkina Faso in 1966 while earning his PhD from the University of Paris. Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s Riesman resided among the Fula peoples, primarily researching social life and child-rearing practices. Riesman's research is documented in this collection through extensive fieldnotes which encompass Fula culture and Riesman's own personal reflections on life, an aspect of research which Riesman employed in his introspective approach to anthropology. Additionally, there is both personal and professional correspondence between Riesman and others. This collection contains fieldnotes, journals, and correspondence. Also present are five photographs of Riesman taken during his fieldwork.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Hastings Riesman (1938 – 1988) was an anthropologist who studied the Fula peoples of West Africa and was active from the mid to late 20th century. Following the footsteps of his father, American sociologist David Riesman, Paul Riesman graduated from Harvard University in 1960 with a B.A. in Social Relations. After completing his undergraduate degree, Riesman began his fieldwork in Burkina Faso among the Fula peoples while earning his PhD in Ethnology from the University of Paris. While researching Fula social life and child-rearing practices, Riesman also studied how the ethnographer's personal and cultural backgrounds are implicated in anthropological research. Riesman continued his fieldwork after earning his PhD in 1970 and would return to Burkina Faso frequently for research after becoming Associate Professor at Carleton College and later, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Paul Riesman died of an aneurysm at the age of 50 in 1988. Following his death, colleagues helped to complete Riesman's unpublished manuscript on child-rearing practices based on his research among the Fula.
Related Materials:
The Carleton College Archives holds the Paul H. Riesman papers.
Provenance:
Received from Suzanne Riesman in 1998.
Restrictions:
Access to the Paul Riesman papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Paul Riesman papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
