Search Results

Collection Creator:

Hatch, John Davis  Search this

Container:

Box 12, Folder 26

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1980s

Collection Restrictions:

Use of originals requires an appointment.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

John Davis Hatch, 1790-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

See more items in:

John Davis Hatch papers

John Davis Hatch papers / Series 5: Research Files / 5.2: Subject Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9f8548852-984c-4ff6-aa79-6b105b9c48cd

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-hatcjohn-ref368

Creator:

Herbert, David, 1920-1995  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

David Herbert Gallery  Search this

Graham Gallery  Search this

Robert Fraser Gallery  Search this

Sidney Janis Gallery  Search this

Stewart Neill Gallery  Search this

Andrade, Jaime, 1931-  Search this

Berman, Aaron  Search this

Blaszko, Martin, 1920-  Search this

Blum, Irving, 1930-  Search this

Carrington, Leona  Search this

Carsman, Jon, 1944-  Search this

Cotsen, Lloyd E.  Search this

Draper, William F., 1912-2003  Search this

Feigen, Richard L., 1930-  Search this

Fraser, Robert  Search this

Hoffman, Martin  Search this

Hopps, Walter  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Lukin, Sven  Search this

McKelvy, Douglas  Search this

Merck, Josephine  Search this

Namuth, Hans  Search this

Negret, Edgar, 1920-2012  Search this

Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this

Ossorio, Alfonso, 1916-1990  Search this

Padovano, Anthony  Search this

Ramirez, Eduardo  Search this

Reynal, Jeanne, 1903-  Search this

Smith, Leon Polk, 1906-1996  Search this

Sorel, Paul  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this

Extent:

5.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Place:

Greece -- description and travel

Ecuador -- Description and Travel

Puerto Rico -- description and travel

Japan -- Description and Travel

Iwo Jima (Japan)

Date:

circa 1909-1996

bulk 1945-1995

Summary:

The papers of New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1909-1996, with the bulk of the material dating from 1945-1995. Herbert's papers document his years working for Betty Parsons Gallery, Sidney Janis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and others; the operation of the David Herbert Gallery from 1959-1962; Herbert's partnerships and agreements with Richard Feigen and others; and his activities as an independent dealer. Records include biographical material, correspondence, notebooks, subject files, artist files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1909-1996, with the bulk of the material dating from 1945-1995. Herbert's papers document his years working for Betty Parsons Gallery, Sidney Janis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and others; the operation of the David Herbert Gallery from 1959-1962; Herbert's partnerships and agreements with Richard Feigen and others; and his activities as an independent dealer. Records include biographical material, correspondence, notebooks, subject files, artist files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical material includes address books and calendars, educational records, records of Herbert's military service in the United States Naval Construction Battalion in Japan, and resume's charting his career.

Correspondence is with Herbert's parents, friends, business colleagues, and artists. It includes documentation of Herbert's partnership with Richard Feigen, and his cooperative work with Irving Blum and Walter Hopps of Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, and Robert Fraser in London. Also documented are Herbert's relationship with Jaime Andrade and Andrade's family, and a lawsuit Herbert brought against Aaron Berman relating to the ownership of an Ellsworth Kelly drawing. There are scattered letters and postcards from artists and collectors, including Martin Blaszko, Lloyd Cotsen, Martin Hoffman, Ray Johnson, Josephine Merck, Alfonso Ossorio, Paul Sorel, and Clyfford Still.

Notebooks provide brief notes on Herbert's day-to-day business dealings. Subject files, consisting primarily of printed material, document Herbert's interests in several art world figures, subjects such as ancient art, and travel to locations such as Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Greece.

Exhibition files include installation shots and catalogs for many of the exhibitions held at the David Herbert Gallery between 1959 and 1962.

Artist files document Herbert's interest in individual artists, such as William Draper, Ellsworth Kelly, Franz Kline, Sven Lukin, Edgar Negret, Louise Nevelson, Anthony Padovano, Eduardo Ramirez, and Jeanne Reynal, through printed material, photographs of artwork, scattered artist letters, and sales documentation.

Business records document the financial details and overall goals of Herbert's various business ventures. There is a sales book for Betty Parsons Gallery and Sidney Janis Gallery; Herbert's appraisal, consignment, commission, sales, and loan records; Herbert's business plans and projections; financial statements from the David Herbert Gallery; sales records for Graham Gallery; and records of Herbert's partnership with Douglas McKelvy.

Printed material includes announcements and catalogs from galleries Herbert worked for or collaborated with, including Graham Gallery, Betty Parsons Gallery, Feigen/Herbert Gallery, Stewart Neill Gallery, and Robert Fraser Gallery. Also found are obituaries and other new clippings of interest to Herbert.

Photographs are of Herbert, family members, and friends and colleagues, including his companion, Jaime Andrade, Leona Carrington, William Draper, Jon Carsman, Hans Namuth, and Leon Polk Smith. Many are color snapshots collected in two photographs albums. Also found are photographs taken in Japan and Iwo Jima in 1945-1946 of street scenes, Naval Construction Battalion facilities, and Herbert's army colleagues and friends.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-circa 1995 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-1996 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Notebooks, circa 1950s-circa 1995 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1950s-1992 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1959-1963 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Artist Files, 1950s-1993 (0.75 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 7: Business Records, 1950s-1992 (0.6 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1949-circa 1995 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1909-circa 1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 7)

Biographical / Historical:

New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert (1920-1995, born David Herbert Schmerer), worked for a number of important galleries in New York, had his own eponymous gallery from 1959-1962, operated as a private dealer, and was in partnership with dealer Richard Feigen from 1962-1964.

Herbert served in the United States Naval Construction Battalion from 1943-1946 and was posted to Japan in 1945-1946. After receiving a BA in art history from Syracuse University in 1951, he worked for Betty Parsons Gallery (1951-1953) and Sidney Janis Gallery (1953-1959), selling the work of contemporary American painters and sculptors, handling publicity, and installing exhibitions.

Herbert forged strong connections with artists and collectors alike, and was instrumental in launching the careers of a number of important artists. One such artist was Ellsworth Kelly, whom he recommended to Parsons, triggering Kelly's New York career. He opened the David Herbert Gallery in 1959, with investment from Douglas McKelvy, promoting the works of artists including Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Louise Nevelson, to leading collectors and museums.

Herbert often worked in cooperation with colleagues Irving Blum and Walter Hobbs in Los Angeles, and Robert Fraser in London. After closing his gallery in 1962, Herbert entered a partnership with dealer Richand Feigen, operating the Feigen/Herbert Gallery from 1962-1964. From 1964-1969 he worked as a private dealer specializing in twentieth century works of art and serving as a consultant to collectors, museums, artists, and corporate interests. From 1969-1975 he was Director and Art Salesman of contemporary and 19th Century American Art at Graham Gallery. Herbert subsequently continued as a private dealer from 1975 until his death.

Herbert traveled extensively, visiting museums, collectors, and galleries in England, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Hawaii, and Japan. Through Edgar Negret, whom Herbert represented, he met Jaime Andrade, who became his assistant at the Feigen/Herbert Gallery in 1963. In turn Andrade shared with Herbert an interest in pre-Columbian art and contemporary Spanish and Latin America art, hosting multiple visits to his native Ecuador by Herbert and others, including artist William Draper.

Andrade served as executor of Herbert's estate, following Herbert's death in 1995.

Provenance:

The David Herbert papers were given to the Archives of American Art by Jaime Andrade, Herbert's companion, in 1999.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D. C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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.

Occupation:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

David Herbert papers, circa 1909-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.herbdavi

See more items in:

David Herbert papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9be75a48b-8da9-4d68-9952-9de8b2091c80

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-herbdavi

Creator:

De Laguna, Frederica, 1906-2004  Search this

McClellan, Catharine  Search this

Swanton, John Reed, 1873-1958  Search this

Guédon, Marie Françoise  Search this

Emmons, George Thornton  Search this

Correspondent:

Stearns, Mary Lee  Search this

Aberle, David F. (David Friend), 1918-2004  Search this

Arensberg, Conrad M. (Conrad Maynadier), 1910-1997  Search this

Baird, Melissa  Search this

Balzer, Marjorie  Search this

Bersch, Gretchen  Search this

Birket-Smith, Kaj  Search this

Black, Lydia  Search this

Boas, Franz, 1858-1942  Search this

Chowning, Ann  Search this

Clark, J. Desmond (John Desmond), 1916-2002  Search this

Codere, Helen F., 1917-2009  Search this

Collins, Henry B. (Henry Bascom), 1899-1987  Search this

Colton, Harold Sellers, 1881-1970  Search this

Conklin, Harold C., 1926-2016  Search this

Corbett, John M.  Search this

Darnell, Regna  Search this

Dauenhauer, Nora  Search this

Dauenhauer, Richard  Search this

Davenport, William  Search this

Dockstader, Frederick J.  Search this

Drucker, Philip, 1911-1982  Search this

Du Bois, Cora Alice, 1903-1991  Search this

Duff, Wilson, 1925-  Search this

Fair, Susan  Search this

Fitzhugh, William W., 1943-  Search this

Foster, George McClelland, 1913-  Search this

Garfield, Viola Edmundson, 1899-1983  Search this

Giddings, James Louis  Search this

Gjessing, Gutorm, 1906  Search this

Grinev, Andrei V.  Search this

Hanable, William S.  Search this

Hara, Hiroko, 1934-  Search this

Haury, Emil W. (Emil Walter), 1904-1992  Search this

Heizer, Robert F. (Robert Fleming), 1915-1979  Search this

Helm, June, 1924-  Search this

Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963  Search this

Holtved, Erik  Search this

Jenness, Diamond, 1886-1969  Search this

Kahn, Mimi  Search this

Kan, Sergei  Search this

Krauss, Michael E., 1934-  Search this

Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960  Search this

Larsen, Helge, 1905-1984  Search this

Leer, Jeff  Search this

Lindgren, E. J. (Ethel John), 1904-1988  Search this

Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002  Search this

Low, Jean  Search this

Mathiassen, Therkel, 1892-1967  Search this

Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978  Search this

Olson, Wallace  Search this

Rainey, Froelich G. (Froelich Gladstone), 1907-1992  Search this

Riddell, Francis A. (Francis Allen), 1921-2002  Search this

Ritchie, William A. (William Augustus), 1903-1995  Search this

Schneider, William  Search this

Schumacher, Paul J. F.  Search this

Shinkwin, Anne D.  Search this

Spier, Leslie, 1893-1961  Search this

Spiro, Melford E., 1920-2014  Search this

Underhill, Ruth, 1883-1984  Search this

VanStone, James W.  Search this

Weiner, Annette B., 1933-  Search this

Weitzner, Bella, 1891?-1988  Search this

White, Leslie A., 1900-1975  Search this

Woodbury, Natalie Ferris Sampson  Search this

Woodbury, Richard B. (Richard Benjamin), 1917-2009  Search this

Workman, Karen Wood  Search this

Workman, William B.  Search this

Names:

American Anthropological Association  Search this

Bryn Mawr College  Search this

Photographer:

Smith, Harlan Ingersoll, 1872-1940  Search this

Extent:

2 Map drawers

38 Linear feet (71 document boxes, 1 half document box, 2 manuscript folders, 4 card file boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 oversize box)

Culture:

Yakutat Tlingit  Search this

Tutchone  Search this

Tsimshian  Search this

Indians of North America -- Subarctic  Search this

Tlingit  Search this

Tanana  Search this

Kawchodinne (Hare)  Search this

Ahtna (Ahtena)  Search this

Athapascan Indians  Search this

Northern Athabascan  Search this

Chugach  Search this

Kalaallit (Greenland Eskimo)  Search this

Indians of North America -- California  Search this

Eyak  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northwest Coast of North America  Search this

Degexit'an (Ingalik)  Search this

Arctic peoples  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Map drawers

Manuscripts

Maps

Field notes

Correspondence

Photographs

Sound recordings

Place:

Alaska -- Archaeology

Aishihik (Yukon)

Angoon (Alaska)

Alaska -- Ethnology

Chistochina (Alaska)

Greenland

Copper River (Alaska)

Klukshu (Yukon)

Hoonah (Alaska)

Kodiak Island (Alaska)

Klukwan (Alaska)

Saint Lawrence River Valley

New Brunswick -- Archaeology

Yukon Island (Alaska)

Date:

1890-2004

bulk 1923-2004

Summary:

These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Frederica de Laguna. The collection contains correspondence, field notes, writings, newspaper clippings, writings by others, subject files, sound recordings, photographs, and maps. A significant portion of the collection consists of de Laguna's correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and students, as well as her informants from the field. Her correspondence covers a wide range of subjects such as family, health, preparations for field work, her publications and projects, the Northwest Coast, her opinions on the state of anthropology, and politics. The field notes in the collection mainly represent de Laguna and her assistants' work in the Northern Tlingit region of Alaska from 1949 to 1954. In addition, the collection contains materials related to her work in the St. Lawrence River Valley in Ontario in 1947 and Catherine McClellan's field journal for her research in Aishihik, Yukon Territory in 1968. Most of the audio reels in the collection are field recordings made by de Laguna, McClellan, and Marie-Françoise Guédon of vocabulary and songs and speeches at potlatches and other ceremonies from 1952 to 1969. Tlingit and several Athabaskan languages including Atna, Tutchone, Upper Tanana, and Tanacross are represented in the recordings. Also in the collection are copies of John R. Swanton's Tlingit recordings and Hiroko Hara Sue's recordings among the Hare Indians. Additional materials related to de Laguna's research on the Northwest Coast include her notes on clans and tribes in Series VI: Subject Files and her notes on Tlingit vocabulary and Yakutat names specimens in Series X: Card Files. Drafts and notes for Voyage to Greenland, Travels Among the Dena, and The Tlingit Indians can be found in the collection as well as her drawings for her dissertation and materials related to her work for the Handbook of North American Indians and other publications. There is little material related to Under Mount Saint Elias except for correspondence, photocopies and negatives of plates, and grant applications for the monograph. Of special interest among de Laguna's writings is a photocopy of her historical fiction novel, The Thousand March. Other materials of special interest are copies of her talks, including her AAA presidential address, and the dissertation of Regna Darnell, a former student of de Laguna's. In addition, materials on the history of anthropology are in the collection, most of which can found with her teaching materials. Although the bulk of the collection documents de Laguna's professional years, the collection also contains newspaper articles and letters regarding her exceptional performance as a student at Bryn Mawr College and her undergraduate and graduate report cards. Only a few photographs of de Laguna can be found in the collection along with photographs of her 1929 and 1979 trips to Greenland.

Scope and Contents:

These papers reflect the professional and personal life of Frederica de Laguna. The collection contains correspondence, field notes, writings, newspaper clippings, writings by others, subject files, sound recordings, photographs, and maps.

A significant portion of the collection consists of de Laguna's correspondence with family, friends, colleagues, and students, as well as her informants from the field. Her correspondence covers a wide range of subjects such as family, health, preparations for field work, her publications and projects, the Northwest Coast, her opinions on the state of anthropology, and politics. Among her notable correspondents are Kaj Birket-Smith, J. Desmond Clark, Henry Collins, George Foster, Viola Garfield, Marie-Françoise Guédon, Diamond Jenness, Michael Krauss, Therkel Mathiassen, Catharine McClellan, and Wallace Olson. She also corresponded with several eminent anthropologists including Franz Boas, William Fitzhugh, J. Louis Giddings, Emil Haury, June Helm, Melville Herskovitz, Alfred Kroeber, Helge Larsen, Alan Lomax, Margaret Mead, Froelich Rainey, Leslie Spier, Ruth Underhill, James VanStone, Annette Weiner, and Leslie White.

The field notes in the collection mainly represent de Laguna and her assistants' work in the Northern Tlingit region of Alaska from 1949 to 1954. In addition, the collection contains materials related to her work in the St. Lawrence River Valley in Ontario in 1947 and Catharine McClellan's field journal for her research in Aishihik, Yukon Territory in 1968. Most of the audio reels in the collection are field recordings made by de Laguna, McClellan, and Marie-Françoise Guédon of vocabulary and songs and speeches at potlatches and other ceremonies from 1952 to 1969. Tlingit and several Athapaskan languages including Atna, Tutochone, Upper Tanana, and Tanacross are represented in the recordings. Also in the collection are copies of John R. Swanton's Tlingit recordings and Hiroko Hara's recordings among the Hare Indians. Additional materials related to de Laguna's research on the Northwest Coast include her notes on clans and tribes in Series VI: Subject Files and her notes on Tlingit vocabulary and Yakutat names specimens in Series 10: Card Files.

Drafts and notes for Voyage to Greenland, Travels Among the Dena, and The Tlingit Indians can be found in the collection as well as her drawings for her dissertation and materials related to her work for the Handbook of North American Indians and other publications. There is little material related to Under Mount Saint Elias except for correspondence, photocopies and negatives of plates, and grant applications for the monograph. Of special interest among de Laguna's writings is a photocopy of her historical fiction novel, The Thousand March.

Other materials of special interest are copies of her talks, including her AAA presidential address, and the dissertation of Regna Darnell, a former student of de Laguna's. In addition, materials on the history of anthropology are in the collection, most of which can found with her teaching materials. The collection also contains copies of photographs from the Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899. Although the bulk of the collection documents de Laguna's professional years, the collection also contains newspaper articles and letters regarding her exceptional performance as a student at Bryn Mawr College and her undergraduate and graduate report cards. Only a few photographs of de Laguna can be found in the collection along with photographs of her 1929 and 1979 trips to Greenland.

Arrangement:

Arranged in 12 series: (1) Correspondence, 1923-2004; (2) Field Research, 1947-1968; (3) Writings, 1926-2001; (4) Teaching, 1922-1988; (5) Professional Activities, 1939-2001; (6) Subject Files, 1890-2002; (7) Writings by Others, 1962-2000; (8) Personal, 1923-2000; (9) Photographs, 1929-1986; (10) Card Files; (11) Maps, 1928-1973; (12) Sound Recordings, 1904-1973

Biographical / Historical:

Frederica Annis Lopez de Leo de Laguna was a pioneering archaeologist and ethnographer of northwestern North America. Known as Freddy by her friends, she was one of the last students of Franz Boas. She served as first vice-president of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) from 1949 to 1950 and as president of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) from 1966-1967. She also founded the anthropology department at Bryn Mawr College where she taught from 1938 to 1972. In 1975, she and Margaret Mead, a former classmate, were the first women to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Born on October 3, 1906 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, de Laguna was the daughter of Theodore Lopez de Leo de Laguna and Grace Mead Andrus, both philosophy professors at Bryn Mawr College. Often sick as a child, de Laguna was home-schooled by her parents until she was 9. She excelled as a student at Bryn Mawr College, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in politics and economics in 1927. She was awarded the college's prestigious European fellowship, which upon the suggestion of her parents, she deferred for a year to study anthropology at Columbia University under Boas. Her parents had recently attended a lecture given by Boas and felt that anthropology would unite her interests in the social sciences and her love for the outdoors.

After a year studying at Columbia with Boas, Gladys Reichard, and Ruth Benedict, de Laguna was still uncertain whether anthropology was the field for her. Nevertheless, she followed Boas's advice to spend her year abroad studying the connection between Eskimo and Paleolithic art, which would later became the topic of her dissertation. In the summer of 1928, she gained fieldwork experience under George Grant MacCurdy visiting prehistoric sites in England, France, and Spain. In Paris, she attended lectures on prehistoric art by Abbe Breuil and received guidance from Paul Rivet and Marcelin Boule. Engaged to an Englishman she had met at Columbia University, de Laguna decided to also enroll at the London School of Economics in case she needed to earn her degree there. She took a seminar with Bronislaw Malinowski, an experience she found unpleasant and disappointing.

It was de Laguna's visit to the National Museum in Copenhagen to examine the archaeological collections from Central Eskimo that became the turning point in her life. During her visit, she met Therkel Mathiassen who invited her to be his assistant on what would be the first scientific archaeological excavation in Greenland. She sailed off with him in June 1929, intending to return early in August. Instead, she decided to stay until October to finish the excavation with Mathiassen, now convinced that her future lay in anthropology. When she returned from Greenland she broke off her engagement with her fiancé, deciding that she would not able to both fully pursue a career in anthropology and be the sort of wife she felt he deserved. Her experiences in Greenland became the subject of her 1977 memoir, Voyage to Greenland: A Personal Initiation into Anthropology.

The following year, Kaj Birket-Smith, whom de Laguna had also met in Copenhagen, agreed to let her accompany him as his research assistant on his summer expedition to Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. When Birket-Smith fell ill and was unable to go, de Laguna was determined to continue on with the trip. She convinced the University of Pennsylvania Museum to fund her trip to Alaska to survey potential excavation sites and took as her assistant her 20 year old brother, Wallace, who became a geologist. A close family, de Laguna's brother and mother would later accompany her on other research trips.

In 1931, the University of Pennsylvania Museum hired de Laguna to catalogue Eskimo collections. They again financed her work in Cook Inlet that year as well as the following year. In 1933, she earned her PhD from Columbia and led an archaeological and ethnological expedition of the Prince William Sound with Birket-Smith. They coauthored "The Eyak Indians of the Copper River Delta, Alaska," published in 1938. In 1935, de Laguna led an archaeological and geological reconnaissance of middle and lower Yukon Valley, traveling down the Tanana River. Several decades later, the 1935 trip contributed to two of her books: Travels Among the Dena, published in 1994, and Tales From the Dena, published in 1997.

In 1935 and 1936, de Laguna worked briefly as an Associate Soil Conservationist, surveying economic and social conditions on the Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona. She later returned to Arizona during the summers to conduct research and in 1941, led a summer archaeological field school under the sponsorship of Bryn Mawr College and the Museum of Northern Arizona.

By this time, de Laguna had already published several academic articles and was also the author of three fiction books. Published in 1930, The Thousand March: Adventures of an American Boy with the Garibaldi was her historical fiction book for juveniles. She also wrote two detective novels: The Arrow Points to Murder (1937) and Fog on the Mountain (1938). The Arrow Points to Murder is set in a museum based on her experiences at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the American Museum of National History. Fog on the Mountain is set in Cook Inlet and draws upon de Laguna's experiences in Alaska. Both detective novels helped to finance her research.

De Laguna began her long career at Bryn Mawr College in 1938 when she was hired as a lecturer in the sociology department to teach the first ever anthropology course at the college. By 1950, she was chairman of the joint department of Sociology and Anthropology, and in 1967, the chairman of the newly independent Anthropology Department. She was also a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania (1947-1949; 1972-1976) and at the University of California, Berkeley (1959-1960; 1972-1973.)

During World War II, de Laguna took a leave of absence from Bryn Mawr College to serve in the naval reserve from 1942 to 1945. As a member of WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service), she taught naval history and codes and ciphers to women midshipmen at Smith College. She took great pride in her naval service and in her later years joined the local chapter of WAVES National, an organization for former and current members of WAVES.

In 1950, de Laguna returned to Alaska to work in the Northern Tlingit region. Her ethnological and archaeological study of the Tlingit Indians brought her back several more times throughout the 1950s and led to the publication of Under Mount Saint Elias in 1972. Her comprehensive three-volume monograph is still considered the authoritative work on the Yakutat Tlingit. In 1954, de Laguna turned her focus to the Atna Indians of Copper River, returning to the area in 1958, 1960, and 1968.

De Laguna retired from Bryn Mawr College in 1972 under the college's mandatory retirement policy. Although she suffered from many ailments in her later years including macular degeneration, she remained professionally active. Five decades after her first visit to Greenland, de Laguna returned to Upernavik in 1979 to conduct ethnographic investigations. In 1985, she finished editing George Thornton Emmons' unpublished manuscript The Tlingit Indians. A project she had begun in 1955, the book was finally published in 1991. In 1986, she served as a volunteer consultant archaeologist and ethnologist for the U. S. Forest Service in Alaska. In 1994, she took part in "More than Words . . ." Laura Bliss Spann's documentary on the last Eyak speaker, Maggie Smith Jones. By 2001, de Laguna was legally blind. Nevertheless, she continued working on several projects and established the Frederica de Laguna Northern Books Press to reprint out-of-print literature and publish new scholarly works on Arctic cultures.

Over her lifetime, de Laguna received several honors including her election into the National Academy Sciences in 1976, the Distinguished Service Award from AAA in 1986, and the Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. De Laguna's work, however, was respected by not only her colleagues but also by the people she studied. In 1996, the people of Yakutat honored de Laguna with a potlatch. Her return to Yakutat was filmed by Laura Bliss Spann in her documentary Reunion at Mt St. Elias: The Return of Frederica de Laguna to Yakutat.

At the age of 98, Frederica de Laguna passed away on October 6, 2004.

Sources Consulted

Darnell, Regna. "Frederica de Laguna (1906-2004)." American Anthropologist 107.3 (2005): 554-556.

de Laguna, Frederica. Voyage to Greenland: A Personal Initiation into Anthropology. New York: W.W. Norton Co, 1977.

McClellan, Catharine. "Frederica de Laguna and the Pleasures of Anthropology." American Ethnologist 16.4 (1989): 766-785.

Olson, Wallace M. "Obituary: Frederica de Laguna (1906-2004)." Arctic 58.1 (2005): 89-90.

Related Materials:

Although this collection contains a great deal of correspondence associated with her service as president of AAA, most of her presidential records can be found in American Anthropological Association Records 1917-1972. Also at the National Anthropological Archives are her transcripts of songs sung by Yakutat Tlingit recorded in 1952 and 1954 located in MS 7056 and her notes and drawings of Dorset culture materials in the National Museum of Canada located in MS 7265. The Human Studies Film Archive has a video oral history of de Laguna conducted by Norman Markel (SC-89.10.4).

Related collections can also be found in other repositories. The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania holds materials related to work that de Laguna carried out for the museum from the 1930s to the 1960s. Materials relating to her fieldwork in Angoon and Yakutat can be found in the Rasmuson Library of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in the papers of Francis A. Riddell, a field assistant to de Laguna in the early 1950s. Original photographs taken in the field in Alaska were deposited in the Alaska State Library, Juneau. Both the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress and the American Philosophical Library have copies of her field recordings and notes. The American Museum of Natural History has materials related to her work editing George T. Emmons' manuscript. De Laguna's papers can also be found at the Bryn Mawr College Archives.

Provenance:

These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Frederica de Laguna.

Restrictions:

Some of the original field notes are restricted due to Frederica de Laguna's request to protect the privacy of those accused of witchcraft. The originals are restricted until 2030. Photocopies may be made with the names of the accused redacted.

Rights:

Contact repository for terms of use.

Topic:

Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this

Anthropology -- History  Search this

Genre/Form:

Manuscripts

Maps

Field notes

Correspondence

Photographs

Sound recordings

Citation:

Frederica de Laguna papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.1998-89

See more items in:

Frederica de Laguna papers

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3363424fd-e665-498b-a37c-9f4a81302a35

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-1998-89

Author:

Taylor, William B  Search this

Pease G. Y., Franklin 1939-1999  Search this

Physical description:

vi, 296 pages illustrations 24 cm

Type:

Books

History

Place:

America

Indianer

Date:

1994

Topic:

Government relations  Search this

History  Search this

Ethnic identity  Search this

Indiens d'Amérique--Histoire  Search this

Indiens d'Amérique--Identité ethnique  Search this

15.85 history of America  Search this

Indians  Search this

Indians--Ethnic identity  Search this

Indians--Government relations  Search this

Indians of North America--Government relations  Search this

Aufsatzsammlung  Search this

Indianen  Search this

Veroveringen  Search this

Verzet  Search this

Overleving  Search this

American Indians--History  Search this

America  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_454060

Author:

European Congress of Mammalogy (1st : 1991 : Lisbon, Portugal)  Search this

Mathias, Maria da Luz  Search this

Museu e Laboratório Zoológico e Antropológico (Portugal)  Search this

Physical description:

314 pages illustrations (some color), maps 23 cm

Type:

Congresses

Congrès

Conference papers and proceedings

Place:

Europe

Date:

1996

Topic:

Mammals  Search this

Mammalogy  Search this

Mammifères  Search this

Mammalogie  Search this

Zoogdieren  Search this

Call number:

QL726 .E97 1991

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_528760

Author:

Gibson, Arrell Morgan  Search this

Physical description:

618 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Type:

Texts

History

Date:

1980

Topic:

History  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_732727

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-03-26T17:33:42.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_5GJJ97m7Yys

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-07-15T15:29:03.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

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smithsonianfolkways

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edanmdm:yt_6pzmOW1378E

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-03-26T16:50:23.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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smithsonianfolkways

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Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_SmZjLVPpLSc

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-03-26T17:50:50.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_a7AVUCh-wxg

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-04-22T15:33:51.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_cRYMoG3fOqk

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2009-03-26T17:02:32.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

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smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_e0i931Wqk40

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2017-01-13T20:59:06.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

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HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_4hnFENPkpwI

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2018-05-04T15:08:50.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

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HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_7BTxEwffL-E

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-08-11T21:09:40.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

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HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_SPW-RKnb-vw

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-03-17T19:47:24.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

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HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_qrXITB7Mkms

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-10-14T18:02:43.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

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HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_rXB5IT5dDTI

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-10-30T17:26:23.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

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SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

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SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_kie96iRTq5M

Creator:

Smithsonian Channel  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-02-05T16:30:00.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

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Smithsonian Channel

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smithsonianchannel

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_52_kUQuPVoI

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Smithsonian Channel  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2019-03-01T16:30:01.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

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smithsonianchannel

Data Source:

Smithsonian Channel

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smithsonianchannel

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edanmdm:yt_7tR8CWidq4Q