The Albert Clanton Spaulding Papers consist of correspondence, field project data, manuscripts, and teaching notes documenting his work at the University of Michigan, University of California Santa Barbara, the National Science Foundation, and field work at the Arzberger Site and Agattu.
Scope and Contents:
The Albert Clanton Spaulding Papers consist of correspondence, field project data, manuscripts, and teaching notes documenting his work at the University of Michigan, University of California Santa Barbara, the National Science Foundation, and field work at the Arzberger Site and Agattu. Although it has been noted that there are significant and inexplicable lucunae in Spaulding's papers, they nevertheless touch on most phases of his professional life. There is, however, relatively little field material.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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:
1. Correspondence, 1948-1982; 2. manuscript of Spaulding writings; 3. material concerning students; 4. site reports and field project data; 4. material regarding conferences and committees; 6. material related to work as National Science Foundation archeology program director; 7. student notebooks and dissertation; 8. material regarding the Arzberger site; 9. administrative material regarding the University of Michigan; 10. academic papers collected by Spaulding, teaching aids, and lecture notes; 11. Philip C. Phillips and Gordon R. Willey file; 12. James A. Ford file; 13. correspondence regarding publications; 14. miscellany; 15. photographs
Biographical note:
Albert C. Spaulding was trained at Montana State University (B.A. in economics, 1935), the University of Michigan (M.A. in ahthropology, 1937), and Columbia University (Ph.D., 1946). In 1946-1947, he taught at the University of Kansas and was an assistant curator at the university's Museum of Anthropology. From 1947-1961, he taught at the University of Michigan and was curator of that university's Museum of Anthropology. In 1959-1961, Spaulding was first program director for the History and Philosophy of Science Program of the National Science Foundation and the NAS program director for anthropology. In 1963-1966, he was professor and chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Oregon. In 1967-1971, he became dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara and continued at that institution as professor of anthropology until 1983. Spaulding served the Society for Amercian Archeology as associate editor, secretary, vice president, and president. In 1964, he was vice president for Section H of American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Although Spaulding carried out several significant field projects, he is best rememberd for his theoretical and methodological concerns. In relating his first archeological field work, he declared: "My fundamental interest at the time (and now) was clarification of the basic concepts of archeology, which led me into explicit definitions of archaeological problems in terms of relationship between or among well-defined variables." Spaulding produced many articles and book reviews in which he dealt with such problems. Some of the best-known appeared in the pages of American Antiquity in 1953 and 1954 when be debated James A. Ford in general terms concerning teh most productive methods of archeology in general and the nature of archeological types and methods of defining them in particular. Because of his espousal of rigor in method, Spaulding is considered on of the main forerunners of the "new archeology" of the 1960s. For his work, he received the SAA distinguished Service Award in 1981.
Restrictions:
The Albert Clanton Spaulding papers are open for research.
Access to the Albert Clanton Spaulding papers requires an appointment.
8 Prints (halftone (including one newspaper clipping))
124 Prints (circa, silver gelatin, albumen, and platinum)
50 Copy prints (circa)
3 copper printing plates
1 Color print
1 Print (wood engraving)
3 Copy negatives (glass)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Copy prints
Color prints
Copy negatives
Photographs
Date:
circa 1860s-1970
Scope and Contents note:
This collection is an artificial collection of photographs, copper plates, and a few notes, all of which depict or relate to anthropologists, many of which were associated with the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Included are portraits of Franz Boas, Q. M. Bond, Arno B. Cammerer, Frank Hamilton Cushing, Edwin Hamilton Davis, J. Woodbridge Davis, Frances Densmore, James Owen Dorsey, Philip Drucker, Jesse Walter Fewkes (including photographs of his home by Frances Densmore), Albert Samuel Gatschet, James A. Geary, De Lancey W. Gill, George Brown Goode, Horatio Hale, Henry Wetherbee Henshaw, John Napoleon Brinton Hewitt, John K. Hillers, William Henry Holmes, William Henry Jackson, Eugene Irving Knez, Alfred Louis Kroeber, Pere Albert Lacomb, Augustus Le Plongeon, James Mooney, Lewis Henry Morgan, Carl Oschsicanes, James Constantine Pilling, John Wesley Powell, Frau Signe Rink, Frank Harold Hanna Roberts, Jr., Charles C. Royce, Robert Lloyd Stephenson, James Stevenson, Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Julian Haynes Steward, Steward Struever, James Gilchrist Swan, John Reed Swanton, Edwin P. Upham, Wilcomb E. Washburn, and Gordon Randolph Willey. Groups depicted include the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1936; the De Soto Commission; officers of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885; a 1920 expedition group to Hawikuk; staff of the Great Lakes Division, United States Geological Survey, in Salt Lake City, 1882; a group at Moundville, Alabama, 1932; the University of Nebraska archeological field party, 1920; the Pecos conference, 1927; John Wesley Powell with Wild Hank, Kentucky Mountain Bill, and Jesus Aloiso; and the United States Geological Survey staff, ca. 1894.
Among photographers represented are Vernon Orlando Bailey, Blackston Studios of New York, Dana of New York, Frances Densmore, Gene Garrett, C. W. Gilbert, De Lancey W. Gill, John K. Hillers, William H. Jackson, Kets Kemethy, Paul Koby, David McDonough, H. C. Phillips, Rice of Washington, D. C., and J. A. Shuck of El Reno, Oklahoma.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 33
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Four photographs with negatives by Matilda Coxe Stevenson have been relocated to Photo Lot 23.
This collection includes photographs that have been removed from other collections in the National Anthropological Archives, including MS 4970, MS 4851, MS 4780, MS 4250, MS 4751, MS 4516, MS 4860, MS 4695, MS 4970, and MS 4558.
See others in:
Portraits of anthropologists, 1860s-1960s
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Copy prints of original photographs held by the American Philosophical Society, National Geographic Society, and National Archives cannot be copied. Copies may be obtained from these repositories.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 33, Portraits of anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Interview of Waldo R. Wedel conducted by Larry D. Banks and Douglas Givens on June 17, 1996 in Boulder, Colorado. The interview was conducted at Wedel's nursing home, a couple of months before he died.This interview is part of a series of oral histories of archaeologists recorded by Givens. Topics include Wedel's youth, career, fieldwork, colleagues, the Smithsonian Institution, and the River Basin Surveys.
Biographical / Historical:
Waldo R. Wedel was an archaeologist, best known for his contributions to Plains archaeology. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution from 1936 to 1977. He began his career at the Smithsonian as an assistant curator under Neil M. Judd in the Division of Archeology in the United States National Museum. He later became curator of archeology in 1950, and in 1962, he became head curator of the Department of Anthropology. In 1964-1965, he was acting head of the newly organized Smithsonian Office of Anthropology. Wedel also established and directed the Missouri Basin Project (1946-50) of the Bureau of American Ethnology's River Basin Surveys.
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 2011-29
General:
Date on box insert incorrectly listed as July 18, 1996.
Other Archival Materials:
See also Waldo R. Wedel and Mildred Mott Wedel Papers
Photographs depicting members of the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology and Department of Anthropology. The collection includes photographs of William Duncan Strong, Robert Stephenson, and M.T. Newman in the field (1933, 1938, and 1952); a photograph of Walter Hough and Neil M. Judd (1935); a group portrait of the Department of Anthropology staff on the steps of the Natural History Building (1952); and winners at an award presentation for the department (1952). The collection also includes a photomechanical print with a portrait of William Henry Holmes, made by Harris & Ewing.
Biographical/Historical note:
Clifford Evans (1920-1981) was curator of Latin American archeology for the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History. Born in Dallas, Dr. Evans grew up in California and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1941. He served in the Army Air Force in World War II and later earned a doctorate at Columbia University.
A former instructor in archeology and anthropology, Dr. Evans joined the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as a curator in 1951. A pioneer in studies of the prehistoric past of the Amazonian forest and lowlands, he conducted archeological field work throughout South America and in the Pacific Islands. He and his wife, anthropologist Betty Meggers, collaborated on more than 100 scientific articles and monographs. Dr. Evans was honored with the Washington Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Achievement, the 37th International Congress of Americanists Gold Medal and the Order of Merit from the Government of Ecuador.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 77-80
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs of Smithsonian anthropologists can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4822, Photo Lot 7A, Photo Lot 7D, Photo Lot 33, Photo Lot 39, Photo Lot 77-52, and Photo Lot 92-35.
Additional photographs by Harris & Ewing can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 33, and Photo Lot 78-20.
The Library of Congress holds the Harris & Ewing Collection of glass and film negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 77-80, Clifford Evans collection of photographs of Smithsonian anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Stephenson, Robert L. (Robert Lloyd), 1919- Search this
Extent:
1 Photographic print (005 in x 007 in)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Photographs
Date:
1967
Local Numbers:
NAA INV.02870500
Local Note:
Black and white photoprint
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Collection Rights:
Copy prints of original photographs held by the American Philosophical Society, National Geographic Society, and National Archives cannot be copied. Copies may be obtained from these repositories.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Collection Citation:
Photo lot 33, Portraits of anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The Accokeek Creek site; a middle Atlantic seaboard culture sequence / by Robert L. Stephenson and Alice L. L. Ferguson with sections by Henry G. Ferguson
Author:
Stephenson, Robert L (Robert Lloyd) 1919- Search this
Ferguson, Alice L. L (Alice Leczinska Lowe) Search this
Physical description:
x, 215 p., xxviii leaves of plates : ill., maps ; 23 cm
Group portraits of members of the Department of Anthropology and the Bureau of American Ethnology at the time of their merger in 1965. The photographs were made on the steps of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum building.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Bureau of American Ethnology was disbanded on July 29, 1964 and its members were merged into the Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum, to form the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology. This later became the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 136
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives also holds the Bureau of American Ethnology records and the Department of Anthropology records.
Additional photographs of Department of Anthropology staff can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 39, Photo Lot 70, Photo Lot 76-127, Photo Lot 77-52, Photo Lot 77-80, Photo Lot 79-51, Photo Lot 80-17, Photo Lot 83-15, and the BAE historical negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 136, Portraits of staff of Department of Anthropology and Bureau of American Ethnology, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
