Search Results

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

Lloyd A. Spetzman  Search this

Place:

Tanana River near Tok Junction., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

Transcribed d/m/y: 8/7/57

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Elaeagnaceae

Published Name:

Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.

Lepargyrea canadensis (L.) Greene

Barcode:

03034946

USNM Number:

2349746

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3fd6dd6d1-7aab-409d-bc4d-57203c4b0da5

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_14389806

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

S. Buttrick  Search this

T. Ager  Search this

Place:

Birch Lake, Tanana Valley., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

Transcribed d/m/y: 26/6/73

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Elaeagnaceae

Published Name:

Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.

Lepargyrea canadensis (L.) Greene

Barcode:

03034882

USNM Number:

3049599

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3b7852017-3a68-4e88-a429-c25cbb14a4bf

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_14390058

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

C. W. Heideman  Search this

Place:

Ft. Gibbon, Frequent throughout the Yukon and Tanana valley along high banks., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

4 Jul 1905

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Elaeagnaceae

Published Name:

Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.

Lepargyrea canadensis (L.) Greene

Barcode:

03034889

USNM Number:

422275

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3c66ed291-5e52-41f1-869e-04920a04c3a7

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_14390075

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

C. W. Heideman  Search this

Place:

Ft. Gibbon, Frequent throughout the Yukon and Tanana valley on high rocky grounds., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

10 Jul 1905

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Elaeagnaceae

Published Name:

Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb.

Barcode:

03035271

USNM Number:

422293

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3aee8dd23-ca75-4f94-9bbe-4326470ba571

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_14390500

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

E. F. Glenn  Search this

Place:

Between Cook Inlet and the Tanana River. Chitslechina R., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

21 Jul 1899

Taxonomy:

Plantae Monocotyledonae Poales Poaceae Pooideae

Published Name:

Festuca altaica Trin.

Barcode:

04040963

USNM Number:

1005124

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3ee11112f-af0d-41b0-ba5a-8bedf7ce0539

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15815730

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

Lloyd A. Spetzman  Search this

Place:

Tanana River near Tok Junction., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

Transcribed d/m/y: 8/7/57

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Ranunculales Ranunculaceae Ranunculoideae

Published Name:

Anemone multifida var. hudsoniana DC.

Pulsatilla ludoviciana (Nutt.) A. Heller

Barcode:

03674166

USNM Number:

2349760

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3a51578e3-10c3-466d-85b2-5587ec72ee86

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15128587

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

O. J. Murie  Search this

Place:

Shaw Creek on Tanana River., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

8 Jun 1922

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Ranunculales Ranunculaceae Ranunculoideae

Published Name:

Pulsatilla nuttalliana (DC.) Bercht. & J. Presl

Pulsatilla ludoviciana (Nutt.) A. Heller

Barcode:

03674177

USNM Number:

1115672

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3c127bcad-a88b-49c9-af07-47da96a4e4f3

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15128770

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

O. J. Murie  Search this

Place:

Tanana Crossing., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

20 May 1921

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Ranunculales Ranunculaceae Ranunculoideae

Published Name:

Pulsatilla nuttalliana (DC.) Bercht. & J. Presl

Pulsatilla ludoviciana (Nutt.) A. Heller

Barcode:

03674178

USNM Number:

1117106

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/30bd87f96-8244-4d6d-a8be-89cb1ca63330

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15162890

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

Frank C. Schrader  Search this

G. H. Hartman  Search this

Place:

Headwaters of the Copper and Tanana Rivers. Camp of July 3d 1902. Jacsena River. Tanana., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

4 Jul 1902

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Scrophulariales Scrophulariaceae

Published Name:

Pedicularis labradorica Wirsing

Barcode:

03922293

USNM Number:

26969

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3d9c39ffa-a870-427a-b462-7fbe125b7f91

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15707786

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

E. F. Glenn  Search this

Place:

Between Cook Inlet and the Tanana River., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

1899

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Rosaceae Rosoideae

Published Name:

Sanguisorba stipulata Raf.

Sanguisorba sitchensis C.A. Mey.

Barcode:

03708561

USNM Number:

375038

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3f1d85d72-8ffc-48db-9376-d8128dc8bcce

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15368568

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

E. F. Glenn  Search this

Place:

Between Cook Inlet and the Tanana River., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

1899

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Rosaceae Rosoideae

Published Name:

Sanguisorba stipulata Raf.

Sanguisorba sitchensis C.A. Mey.

Barcode:

03708562

USNM Number:

375039

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3aea00329-397d-477a-82f0-5437890e9095

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15392380

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

Frank C. Schrader  Search this

G. H. Hartman  Search this

Place:

Headwaters of the Copper and Tanana Rivers. Camp of July 3d 1902. Jacsena River. Tanana., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

4 Jul 1902

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Rosales Rosaceae Rosoideae

Published Name:

Rosa acicularis Lindl.

Barcode:

03710064

USNM Number:

26972

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3b60b38cf-460d-445f-8d0d-95d868fd9dd9

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15397064

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

Frank C. Schrader  Search this

G. H. Hartman  Search this

Place:

Headwaters of the Copper and Tanana Rivers. Jacsena River. Tanana., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

4 Jul 1902

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Myrtales Onagraceae

Published Name:

Chamaenerion latifolium (L.) Th. Fr. & Lange

Barcode:

01362258

USNM Number:

26978

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/37217fd4f-55b8-4bf4-a472-2998afdb0df0

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_12164187

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

C. W. Heideman  Search this

Microhabitat Description:

In moss  Search this

Place:

Ft. Gibbon. Common throughout the Yukon and Tanana valley., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

1 Jun 1905

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Scrophulariales Orobanchaceae

Published Name:

Boschniakia rossica (Cham. & Schltdl.) B. Fedtsch.

Barcode:

04697560

USNM Number:

422259

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/38e2b8f64-8911-4f6e-aabb-79d7347c9823

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_16843385

Collector:

S. Buttrick  Search this

Place:

Quartz Lake, Tanana Valley, Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

22 Jul 1973

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Scrophulariales Orobanchaceae

Published Name:

Boschniakia rossica (Cham. & Schltdl.) B. Fedtsch.

Barcode:

04697561

USNM Number:

3049617

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/3de047fc6-7649-41a1-9e79-15758144ca53

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_16843386

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

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

E. F. Glenn  Search this

Place:

Between Cook Inlet and the Tanana River., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

1899

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Caryophyllales Caryophyllaceae

Published Name:

Stellaria borealis Bigelow subsp. borealis

Barcode:

03607696

USNM Number:

375003

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/30c88ce44-d321-4fae-bbae-4b56c18a02ce

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_15112669

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

S. Buttrick  Search this

T. Ager  Search this

Place:

Healy Lake, Tanana Valley., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

Transcribed d/m/y: 7/7/73

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Ranunculales Ranunculaceae Ranunculoideae

Published Name:

Actaea rubra (Aiton) Willd.

Barcode:

04170829

USNM Number:

3049578

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/360ab9ff6-ab09-4972-bac4-0e0847091e91

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_16742751

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

L. J. Palmer  Search this

Place:

Yukon River between Rampart and Tanana., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

9 Aug 1932

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Asterales Asteraceae Asteroideae

Published Name:

Packera ogotorukensis (Packer) Á. Löve & D. Löve

Barcode:

04173425

USNM Number:

1184692

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/305474db9-55c0-4a88-8049-9a16a2a62873

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_16746861

Biogeographical Region:

70 - Subarctic America  Search this

Collector:

L. J. Palmer  Search this

Place:

Yukon River between Rampart and Tanana., Alaska, United States, North America

Collection Date:

9 Aug 1932

Taxonomy:

Plantae Dicotyledonae Asterales Asteraceae Asteroideae

Published Name:

Packera hyperborealis (Greene) Á. Löve & D. Löve

Barcode:

04173434

USNM Number:

1184651

See more items in:

Botany

Flowering plants and ferns

Data Source:

NMNH - Botany Dept.

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/36ce4c85c-1cdf-4189-b01b-66034b8ba802

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmnhbotany_16749784