Personnel and student records are restricted for 75 years after the date of its creation.
This collection is located onsite.
Correspondence, financial reports, budgets, newspaper clippings, contracts, personnel records, flyers, supply orders and receipts, and other material document the operations of the Anthropology Department. Research projects conducted by graduate students and faculty and funded by the Columbia Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRSS) contain research proposals and progress reports. Material includes routine correspondence regarding expenditures and dispersement of funds, salaries, appointments, fieldwork arrangments, progress reports, publications, and other research project issues. Prof. Benedict headed the project "Acculturation" and Prof. Franz Boas headed: "Race and Heredity." Correspondence for chairmen Charles Wagley, Joseph H. Greenberg, Conrad M. Arensberg, Morton H. Fried, Robert F. Murphy, Elliott P. Skinner, Ralph S. Solecki, and Ralph L. Holloway documents the Department during the 1960s-1980s, including the student strike in 1968 and the Department's participation in the subsequent restructuring of the University's governance.
Arranged in two series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
Personnel and student records are restricted for 75 years after the date of its creation.
This collection is located onsite.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Department of Anthropology Records; Box and Folder; University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Within the Central Files, refer to files on Ruth Benedict and Franz Boas.
Council for Research in the Humanities Records, 1926-1968
Council for Research in the Humanities Records, 1926-1968
Columbia University Archives Historical Biographical Files (see the Ruth Benedict and Franz Boas files).
Franz Boas Papers, ca. 1858-1942, American Philosophical Society Library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Margaret Mead papers and South Pacific, Ethnographic Archives, 1838-1996 (bulk 1911-1978), Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.
Franz Boas Field notebooks and physical anthropological data, 1889-1897, undated, Northwestern University Library, Chicago, Illinois.
No additions are expected
Source of acquisition--Department of Anthropology. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1996.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Records processed Jennifer Ulrich 12/--/2004.
Finding aid written Jennifer Ulrich 2004.
Finding aid reformatted Evan Roth (SEAS 2010) 09/--/2008.
Finding aid edited Jocelyn Wilk 07/--/2010.
2010-07-13 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
The Department of Anthropology at Columbia University was established in 1902 as part of the Faculty of Philosophy, under the direction of Professor Franz Boas. At the time of its establishment, the department was also staffed by Livingston Farrand as Adjunct Professor and Joseph Hershey Bair as Assistant. Courses offered in 1902 included Anthropology, General Introductory Course, Ethnography of America, Ethnography of the Pacific Islands and of Africa, The Statistical Study of Variation, introductory and advanced course, Ethnology-Primitive Culture, Physical Anthropology, and American Languages and Research Work in Physical Anthropology, Ethnology, and North American Languages. Courses in anthropology were first offered in 1896 by the Department of Philosophy and Education, then called Philosophy, Psychology, and Education. Courses were consolidated under one department in 1897 in the Faculty of Philosophy with Livingston Farrand as Instructor and Franz Boas as Lecturer. The following year, the Department of Philosophy and Education was staffed by James Cattell and Boas, later changing its name to the Division of Philosophy, Psychology and Anthropology.
A renowned anthropology scholar and professor, Franz Boas was trained in Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1888, taught at Clark University, and was curator at the American Museum of Natural History. He was first appointed as lecturer in physical anthropology at Columbia in 1896. Boas attracted many students to the program during his tenure, advancing the department as a leader in the field. Students of Boas included Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead. Benedict, Associate Professor of Anthropology, eventually served as Executive Officer for the Department.
The Department conducted several projects funded by Columbia's Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRSS), a multidisciplinary organization that promoted social science research at Columbia University. Professor Benedict headed Project no. 35: "Acculturation" Professor Franz Boas headed Project no. 19: "Race and Heredity" and Federico De Onis and Ruth Bunzel contributed to project no. 39. "Religion and Culture in Mexico." Established in 1925, Columbia's CRSS was modeled after the national council founded two years earlier, in 1923.
Although the field of archaeology is often found within departments of anthropology at other colleges and universities (and some archaeological expedition records are found in this collection), these courses are currently offered by the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. Relevant courses may be found in other departments as well, reflecting the field's multidisciplinary nature. Classical archaeology courses were first offered by the Department of Greek and Latin in 1890. Prior to the founding of the Department of Fine Arts and Archaeology in 1934, courses on ancient art and architecture were offered in the School of Architecture - a department established in 1881as part of School of Mines and housed in that school until 1902.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
This series contains correspondence, reports and newspaper clippings relating to research projects conducted by graduate students and faculty of the Department of Anthropology.
This series contains records related to research projects conducted by graduate students and faculty that were funded by the Columbia Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRSS). These files are arranged by project number and title for ease of access. Correspondence includes that between Ruth Benedict and CRSS administrator Thomas Hayden on the dispersal of funds, progress reports, publications, and other research project issues. The files contain research proposals and subsequent progress reports. Material includes routine correspondence regarding expenditures, salaries, appointments and fieldwork arrangements. Research data is not significant in these records.
Graduate research training in Ecological Anthropology, or "Human Ecology" was funded by the Research Training Grants branch of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The principal investigator was Prof. Andrew P. Vayda. The bulk of these files contain appointments, grant proposals, and fund applications.
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This series contains correspondence, reports and newspaper clippings documenting field schools and expeditions not funded by the CRSS. Material documenting a particular research project or expedition was removed from the general chronological "current expedition" file and labeled accordingly. The records document relations between the Anthropology Department and the Department of the Interior for both archeological and ethnographic field work.
Of note are newspaper clippings, telegrams, and letters documenting the death of student Henrietta Schmerler, murdered by 22 year-old Max Seymour, while conducting field research at an Apache reservation in Arizona. Correspondence includes telegrams, reports, and letters between Frank D. Fackenthal, Secretary of Columbia College, William Donner, Superintendent at the Whiteriver [Fort Apache] Indian Agency, U.S. Department of the Interior, and Professor Boas. Newspaper clippings and letters report the incident, along with editorials directed at the field of ethnography, the Anthropology Department, and Columbia University. Also included are letters authored by Henrietta Schmerler during her field work to both Franz Boas and others.
The archeological investigation of the Borough of Brooklyn was undertaken by the Department of Anthropology and funded by the National Parks Service. According to the contract, "funds were appropriated to the Service by Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1957 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of Public Law 214, 84th Congress (69 Stat. 445) relative to the conduct of an historical and archeological investigation of the burial site of 256 Maryland soldiers who fell in combat during the Battle of Brooklyn on the 27th day of August, 1776…"
Expeditions and other projects not identified as CRSS-sponsored may still have some relation, such as the funding for Arabic language training for Kepler Lewis. He led an ethnological study group in Lebanon which was part of a larger "Middle East Research Project." Professor Joseph H. Greenberg was the faculty advisor to the project.
Photographs accompany field notes for the excavation of the MacHaffie site, Folsom culture.
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Graduate research training in Ecological Anthropology, or "Human Ecology" was funded by the Research Training Grants branch of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The principal investigator was Prof. Andrew P. Vayda. The bulk of these files contain appointments, grant proposals, and fund applications.
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contains articles and miscellaneous manuscripts relating to departmental contributions in Anthropological literature. An annotated manuscript, along with a carbon copy, titled "Notes on Child Development at San Ildefonso," by William and Marjorie W. Whitman is included and may be a draft of their work, The Pueblo Indians of San Ildefonso, a changing culture, New York, Columbia University Press, 1947.
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This series contains correspondence and reports relating to research not described by the previous subseries.
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This series contains budgets, correspondence, reports and appointment records relating to the administration of the Department of Anthropolgy.
The personnel subseries consists of appointment records and search files which are restricted 75 years after the date of creation. These records were rearranged alphabetically from chronological order for ease of access.
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are filed by the academic year. Information on faculty appointments, tenure, and salaries can be found in the Budget files. Departmental Chairman correspondence and information about research assistants and other staff related to the Council for Research in the Social Sciences projects are generally located in this subseries as well.
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1931-1954
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1957-1958
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1958-1959
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1960-1961
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1961-1962
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1962-1963
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1963-1964
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1964-1965
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1965-1966
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1966-1967
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1967-1968
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1968-1969
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1969-1970
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1970-1971
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1971-1972
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1972-1973
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1973-1974
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1974-1975
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1975-1976
consists of correspondence files for the departmental chairs and executive officers and are arranged chronologically by name. Ruth Benedict was "Executive Officer." Correspondence from "Departmental Representative" is included. Files labeled by subject or correspondent's office, were maintained and filed alphabetically. Correspondence between the department and the University President concerns alumni fundraising, the "capital campaign," endowed professorships, and general accounting procedures.
Files titled "Restructuring" relate to changes in the organization of the University as a result of the spring 1968 student riots. By October of that year, the University Student Council, Executive Committee of the Faculty, Office of the vice Provost for Academic Planning, Student for a Restructured University, and the Student Representatives to the Special Committee of the Trustees announced a joint sponsorship of public hearing on proposals for a University restructuring. The formation of the University Senate, composed of students, faculty, and administrators, resulted from these efforts.
Correspondence concerning time limits for registered graduate students to complete their Ph.D degrees, and the interruption of studies due to military service during the late 1960s, coincide with the Vietnam conflict.
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consists of reports, lists, correspondence and publications. Files in this subseries are also restricted for 75 years after the date of creation, except for those documenting student clubs.
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(Information about applicants and evaluation of participants for 1947-1948)
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contains administrative records not described by the previous subseries. Topics include curriculum, fees, and laboratory space. Oversized architectural plans were removed and filed with the University Archives Flat Files Collection.
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See Flat Files
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See Flat Files
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