Object Details
- Creator
- Sturtevant, William C.
- Names
- National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)
- Six Nations
- Topic
- Handbook of North American Indians
- Topic
- Ethnology
- Botany
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Indians of North America -- Northeast
- History
- Linguistics
- Provenance
- These papers were transferred to the National Anthropological Archives by the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History.
- Creator
- Sturtevant, William C.
- Culture
- Indians of North America -- Southeast
- Indians of North America
- Iroquois
- Seminole
- See more items in
- William C. Sturtevant papers
- Sponsor
- The papers of William C. Sturtevant were processed with the assistance of a Wenner-Gren Foundation Historical Archives Program grant awarded to Dr. Ives Goddard. Digitization and preparation of these materials for online access has been funded through generous support from the Arcadia Fund.
- Summary
- This collection contains the professional papers of William Curtis Sturtevant and documents his activities as Curator of North American Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, his work as the editor-in-chief of the Handbook of North American Indians, his research among the Seminole and Iroquois people, and other professional activities. The collection is comprised of books, sound recordings, research and field notes, realia, artifacts, clippings, microfilm, negatives, slides, photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, memorandums, card files, exhibition catalogs, articles, and bibliographies.
- Biographical/Historical note
- William C. Sturtevant (1926-2007), preeminent North American ethnologist, museum curator, and university professor, was best known for his contributions to Seminole ethnology, as curator of North American Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, and for his work as the general editor of the Handbook of North American Indians. Sturtevant's passion for studying Native peoples began at a young age. In third grade "after a class on American Indians, he asked his father what kind of people study Indians, and his father replied, 'Anthropologists.' Sturtevant decided then that he would make anthropology his career" (Merrill 11). After graduating with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949, Sturtevant went on to Yale University to complete his graduate work in anthropology. When it came time to decide on what area of North America he should focus his research, one of his faculty members at Yale, Irving Rouse, "suggested he consider the Seminoles of south Florida. By the end of his first fieldwork season, Sturtevant was convinced that the dearth of ethnographic information about these Seminoles and their status as one of the least acculturated of all North American Indian societies justified ethnographic research among them and offered the possibility of making an important contribution to North American ethnology" (Merrill 13). Sturtevant spent the summers of 1950 and 1951 conducting preliminary fieldwork among the Mikasuki-speaking Seminole and in 1952 he took up temporary residence at Big Cypress Reservation to undertake research for his dissertation, "The Mikasuki Seminole: Medical Beliefs and Practices." This work focused on Seminole medicine, but also included Sturtevant's analysis of Seminole worldview, religion, history, inter-ethnic relations, material culture, economy, kinship, language, and social organization. In 1954, while he was finishing his dissertation, Sturtevant made the transition from student of anthropology to professional anthropologist. He was hired as an instructor in Yale's Anthropology Department and began his career in museum work as an assistant curator of anthropology at the Yale Peabody Museum. After receiving his PhD from Yale in 1955, Sturtevant moved on to the Smithsonian Institution, where he accepted a position as a research anthropologist at the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE). This position afforded Sturtevant the chance to continue to explore his many research interests in ways that a full time professorship or museum curatorship could not. Over the next ten years he studied the Catawba in South Carolina; the Seneca and Cayuga nations of the Iroquois League in New York, Oklahoma, and Ontario; continued his work with the Seminole; visited European museums to examine early ethnographic examples and possible European prototypes of eastern North American Indian material culture; and spent a year in Burma. In 1963, Sturtevant and his wife, Theda Maw, the daughter of a prominent Burmese family, took their three young children to Burma so that they could visit with Maw's family. Sturtevant took this as an opportunity to branch out from his Native American research and spent the year visiting neighborhoods in Rangoon and villages in the surrounding countryside, examining archival materials, studying the Burmese language, learning about Burmese clothing and other aspects of the culture, and taking photographs. He also collected 386 items of clothing and other objects for the Smithsonian. When Sturtevant returned from Burma, he found the BAE had been dissolved. In 1965, he was transferred from the now-defunct BAE to the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), where he became curator of North American Ethnology, a position he held for the next forty-two years. During his tenure at NMNH Sturtevant oversaw all the North American ethnology collections, planned exhibitions, served on committees, and sponsored interns and fellows. One of Sturtevant's primary duties at NMNH was serving as the General Editor of the Handbook of North American Indians, "a major multi-volume reference work summarizing anthropological, linguistic, and historical knowledge about native peoples north of Mexico" (Jackson). Each volume was designed to represent a geographic or topical area of Americanist study. As General Editor, Sturtevant selected volume editors, chapter authors, oversaw office staff, and proofread manuscripts over the course of production. Besides focusing on the Handbook, much of Sturtevant's time was taken up by responsibilities he held outside the Institution. Sturtevant was extremely involved in professional anthropological associations and held many leadership positions. Fresh out of graduate school, he began a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1957. He later became a member of the executive committee of the Florida Anthropological Society, served as book-review editor and associate editor of the American Anthropologist from 1962-1968, was a member of the American Anthropological Association's Committee on Anthropological Research in Museums and was both vice president and president of the committee once it became the Council for Museum Anthropology, was on the American Anthropological Association's Committee on Archives, served three terms on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation from 1976-1982 and was appointed to a fourth term between 1984 and 1986, and sat on the Board of Directors of Survival International from 1982-1988. He was President of the American Society for Ethnohistory, the American Ethnological Society, the American Anthropological Association, and the Anthropological Society of Washington. Sturtevant also taught classes at Johns Hopkins University as an adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology, served as a consultant on exhibits at other museums, and reviewed manuscripts for scholarly publications. Sturtevant remained active in the profession throughout his later years. After divorcing Theda Maw in 1986, he married Sally McLendon, a fellow anthropologist, in 1990 and they undertook several research projects together. Sturtevant was recognized for his dedication and contributions to the field of anthropology in 1996 when he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters by Brown University, and in 2002 when his colleagues published a festschrift in his honor, Anthropology, History, and American Indians: Essays in Honor of William Curtis Sturtevant. Sturtevant died on March 2, 2007 at the Collingswood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rockville, MD after suffering from emphysema. Sources Consulted Estrada, Louie. 2007. William C. Sturtevant; Expert on Indians. Washington Post, March 17. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/16/AR2007031602273.html, accessed August 31, 2012. Jackson, Jason Baird. 2007. William C. Sturtevant (1926-2007). http://museumanthropology.blogspot.com/2007/03/william-c-sturtevant-1926-2007.html, accessed August 31, 2012. Merrill, William L. 2002. William Curtis Sturtevant, Anthropologist. In Anthropology, History, and American Indians: Essays in Honor of William Curtis Sturtevant. William L. Merrill and Ives Goddard, eds. Pp. 11-36. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 1926 -- Born July 26 in Morristown, NJ 1944 -- Entered the University of California at Berkeley as a second-semester freshman 1944 -- Attended summer school at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City where he took courses on Mexican archaeology and South American ethnology 1945 -- Drafted into the United States Navy 1946 -- Received an honorable discharge from the Navy with the rank of pharmacist's mate third class and returned to UC Berkeley 1947 -- Attended the University of New Mexico's summer field school in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico 1949 -- January: Received his Bachelor's degree with honors in anthropology from UC Berkeley 1949 -- Began graduate studies at Yale University 1950-1951 -- Spent the summers of 1950 and 1951 in Florida conducting fieldwork among the Mikasuki-speaking Seminole 1951 -- Conducted his first research study of the Iroquois, a classification of Seneca musical instruments, their construction and use, with Harold Conklin 1952 -- May: Moved to Big Cypress Reservation in Florida to conduct research for his dissertation. He focused on Seminole medicine, but also collected physical anthropological data such as blood-type frequencies, handedness, and color blindness 1952 -- July 26: Married Theda Maw 1954 -- Hired by Yale University as an instructor in the Department of Anthropology and as an assistant curator of anthropology in the Yale Peabody Museum 1955 -- Received PhD in anthropology from Yale University 1956 -- Joined the staff of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) as a research anthropologist 1957 -- Began a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the Anthropological Society of Washington 1957 -- Traveled to Rock Hill, South Carolina to collect linguistic data from Sam Blue, the last member of the Catawba tribe to have maintained some proficiency in the Catawba language. While there, he made a small collection of Catawba pottery for the United States National Museum 1957-1958 -- Spent seven weeks continuing his research among the New York Seneca 1959 -- Returned to Florida to study Seminole ethnobotany. He also collected ethnographic materials, especially objects made for the tourist market, which he deposited in the United States National Museum 1959-1960 -- Member of the executive committee of the Florida Anthropological Society 1960 -- July and August: Visited 17 European museums to examine early ethnographic examples and possible European prototypes of eastern North American Indian material culture 1961-1962 -- Spent the summers of these years conducting ethnographic fieldwork among the Seneca-Cayuga in Oklahoma 1962 -- October: Visited the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada to conduct fieldwork among the Seneca and Cayuga there 1962-1968 -- Book-review editor and associate editor of the American Anthropologist 1963 -- October: Spent the year in Burma; visited neighborhoods in Rangoon and villages in the surrounding countryside, examined photographs in several archives, studied the Burmese language, and read extensively about the country's history and culture. Assembled notes on Burmese clothing and other aspects of the culture, took hundreds of photographs, and made a collection of 386 items of clothing and other objects for the Smithsonian 1964 -- Visited Inle Lake in the Southern Shan States southeast of Mandalay, where he examined local approaches to artificial island agriculture 1964-1981 -- Became a member of the American Anthropological Association's Committee on Anthropological Research in Museums, which became the Council for Museum Anthropology in 1974. Sturtevant was the Council's first vice president, serving two terms between 1974 and 1978, and was its president from 1978 to 1981 1965 -- Became curator of North American Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History after the dissolution of the BAE 1965-1966 -- President of the American Society for Ethnohistory 1966 -- Named the editor of the Handbook of North American Indians 1967-1968 -- Fulbright scholar and lecturer at Oxford University's Institute of Social Anthropology 1969 -- Began serving on the American Anthropological Association's Committee on Archives 1974-1989 -- Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University 1976-1982 -- Served three terms on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation and was appointed to a fourth term between 1984 and 1986 1977 -- President of the American Ethnological Society 1980-1981 -- President of the American Anthropological Association 1981 -- Spent part of the spring semester at the University of California Berkeley as a Regents Lecturer 1982-1988 -- Board of Directors of Survival International 1986 -- Divorced Theda Maw 1986-1987 -- Smithsonian Fellow at Oxford University's Worcester College 1990 -- Married Sally McLendon 1992 -- President of the Anthropological Society of Washington 1996 -- Awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters at Brown University 2007 -- Died March 2 in Rockville, MD
- Extent
- 220 Linear feet (The total extent of the collection is 191.41 linear feet (consisting of 473 document boxes and 2 record boxes) plus 254 sound recordings, 94 computer disks, 42 card file boxes, 85 oversize folders, 9 rolled items, 18 binder boxes, and 3 oversize boxes. Of the total extent, 4.79 linear feet (14 boxes) are restricted.)
- Date
- 1952-2007
- Archival Repository
- National Anthropological Archives
- Identifier
- NAA.2008-24
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Realia
- Research
- Notes
- Office files
- Theses
- Slides (photographs)
- Sound recordings
- Exhibition catalogs
- Field notes
- Clippings
- Correspondence
- Photographs
- Microfilms
- Newsletters
- Manuscripts
- Memorandums
- Articles
- Card files
- Books
- Artifacts
- Negatives
- Citation
- William C. Sturtevant papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
- Arrangement
- This collection is organized in 14 series: 1. Correspondence, 1951-2008; 2. Research Files, 1851, 1860s, 1880s, 1890, 1939-2006; 3. Writings, 1952-2006; 4. Professional Activities, 1952-2006; 5. Smithsonian, 1954-2008; 6. Handbook of North American Indians, 1971-2007; 7. Biographical Files, 1933-2007; 8. Student Files, 1944-1985; 9. Subject Files, 1902-2002; 10. Photographs, 1927-2004; 11. Artwork, 1699-1998; 12. Maps, 1949-1975; 13. Sound Recordings, 1950-2000; 14. Computer Files, 1987-2006.
- Processing Information
- The papers of William C. Sturtevant were received partially organized. Approximately half of the records were stored in record boxes and organized by theme such as a particular research topic or writing project. The rest of the records were unorganized and stored in oversized boxes. The archivist imposed an arrangement scheme upon these materials by adding them to existing series and creating new series and subseries. Original folder titles were retained. Folder titles assigned by the archivist are indicated by square brackets. Files have been rehoused in acid free folders. The archivist kept existing groupings and organized the collection into fourteen series. Restricted materials were separated and replaced with notes indicating original and new locations. Oversized materials were separated and placed in oversize folders and boxes. The folder titles of this collection were written by the creator of the collection, William C. Sturtevant. Some of these folder titles include offensive or outdated language. The original titles have been retained to preserve the historical integrity of the archival record. Use of this language does not reflect the views of the National Anthropological Archives or the Smithsonian Institution. Processed by Christy Fic and Jeanine Nault, 2012. Catalog record created by Carrie Gehrer, 2009.
- Rights
- Contact the repository for terms of use.
- Selected Bibliography
- 1953 Chakaika and the "Spanish Indians:" Documentary Sources Compared with Seminole Tradition. Tequesta 13:35-73. 1954 The Medicine Bundles and Busks of the Florida Seminole. Florida Anthropologist 7(2):31-70. 1954 The Mikasuki Seminole: Medical Beliefs and Practices. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Yale University. 1955 Notes on Modern Seminole Traditions of Osceola. Florida Historical Quarterly 33(3-4):206-217. 1956 Osceola's Coats? Florida Historical Quarterly 34(4):315-328. 1956 R.H. Pratt's Report on the Seminole in 1879. Florida Anthropologist 9(1):1-24. 1956 A Seminole Personal Document. Tequesta 16:55-75. 1957 Anthropology as a Career. Smithsonian Information Leaflet, 100. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1958 Siouan Languages in the East. American Anthropologist 60(4):738-743. 1959 A Suggestion for Field Recordings. Ethnomusicology 3(2):75-76. 1960 A Seminole Medicine Maker. In In the Company of Man: Twenty Portraits by Anthropologists. Joseph B. Casagrande, ed. Pp. 505-532. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1960 A Technique for Ethnographic Note-Taking. American Anthropologist 61(4):677-678. 1962 A Newly-Discovered 1838 Drawing of a Seminole Dance. Florida Anthropologist 15(3):73-82. 1962 Spanish-Indian Relations in Southeastern North America. Ethnohistory 9(1):41-94. 1963 Seminole Myths of the Origins of Races. Ethnohistory 10(1):80-86. 1964 John Mann Goggin, 1916-1963. American Anthropologist 66(2): 385-394. 1965 Ethnographic Details in the American Drawings of John White, 1577-1590. Ethnohistory 12(1):54-63. 1967 Guide to Field Collecting of Ethnographic Specimens. Smithsonian Institution Information Leaflet, 503. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1967 Seminole Men's Clothing. In Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts. Proceedings of the 1966 Annual Spring Meeting, American Ethnological Society. June Helm, ed. Pp. 160-174. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 1969 History and Ethnography of Some West Indian Starches. In The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals. Peter J. Ucko and G.W. Dimbleby, eds. Pp. 177-199. London: Gerald Duckworth and Co. 1971 Creek into Seminole. In North American Indians in Historical Perspective. Eleanor Burke Leacock and Nancy Oestreich Lurie, eds. Pp. 92-128. New York: Random House. 1974 Woodsmen and Villagers of the East. In The World of the American Indian. Jules B. Billard, ed. Pp. 101-149. Washington, D.C: National Geographic Society. 1975 Two 1761 Wigwams at Niantic, Connecticut. American Antiquity 40(4):437-444. 1976 First Visual Images of Native America. In First Images of America: The Impact of the New World on the Old. Fredi Chiappelli, ed. Pp. 417-454. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1977 The Hole-and-Slot Heddle. In Ethnographic Textiles of the Western Hemisphere: Irene Emery Roundtable on Museum Textiles, 1976 Proceedings. Irene Emery and Patricia Fiske, eds. Pp. 325-355. Washington, D.C: The Textile Museum. 1978 Oklahoma Seneca-Cayuga. In Handbook of North American Indians, volume 15, Northeast. Bruce G. Trigger, ed. Pp. 537-543. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. 1979 Southeastern Indian Formulas. In Native North American Spirituality of the Eastern Woodlands. Elisabeth Tooker, ed. Pp. 282-293. New York: Paulist Press. 1979 Black Drink and Other Caffeine-Containing Beverages among Non-Indians. In Black Drink: A Native American Tea. Charles M. Hudson, ed. Pp. 150-165. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1980 The First Inuit Depicition by Europeans. Etudes Inuit; Inuit Studies 4(1-2):47-49. 1980 National Dress and Citizen Dress: What Indian Delegates Wore to Washington. American Fabrics and Fashions 120:14-15. 1981 John Ridge on Cherokee Civilization in 1826. Journal of Cherokee Studies 6(2):79-91. 1983 Seneca Masks. In The Power of Symbols: Masks and Masquerade in the Americas. N. Ross Crumrine and Marjorie Halpin, eds. Pp. 39-47. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. 1983 Tribe and State in the Sixteenth and Twentieth Centuries. In The Development of Political Organization in Native North America. Proceedings of the American Ethnological Society, 1979. Elisabeth Tooker, ed. Pp. 3-16. Washington, D.C.: American Ethnological Society. 1984 A Structural Sketch of Iroquois Ritual. In Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies. Michael K. Foster, Jack Campisi, and Marianne Mithun, eds. Pp. 133-152. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1986 The Meanings of Native American Art. In The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution. Edwin L. Wade, ed. Pp. 23-44. New York: Hudson Hills Press, and Tulsa, Oklahoma: Philbrook Art Center. 1991 Indian America: First Visual Impressions. In The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Silvio A. Bedini, ed. Pp. 337-345. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1994 The Misconnection of Guale and Yamasee with Muskogean. International Journal of American Linguistics 60(2):139—148. 1995 with Shepard Krech III. The Uses of Ethnographic Records. In Preserving the Anthropological Record. Sydel Silverman and Nancy J. Parezo, eds. Pp. 85-94. New York: Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 1996 with JoAllyn Archambault. Museums and Collectors. In Encyclopedia of North American Indians. Frederick E. Hoxie, ed. Pp. 407-410. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1996 with JoAllyn Archambault. 150 Years of Native American Research at the Smithsonian. AnthroNotes 18(3):8-11. 1998 Tupinamba Chiefdoms? In Chieftains and Chieftancy in the Americas. Elsa M. Redmond, ed. Pp. 138-149. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 1999. Scalping. In Violence in America: An Encyclopedia. Ronald Gottesman, ed. Pp. 94-96. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1999 Foreword. In Collecting Native America, 1870-1960. Shepard Krech III and Barbara A. Hail, eds. Pp. v-vi. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press. 2000 Introduction. In Clay MacCauley, The Seminole Indians of Florida. Pp. ix-lii. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2001 How To Not Exhibit Ethnographic Art. American Anthropologist 103(3):808-809.
- Genre/Form
- Realia
- Research
- Notes
- Office files
- Theses
- Slides (photographs)
- Sound recordings
- Exhibition catalogs
- Field notes
- Clippings
- Correspondence
- Photographs
- Microfilms
- Newsletters
- Manuscripts
- Memorandums
- Articles
- Card files
- Books
- Artifacts
- Negatives
- Scope and Contents
- This collection contains the professional papers of William Curtis Sturtevant and documents his activities as Curator of North American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, his work as the editor-in-chief of the Handbook of North American Indians, his research among the Seminole and Iroquois people, and his involvement in various professional activities. The collection is comprised of research and field notes, sound recordings, realia, clippings, negatives, slides, prints, published and unpublished writings, correspondence, memorandums, conference papers and meeting notes, card files, exhibition catalogs, articles, bibliographies, student files such as class notes and papers from Sturtevant's years as an anthropology student, teaching materials including lecture notes and exams, daily planners, passports, military records, artwork including prints and lithographs, maps, and computer files. The materials in this collection document Sturtevant's career as a preeminent North American ethnologist, museum curator, university professor, his role as General Editor of the Handbook of North American Indians, and his contributions to the field of Anthropology. From his early work with the Seminole Indians of Florida to his forays into Burma, and his decades-long study of how Native Americans have been depicted in artistic and popular culture, Sturtevant's diverse intellectual interests are represented in his research files. A copious note taker, Sturtevant captured his observations and opinions of everything from meetings with colleagues to museum exhibits. Sturtevant's commitment to the anthropological profession can be found in the notes and programs of the many conferences, symposiums, and lecture series he attended and at which he presented. He also held numerous leadership positions in various professional associations and sat on the board of directors/trustees for several cultural organizations including Survival International and the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation. Sturtevant was respected for his vast knowledge of indigenous peoples and he received a voluminous amount of correspondence from colleagues who often included copies of their papers and grant proposals. He kept many of these works, which, it appears he used as reference material. Sturtevant's own work is reflected in his writings; he published over 200 scholarly papers, articles, and books. 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.
- Restrictions
- Files containing Sturtevant's students' grades have been restricted, as have his students' and colleagues' grant and fellowships applications. Restricted files were separated and placed at the end of their respective series in boxes 87, 264, 322, 389-394, 435-436, 448, 468, and 483. For preservation reasons, his computer files are also restricted. Seminole sound recordings are restricted. Access to the William C. Sturtevant Papers requires an apointment.
- Separated Materials
- One video tape, "Seminole History and Tradition", was transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives. Series 2.2, Tukabahchee Plate: Glass negative of spectrogram from FBI (Box 135), removed for storage with other glass plate negatives.
- Record ID
- ebl-1503512902916-1503512903169-0
