NAA INV 05030000, Two Men in Costume, One Weaving Fish Net from Pandanus Fiber with Shells Added for Weight; Two Pole and Thatch Houses In Background 1947, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Jerry W. Leach earned a B.A. in History from Emory University; a M.A. in Social Anthropology and the Middle East from the University of California, Berkeley; and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University. Leach was one of the founding faculty members of the University of Papua New Guinea, serving as lecturer at the university from 1969 to 1973. During this period he studied folklore and culture change in the Trobriand Islands, which he described in his thesis "The Kabisawali Movement in the Trobriand Islands" (1978) and his documentary film, "Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism." Leach has held a number of positions over the years. In addition to serving as an assistant lecturer at Cambridge University from 1974 to 1979, Leach served as Deputy Director of Strategic Technology Affairs for the U.S. State Department; White House Director of International Economic Affairs (NSC); Peace Corps Regional Director for Eastern Europe, the Soviet Republics, Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific; National President of the World Affairs Council of America; and Director of the American Studies Center at the American University of Cairo.
Support for preparation and digitization of the collections for online access has been provided by the Arcadia Fund.
