Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Armstrong, Robert Plant.
2. Campbell, Donald Thomas, 1916-
3. Drake, St. Clair.
4. Fernandez, James W.
5. Lévi-Strauss, Claude.
6. Messenger, Jon C. (John Cowan), 1920-
7. Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976.
8. Szwed, John F., 1936-
9. White, Walter, 1893-1955.
10. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
11. Beacon Press.
12. University of Chicago. Press.
13. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
14. American Society For African Culture (2nd : 1959 Jun. 26-29 : New York, N.Y.)
15. Congresso Internacional de Americanists (31st : 1954 : Sao Paulo, Brazil)
16. Inter-African Conference On Social Sciences (1955 Aug.-Sept : Bakavu, Belgian Congo)
17. International Conference of Africanists (1st : 1962 : Accra, Ghana)
18. International Social Science Council (1961 Sept. 12-15 : Paris, France)
19. Social Science Research Council (1962 Apr. 13-14 : New York, N.Y.)

Description

1. 43.6 lin. ft. (106 boxes)

Summary

1. The Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits papers document the personal lives and professional careers of Melville J. Herskovits, his wife Frances S. Herskovits. There are also papers for their daughter Jean F. Herskovits.

Donor/Sponsor

1. Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.

Subject

1. Herskovits, Frances S
2. Herskovits, Jean
3. Herskovits, Melville J. 1895-1963
4. Anansi (Legendary character)
5. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
6. American Society of African Culture 1959 Jun. 26-29 : New York, N.Y.)
7. Congresso Internacional de Americanists 1954 : Sao Paulo, Brazil)
8. Inter-African Conference On Social Sciences (1955 Aug.-Sept : Bakavu, Belgian Congo)
9. International Conference of Africanists 1962 : Accra, Ghana)
10. International Social Science Council Meeting (1961)
11. Acculturation
12. African literature (English)
13. African literature (French)
14. Anthropologists > Diaries
15. Anthropologists > Manuscripts
16. Anthropologists > United States
17. Anthropologists' spouses > United States
18. Anthropology > Research > Africa, West
19. Anthropology > Research > Benin
20. Anthropology > Research > Brazil
21. Anthropology > Research > Ghana
22. Anthropology > Research > Haiti
23. Anthropology > Research > Nigeria
24. Anthropology > Research > Surinam
25. Anthropology > Research > Trinidad and Tobago
26. Anthropology teachers > United States
27. Ashanti (African people)
28. Ashanti (African people) > Music
29. Authors, African
30. Black race
31. Black people > Benin
32. Black people > Benin > Music
33. Black people > Benin > Religion
34. Black people > Benin > Social life and customs
35. Black people > Brazil
36. Black people > Brazil > Bahia (State)
37. Black people > Brazil > Music
38. Black people > Brazil > Religion
39. Black people > Brazil > Social life and customs
40. Black people > Cultural assimilation
41. Black people > Funeral customs and rites
42. Black people > Ghana
43. Black people > Ghana > Music
44. Black people > Ghana > Religion
45. Black people > Ghana > Social life and customs
46. Black people > Haiti
47. Black people > Haiti > Music
48. Black people > Haiti > Religion
49. Black people > Haiti > Social life and customs
50. Black people > Nigeria
51. Black people > Nigeria > Music
52. Black people > Nigeria > Religion
53. Black people > Nigeria > Social life and customs
54. Black people > Suriname
55. Black people > Suriname > Music
56. Black people > Suriname > Religion
57. Black people > Suriname > Social life and customs
58. Black people > Trinidad and Tobago
59. Black people > Trinidad and Tobago > Religion
60. Black people > Trinidad and Tobago > Social life and customs
61. Creole dialects, English > Suriname
62. Cults > Brazil
63. Cults > Suriname
64. Ethnology > Africa
65. Ethnology > Africa, Sub-Saharan
66. Ethnology > Benin
67. Ethnology > Brazil
68. Ethnology > Ghana
69. Ethnology > Haiti
70. Ethnology > Methodology
71. Ethnology > Nigeria
72. Ethnology > Suriname
73. Ethnology > Trinidad and Tobago
74. Folklore > Benin
75. Folklore > Surinam
76. Funeral rites and ceremonies > Africa, West
77. Funeral rites and ceremonies > Benin
78. Funeral rites and ceremonies > Haiti
79. Marriage customs and rites > Africa, West
80. Marriage customs and rites > Benin
81. Maroons > Suriname
82. Mythology, West African
83. Obeah (Cult) > Surinam
84. Obeah (Cult) > Trinidad and Tobago
85. Proverbs, Black > Trinidad and Tobago
86. Proverbs, Haitian
87. Rites and ceremonies > Benin
88. Rites and ceremonies > Brazil
89. Rites and ceremonies > Brazil > Bahia (State)
90. Rites and ceremonies > Haiti
91. Rites and ceremonies > Surinam
92. Rites and ceremonies > Trinidad and Tobago
93. Sambas
94. Saramacca (Surinamese people)
95. Orisha religion
96. Umbanda (Cult) > Brazil
97. Vodou > Haiti
98. West African literature (English)
99. Winti (Cult)
100. Africa > Description and travel
101. Africa, Central > Description and travel
102. Africa, Sub-Saharan > Civilization
103. Africa, Sub-Saharan > Economic conditions
104. Africa, West > Civilization
105. Africa, West > Description and travel
106. Bahia (Brazil : State) > Civilization
107. Bahia (Brazil : State) > Religious life and customs
108. Benin > Civilization
109. Benin > Religion
110. Benin > Social life and customs
111. Brazil > Civilization > African influences
112. Haiti > Civilization > African influences
113. Haiti > Religion
114. Haiti > Social life and customs
115. Suriname > Civilization > African influences
116. Suriname > Description and travel
117. Suriname > Languages
118. Trinidad and Tobago > Civilization > African influences
119. Congo (Democratic Republic) > Description and travel > 1951-1980

Call number

1. Sc MG 261

Note

1. Art and artifacts have been transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division, Photographs have been transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division and Recordings have been transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division and are described separately.

Access (note)

1. Boxes 28, 30, 31 (folder 189) and 70 (folder 703) are closed until 2024.

Source (note)

1. Herskovits, Jean

Location of other archival materials (note)

1. Northwestern University Archives

Biography (note)

1. Anthropologist; Africanist; founder of the first African Studies program in the United States.

Provenance (note)

1. Portions of the collection were on loan to the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC and in private storage in Orlando, Florida. The entire collection was acquired by the Schomburg Center in 1986.

Processing action (note)

1. Processed
2. Cataloged

Author

1. Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963.

Title

1. Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits papers, 1902-1972.

Access

1. Boxes 28, 30, 31 (folder 189) and 70 (folder 703) are closed until 2024.

Biography

1. Anthropologist; Africanist; founder of the first African Studies program in the United States. Melville J. Herskovits was born in 1895 in Bellefontaine, Ohio. He received his Doctorate in Anthropology in 1923 from Columbia University where he studied with the eminent anthropologist Franz Boas.
2. With his research associate, collaborator and wife Frances, Herskovits embarked on a forty-year study of African cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. In his 1941 landmark work "The Myth of the Negro Past" and in his more than 400 publications, Herskovits refuted many of the popularly-held beliefs regarding the absence of a sound African culture and the question of the continuity of African culture among blacks in the New World.
3. For thirty-five years Herskovits taught at Northwestern University where in 1947 he founded the Program of African Studies, the first of its kind in the United States. He received numerous honors and distinctions throughout his career and served as both President of the American Folklore Society and the African Studies Association. He also chaired committees of the American Coucil of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council among others. Herskovits died in 1963 and in 1970 the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies was established at Northwestern University.
4. Frances Herskovits was her husband's close and constant collaborator. During field trips she obtained data pertaining to the subculture of the women as well as information on some aspects of ritual, art and other major activities. Mrs. Herskovits co-authored several articles and four books with Melville Herskovits, including "Rebel Destiny" (1934), "Suriname Folk-lore" (1936), "Trinidad Village" (1947) and "Dahomean Narrative" (1958). In 1966 she edited "The New World Negro," a collection of papers by Herskovits and in 1973 "Cultural Relativism," another collection of his writings. With a background in literature and French, Mrs. Herskovits taught African literature at Northwestern University for many years. She died in 1972 in Evanston, Illinois.

Provenance

1. Portions of the collection were on loan to the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC and in private storage in Orlando, Florida. The entire collection was acquired by the Schomburg Center in 1986.

Location of other archival materials

1. Northwestern University Archives, University Library, 1935 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201 United States Program of African Records (35/13).
2. Northwestern University Archives, University Library, 1935 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201 United States Melville J. Herskovits Papers (35/6).

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Added author

1. Armstrong, Robert Plant.
2. Campbell, Donald Thomas, 1916-
3. Drake, St. Clair.
4. Fernandez, James W.
5. Lévi-Strauss, Claude.
6. Messenger, Jon C. (John Cowan), 1920-
7. Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976.
8. Szwed, John F., 1936-
9. White, Walter, 1893-1955.
10. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
11. Beacon Press.
12. University of Chicago. Press.
13. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
14. American Society For African Culture (2nd : 1959 Jun. 26-29 : New York, N.Y.)
15. Congresso Internacional de Americanists (31st : 1954 : Sao Paulo, Brazil)
16. Inter-African Conference On Social Sciences (1955 Aug.-Sept : Bakavu, Belgian Congo)
17. International Conference of Africanists (1st : 1962 : Accra, Ghana)
18. International Social Science Council (1961 Sept. 12-15 : Paris, France)
19. Social Science Research Council (1962 Apr. 13-14 : New York, N.Y.)

Research call number

1. Sc MG 261