Priscilla Reining papers
name: label: Creator
content: Reining, Priscilla
place: label: Place
content: Tanganyika
label: Place
content: Tanzania
label: Place
content: Kenya
label: Place
content: Uganda
label: Place
content: Niger
label: Place
content: Burkina Faso
label: Place
content: Bukoba District (Tanzania)
topic: label: Topic
content: Indians of North America -- Northeast
label: Topic
content: AIDS (Disease)
label: Topic
content: Human ecology
label: Topic
content: Fertility, Human
label: Topic
content: Kinship
label: Topic
content: population
label: Topic
content: Landsat satellites
label: Topic
content: Remote sensing
label: Topic
content: Desertification
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Priscilla Reining's sons, Robert Reining and Conrad Reining, in 2009.
creator: label: Creator
content: Reining, Priscilla
culture: label: Culture
content: Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)
label: Culture
content: Kikuyu (African people)
label: Culture
content: Minnesota Chippewa [Red Lake, Minnesota]
label: Culture
content: Haya (African people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Priscilla Reining papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Priscilla Reining papers, 1916-2007, primarily document the professional life of Reining, a social anthropologist and Africanist who worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 1974 to 1989. Her area of specialty was sub-Saharan Africa, specializing in desertification, land tenure, land use, kinship, population, fertility, and HIV/AIDS. During the 1970s, she pioneered the use of satellite imagery in conjunction with ethnographic data. She is also known for her ground-breaking research in the late 1980s that showed that uncircumcised men were more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS than circumcised men.

The collection contains correspondence, field research, research files, writings, day planners, teaching files, student files,
photographs, maps, sound recordings, and electronic records. Reining's research files, particularly on the Red Lake Ojibwa, the Haya, HIV/AIDS, and satellite imagery, form a significant portion of the collection.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Priscilla Copeland Reining was a social anthropologist and Africanist who worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 1974 to 1989.  Her area of specialty was sub-Saharan Africa, specializing in desertification, land tenure, land use, kinship, population, fertility, and HIV/AIDS. During the 1970s, she pioneered the use of satellite imagery in conjunction with ethnographic data. She is also known for her ground-breaking research in the late 1980s that showed that uncircumcised men were more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS than circumcised men.

Reining was born on March 11, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois. She studied anthropology at University of Chicago, where she earned both her A.B. (1945) and Ph.D. (1967) in anthropology. During her graduate studies, she studied peer group relations among the Ojibwa of the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota (1947, 1950-51). Her husband, Conrad Reining, accompanied her to the field, an experience that inspired him to also become an anthropologist.

In 1951-53 and 1954-55, Reining conducted fieldwork among the Haya of Bukoba District, Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania) as a Fellow of the East African Institute of Social Research. While research for her dissertation focused on the agrarian system of the Haya, Reining also conducted fertility surveys for the East African Medical Survey, studying the relationship between STDs and fertility in Buhaya and Buganda. During the 1980s, Reining became interested in AIDS when she observed that the Haya were dying from the disease at a much higher rate than neighboring groups. When she learned of a possible link between circumcision and the spread of HIV, she drew a map of circumcision practice among the ethnic groups of Africa and found that uncircumcised men were 86% more likely to contract HIV than circumcised men. These results were published in "The Relationship Between Male Circumcision and HIV Infection in African Populations" (1989), which she coauthored with John Bongaarts, Peter Way, and Francis Conant. 

Beginning in the 1970s, Reining began exploring the use of satellite imagery in ethnographic research. In 1973, she used Landsat data to identify individual Mali villages, the first use of satellite data in anthropology (Morán 1990). That same year, as a consultant for USAID, she also used ERTS-1 imagery to estimate carrying capacity in Niger and Upper Volta (now known as Burkino Faso). She continued to apply satellite data in her research throughout her career, including in 1993, when she returned to Tanzania to study the environmental consequence of population growth and HIV/AIDS among the Haya.

In 1974, Reining joined the Office of International Science of AAAS as a research associate. She stayed on to become Project Director for the Cultural Factors in Population Programs and to direct a number of projects under the Committee on Arid Lands. She also served as Project Director of the Ethnography of Reproduction project, for which she conducted fieldwork in Kenya in 1976. In 1990, she left AAAS for an appointment as Courtesy Professor of African Studies at University of Florida. 

Prior to working for AAAS, Reining worked at the Smithsonian Institution (1966, 1968-70), during which she was the coordinator for the Urgent Anthropology Program in the now defunct Center for the Study of Man. She also taught at University of Minnesota (1956-59), American University (1959-60), and Howard University (1960-64). In addition, she worked as a consultant for various organizations, including Department of Justice, Peace Corps, International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD), Food and Agriculture Organization, and Carrying Capacity Network. 

Reining was also actively involved in various organizations. She served as Secretary of the AAAS Section H (Anthropology) and was a founding member of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Task Force on AIDS. She was also a fellow of the African Studies Association, AAA, AAAS, East African Academy, Society for Applied Anthropology, and Washington Academy of Science. In 1990, she was honored with a Distinguished Service Award from AAA.

Reining died of lung cancer at the age of 84 on July 19, 2007.

Sources Consulted

PR Vita. Series 10. Biographical and Personal Files. Priscilla Reining Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Morán, Emilio F. 2000. The Ecosystem Approach in Anthropology: From Concept to Practice. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Page 359

Schudel, Matt. 2007. Anthropologist Broke Ground on AIDS, Satellite Mapping. Washington Post, July 29. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/28/AR2007072801190.html (accessed December 8, 2011).

1923 -- Born March 11 in Chicago, Illinois  

1944 -- Marries Conrad C. Reining

1945 -- Earns A.B. from University of Chicago

1947, 1950-51 -- Conducts field research on the Ojibwa of Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota.

1949 -- Earns A.M. from University of Chicago  

1951-1953, 1954-1955  -- Field research on Haya of Tanzania

1967 -- Earns Ph.D. from University of Chicago

1972 -- Returns to Tanzania for IBRD consultancy work 

1974 -- Begins working at AAAS as a research associate in the Office of International Science

1975 -- Project Director, AAAS

1976 -- Field research on Kikuyu of Kenya for Ethnography of Reproduction

1986-89 -- Program Director, AAAS

1990 -- Courtesy Professor of African Studies at University of Florida Receives Distinguished Service Award from AAA

1993 -- Field research in Tanzania studying environmental consequences of population growth and HIV/AIDS among the Haya

2007 -- Dies of lung cancer at the age of 84 on July 19
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Boxes
label: Extent
content: 60.25 Linear feet (145 boxes)
label: Extent
content: 23 Computer storage devices (floppy discs, zip discs, data tapes, and magnetic tape)
label: Extent
content: 6 Sound recordings
label: Extent
content: 2 Map drawers
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1916-2007
label: Date
content: bulk 1934-2007
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2009-25
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Computer storage devices
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Map drawers
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Electronic records (digital records)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Priscilla Reining papers are organized in 13 series: 1. Correspondence, 1944-2007; 2. Research, 1955-1970; 3. AAAS, 1971-1990; 4. Professional Activities, 5. 1957-2007; Daily Planners and Notebooks, 1960-2002; 6. Writings, 1952-1996; 7. Smithsonian Institution, 1964-1971; 8. University, 1958-1994; 9. Student, 1937-1975; 10. Biographical and Personal Files, 1934-2004; 11. Maps, 1916-1989, undated; 12. Photographs, circa 1950-1987, undated; 13. Electronic records.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers of Priscilla Reining were received partially organized. The processing archivist kept existing groupings and arrangement and organized the collection into 13 series. Original folder titles were retained with titles assigned by the archivist placed within square brackets. Oversized and restricted materials were separated and replaced with notes indicating original and new locations. 

Unannotated books not authored by Reining were separated from the collection and donated to other libraries. Unannotated published maps were also removed from the collection and added to the Department of Anthropology Collections Division's map reference file.

Because most of the collection was stored in Reining's basement, there is evidence of minor mold damage throughout parts of the collection. Materials that suffered severe mold damage (or were stored with those materials) were cleaned and are housed in boxes 143-145 at the end of the collection. Materials no longer legible were discarded, along with materials of low research value, such as drafts and copies of publications and financial receipts. 

The archivist would like to thank Haley Atkinson and Rachel Schimke for their assistance in processing this collection.

The processing of this collection was made possible by a financial donation from Robert Reining and Conrad Reining.
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: 1954, with A.I. Richards. Report on Fertility Surveys in Buganda and Buhaya, 1952. In Culture and Human Fertility. Frank Lorimer, ed. Pp. 351-403. Paris: UNESCO.

1962, Haya Land Tenure: Landholding and Tenancy. Anthropological Quarterly 35(2): 58-73.

1965, An Aspect of Linguistic Change in Ojibwa. Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science. 32: 157-159.

1965, Land Resources of the Haya. In Ecology and Economic Development. David Brokensha, ed. Pp, 217-244. Berkeley, California: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley.

1967, The Haya : the agrarian system of a sedentary people. Unpublished dissertation 

1970, Social Factors and Food Production in an East African Peasant Society: the Haya. In African Food Production Systems. Peter McLoughlin, ed. Pp 41-89. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.

1972, Haya Kinship Terminology: An Explanation and Some Comparison. In Kinship Studies in the Morgan Centennial Year. Priscilla Reining, ed. Pp. 88-112. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington.

1973, Utilization of ERTS-1. In Imagery in Cultivation and Settlement Site Identification and Carrying Capacity Estimates in Upper Volta and Niger. National Technical Information Service. Springfield, VA.

1974, with Irene Tinker, eds. Population: Dynamics, Ethics, and Policy. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

1974, with Irene Tinker, William Cousins, and Warren Swidler. Culture and Population Change. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC.

1975, Analysis with Image 100 of Sonrai, Niger Villages for Location and Extent of More than One Village. In Proceedings of Earth Resources Survey Symposium. Pp. 1811-1822. Washington, DC: NASA

1977, Village Women: Their Changing Lives and Fertility. Studies in Kenya, Mexico, and the Philippines. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington, DC.

1980, with Barbara Lenkerd, eds. Village Viability in Contemporary Society. AAAS Selected Symposium #34. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

1989, with John Bongaarts, Peter Way, and Francis Conant. The Relationship Between Male Circumcision and HIV Infection in African Populations. AIDS 3: 373-377.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Electronic records (digital records)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: These papers primarily document the professional life of Priscilla Reining. The collection contains correspondence, field research, research files, writings, day planners, teaching files, student files, photographs, maps, sound recordings, and electronic records. 

Reining's research files, particularly on the Red Lake Ojibwa, the Haya, HIV/AIDS, and satellite imagery, form a significant portion of the collection. Her consultancy work is also well-represented, as well as her involvement in a large number of professional organizations. The collection also contains a great deal of material relating to her work on different programs and projects at AAAS, including the Committee on Arid Lands, Ethnography of Reproduction Project, and Cultural Factors in Population Programs. Also present in the collection are materials from her time as Urgent Anthropology Program Coordinator at the Smithsonian Institution, her files as an instructor and professor, and her files as a student at University of Chicago. Materials from her personal life can also be found in the collection, such as correspondence and childhood mementos.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Additional materials at the NAA relating to Priscilla Reining can be found in the papers of Gordon Gibson and John Murra, as well as in the records of the Center for the Study of Man and the records of the Department of Anthropology. Photo Lot 97 contains two Haya photos taken by Reining that are not duplicated in this collection. The papers of her husband, Conrad Reining, are also at the NAA.

The archives of the American Association for the Advancement of Science also holds Reining's papers relating to her work for the organization.