Flora S. Kaplan papers
name: label: Creator
content: Kaplan, Flora S.
label: Names
content: New York University. Museum Studies Program
place: label: Place
content: Mexico
label: Place
content: Benin (Nigeria)
topic: label: Topic
content: Pottery, Mexican
label: Topic
content: Women anthropologists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Flora S. Kaplan in 2015.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kaplan, Flora S.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Flora S. Kaplan papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Flora S. Kaplan papers document her field work, research, and professional activities from 1951-2012 (bulk 1969-2012) and primarily deal with her work as the director and founder of New York University's Museum Studies program and her field work in Benin and Mexico. The collection consists of correspondence, research files, book files, photographs, sound recordings, ephemera, and writings.
bioghist: label: Biographical note
content: Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan, anthropologist, is a professor emerita, and founding director (1978-99) of the Museum Studies Program, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, New York University (NYU). She taught Anthropology as a Fulbright professor, (1983-85), University of Benin, Nigeria; and previously taught at Lehman College, CUNY (1970-1976), before arriving at New York University in 1976. 

She publishes widely on Benin (Nigeria) and on Mexico, museum politics, art, photography, religion and gender. She holds degrees in anthropology from The Graduate Center, CUNY (Ph.D.), and Columbia University (M.A., archaeology). Dr. Kaplan was on the curatorial staff at the Brooklyn Museum, New York for six years in the Department of Primitive Art and New World Cultures. She was a research associate at the Museum of the American Indian, (1977-87), and was an associate at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at NYU for more than 20 years. She co-edited the book series 'Museum Meanings' (Routledge) from 1997-2010 and has been a Board member of the journal 'Museums & Society' (University of Leicester Press) since 2004.

(Biography courtesy of Flora Kaplan's C.V. in Box 3 of this collection)

Chronology

1930 August 28 -- Flora Kaplan born in New York City

1951 -- B.A. degree, Hunter College: English writing major, Anthropology minor

1951-1954 -- Assistant, The Brooklyn Museum of the City of New York, Department of Primitive Art and New World Cultures

1954-1957 -- Acting Curator, The Brooklyn Museum of the City of New York, Department of Primitive Art and New World Cultures

1958 -- M.A. degree, Columbia University, Anthropology

1970-1976 -- Graduate fellow, lecturer: Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York (CUNY), Department of Anthropology

1972-1973, 1977 -- Field work, Mexico

1976 -- Ph.D., The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), Social Anthropology

1976-1999 -- Director and founder of the Museum Studies Program, professor of Anthropology, New York University

1977-1987 -- Research associate, Museum of the American Indian

1983-1985 -- Fulbright professor at the University of Benin, Nigeria

1999-present -- Professor emerita of Museum Studies, New York University
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 134 Sound recordings
label: Extent
content: 31.5 Linear feet (72 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1951-2012, bulk 1969-2012
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2015-21
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Field notes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged in 3 series: Series 1. Museum studies, 1951-2012, bulk 1970-2012; Series 2. Benin (Nigeria), 1969-2012; Series 3. Mexico, 1957-2007, bulk 1969-1998.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed and encoded by Katie Duvall, 2016.
bibliography: label: Selected Bibliography
content: 1976.  -- Cognition and style: an analysis based on a Mexican pottery tradition -- .

with Mary Anne Shea. 1981.  -- Images of power: art of the royal court of Benin --  : exhibition dates at New York University, the Grey Art Gallery, January 23-February 21, 1981. [New York, N.Y.]: The University.

1990. "Some uses of photographs in recovering cultural history at the royal court of Benin, Nigeria". Visual Anthropology. 3: 2-3.

1994.  -- A Mexican folk pottery tradition: cognition and style in material culture in the Valley of Puebla -- . Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

1994.  -- Museums and the making of "ourselves": the role of objects in national identity -- . London: Leicester University Press.

1995. "Some Thoughts on Doing Fieldwork at the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria and Other Things: A Fulbright Experience." In  -- The Fulbright Experience in Benin -- , Frank Salomone, Editor. Studies in Third World Societies Series. Williamsburg, VA: College of William and Mary Press. Pp. 17-32.

1997.  -- Queens, queen mothers, priestesses, and power: case studies in African gender -- . New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

2006.  -- Benin Art and Culture -- . London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Field notes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Flora S. Kaplan papers document her field work, research, and professional activities from 1951-2012 (bulk 1969-2012) and primarily deal with her work as the director and founder of New York University's (NYU) Museum Studies program and her field work in Benin, Nigeria and Mexico. The collection consists of correspondence, research files, book files, photographs, sound recordings, ephemera, and writings.

Series 1. Museum Studies contains material related to the administration of NYU's Museum Studies program, Kaplan's participation in professional societies including ICOM (International Council of Museums), AAA (American Anthropological Association), and ACASA (Arts Council of the African Studies Association), and materials dealing with Kaplan's museum studies publications, especially Museums and the Making of "Ourselves": The Role of Objects in National Identity.

Series 2. Benin (Nigeria) consists of materials related to Kaplan's fieldwork in Benin, Nigeria including her tenure as a Fulbright professor at the University of Benin from 1983-1985 and subsequent books, articles, symposia, correspondence and travels to Benin. This includes letters from friends and business associates in Benin, including extensive correspondence with the Oba of Benin, and field notes that span more than 20 years and include interviews, research, and Kaplan's thoughts on her experiences.

Series 3. Mexico consists of materials related to Kaplan's field work in Mexico in the 1970s and subsequent research and writings. This includes original research in support of Kaplan's doctoral thesis, A Mexican Folk Pottery Tradition: Cognition and Style in Material Culture in the Valley of Puebla.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Additional material from Flora S. Kaplan, primarily related to her field work in Mexico, can be located at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Archive Center: Flora S. Kaplan collection, 1965-1989.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Two one-half inch video tapes and two 3/4 inch Umatic video tapes were transferred to the Human Studies Film Archive (accession number 2016-008).