Ethel Mary Albert Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Albert, Ethel Mary, 1918-1989
place: label: Place
content: Burundi
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnologies
label: Topic
content: Rundi language
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were bequeathed to the National Anthropological Archives by Ethel Mary Albert and were accessioned in 1990.
creator: label: Creator
content: Albert, Ethel Mary, 1918-1989
culture: label: Culture
content: Burundians
setName: label: See more items in
content: Ethel Mary Albert Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Ethel M. Albert was an ethnologist whose research focused on communication and speech, and values and ethics. She pursued these themes cross-culturally across a wide spectrum of social classes, ethnic groups and locations.  She received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 1949 and taught a several institutions of higher learning before becoming a faculty member of Northwestern University in 1966.  The Ethel Mary Albert papers consist of writings, photographs and sound recordings produced during the course of Albert's ethnological studies as Ford Fellow in Burundi in the late 1950s; field research among the Navaho; and materials related to a later cross cultural study of fatalism.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Ethel M. Albert was born on March 28, 1918. She received her B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1942 and her M.A. from Columbia University in 1947. She was awarded a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 1949. She taught philosophy at Brooklyn College (1946-1947) and Syracuse University (1949-1952). She later taught speech at the University of California at Berkeley (1958-1966) and anthropology and speech at Northwestern University (1966-1977). From 1958-66, she served as chair of the committee for African Studies (a part of the Institute of International Studies). She was chair of the anthropology department at Northwestern University from 1972-73. 

Albert's ethnographic research focused on communication and speech, and values and ethics. She pursued these themes cross-culturally across a wide spectrum of social classes, ethnic groups and locations. She carried out work among the Navaho while serving as a research associate with the Laboratory of Social Relations at Harvard University (1953-1955). As a Ford Foundation fellow (1955-1957), she carried out ethnographic studies of the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa peoples of Burundi, from which she produced numerous notes and writings. Albert died at the age of 71 in October of 1989, in Sarasota, Florida.

Chronology of the life of Ethel Mary Albert

1918 -- Born on the 28th of March in New Britain, CT.; daughter of Zundel and Dorothy (Eisenstadt) Sokolsky

1942 -- Receives her B.A. from Brooklyn College

1947 -- Receives her M.A. from Columbia University

1946-1947 -- Instructor of philosophy at Brooklyn College

1949 -- Awarded a PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin

1949-1952 -- Instructor of philosophy at Syracuse University

1953-1955 -- Research associate with the Laboratory of Social Relations at Harvard University; carries out work among the Navahos

1955-1957 -- Carries out an ethnographic study of the Rundi Culture in central Africa as a Ford Foundation Fellow in the Overseas African Program

1957-1958 -- Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California

1958-1966 -- Instructor of speech at the University of California at Berkeley

1960,1961 -- Assistant Director for ethnology, National Science Foundation Project on Educational Resources in Anthropology

1963-1965 -- Chairman of committee for African studies (Institute of International Studies), University of California at Berkeley

1964-1965 -- Appointed vice-chairman of the speech department at the University of California at Berkeley

1966-1977 -- Professor of anthropology and speech at Northwestern University

1973 -- Chairman of anthropology and speech department, Northwestern University
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8.33 Linear feet (24 boxes)
label: Extent
content: 8 Sound tape reels
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1940s-1960s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.1990-30
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sound tape reels
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: The collection is arranged in 14 series: (1) Rundi Projects Reports and Journals; (2) Rundi Ethnography; Rough Notes; (3) Rundi Biographies; (4) Rundi Texts; (5) Photographic Slides; (6) Study of Fatalism; (7) Study of Values in Five Cultures; (8) Miscellaneous Notes; (9) Unpublished Writings; (10) Published Articles; (11) Bibliography; (12) Unpublished Drafts of Manuscripts; (13) Miscellany; (14) Sound Recordings
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers of Ethel Mary Albert were received partially organized. The processing
archivist maintained the original groupings and arrangement, with the exception of
drafts of published articles, which were removed from Series 10 (Published Articles) and placed
in Series 12 (Drafts of Published Articles).  Also. a manuscript from F.G. Friedmann and
Albert's Book appraisal were removed from Series 9 (Unpublished Writings) and moved
to Series 13 (Miscellany). Original folder titles were retained in most cases, with titles
assigned by the archivist placed within square brackets. The photographic slides were
placed into archival slide folders but the original numbering and groupings have been
maintained. The audio reels were isolated for appropriate storage.

Processed by Aivia Monitto on April 2007.
bibliography: label: Selected bibliography
content: 1956  -- The Classification of Values: A Method and Illustration. -- American Anthropologist --  58(2): 221-248.

1963  -- The Teaching of Anthropology. --  Edited by David G. Mandelbaum, Gabriel W. Lasker and Ethel M. Albert . Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. (Also published in AAA Memoir 94).

1963  -- Resources for the Teaching of Anthropology -- . Edited by David G. Mandelbaum, Gabriel W. Lasker and Ethel M. Albert. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. (Also published in AAA Memoir 95).

1964  -- 'Rhetoric,' 'Logic,' and 'Poetics' in Burundi: Culture Patterning of Speech Behavior -- American Anthropologist --  66 (suppl. 3): 35-54.

1966  -- People of Rimrock: A Study of Values in Five Cultures -- . Edited by Evon Z. Vogtand Ethel M. Albert. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Slides (photographs)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection is mainly comprised of Albert's papers produced in the course of her ethnological studies as Ford Fellow in Burundi in the late 1950s; field research among the Navaho; and materials related to a later cross cultural study of fatalism. 

Among her field notes and extensive personal journals produced during her stay in Burundi are collections of Kirundi texts, including fables and stories, many of which were produced in direct cooperation with (and in a few cases authored by) some of her more literate informants. She also collected a wide spectrum of biographies. During her time in Central Africa, she interviewed many people from both major ethnic groups (Tutsi and Hutu) and accumulated photographic portraits of many of her biographical subjects. 

Her collection of photographic slides number more than 300. They depict a wide range of the activities of village life (such as traditional dances, dress, children, cows, and agricultural activities) as well as portraits of the King and Queen of Urundi. 

Albert also conducted ethnographic fieldwork among the Navaho. From that period, her papers include material relating to a study of values in five cultures; these appear in Vogt and Albert's People of Rimrock (1967). 

Another important group of materials consists of manuscripts and notes relating to Albert's study of fatalism. In these notes and manuscripts she relates her previous 5 ethnographic studies to her philosophical knowledge in the production of a cross-cultural study of the values and life ways associated with fatalism, resignation and determinism. 

This collection contains many of her completed essays and articles, both published and unpublished. Albert also produced sound recordings related to her field work in Burundi.