Philip L. Ravenhill papers
name: label: Creator
content: Ravenhill, Philip L.
label: Creator
content: Timyan, Judith
place: label: Place
content: Ivory Coast
topic: label: Topic
content: Language and languages -- Documentation
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by his former wife, Judith Timyan.
creator: label: Creator
content: Ravenhill, Philip L.
label: Creator
content: Timyan, Judith
culture: label: Culture
content: Wan (African People)
label: Culture
content: Baule (African people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Philip L. Ravenhill papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: These papers of Philip L. Ravenhill primarily document the period during which he was a graduate student at the New School for Social Research and contain  his field research on the Wan and neighboring groups in the Ivory Coast.  There are also some some research files of Judith Timyan, whom Ravenhill was married to at the time.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Philip L. Ravenhill was the chief curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, where he worked from 1987 until his death in 1997. He was born in 1945 in Bath, England. He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Nyack College (1968) and his Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research (1976), where he studied under Thomas O. Beidelman. As a doctoral student, he conducted field research on the Wan in the central Ivory Coast. He had initially intended to study interethnic relations between the Wan and the Baule. Due to a flood that forced many of the Baule villages to relocate, Ravenhill focused his research on the social organization of the Wan. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, he was a senior research fellow at the International African Institute in London and project director of the West African Museums Project in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Source Consulted

Cotter, Holland. 1997. Philip L. Ravenhill, 52, Expert On the Art and Culture of Africa. The New York Times, October 16. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/16/arts/philip-l-ravenhill-52-expert-on-the-art-and-culture-of-africa.html (accessed April 5, 2012).
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1.7 Linear feet (4 document boxes and 5 sound recordings plus 1 map folder )
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1953-1979
label: Date
content: bulk 1970-1973
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2010-25
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Folders are arranged in alphabetical order. The sound recordings are at the end.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers of Philip L. Ravenhill were received unarranged. The processing archivist rehoused the collection in archival folders and organized the folders in alphabetical order. Original folder titles were retained with titles assigned by the archivist placed within square brackets. Sound recordings were not reviewed to confirm contents. Sound recording numbers were assigned by the archivist.

Processed by Lorain Wang, April 2012.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Philip L. Ravenhill primarily document the period during which he was a graduate student at the New School for Social Research. The collection contains his field research on the Wan, including linguistic notes and notebooks with interlinear translations of Wan folktales and proverbs; archival and bibliographic research; field recordings; and a draft of his dissertation. The collection also contains his research on neighboring groups in the Ivory Coast, including the Baule, as well as some research files of Judith Timyan, whom Ravenhill was married to at the time. Additional materials includes correspondence, course papers and exams, grant applications, and maps.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Philip L. Ravenhill's curatorial records are at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives of the National Museum of African Art holds photographs from Ravenhill's research trip to Mali in 1989.