Central States Anthropological Society records
name: label: Correspondent
content: Nash, Philleo, 1909-1987
label: Creator
content: Central States Anthropological Society (U.S.)
label: Correspondent
content: Zimmerman, Lorraine May
label: Correspondent
content: Wolfe, Alvin W. (Alvin William), 1928-
label: Correspondent
content: Tax, Sol, 1907-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Wheeler-Voegelin, Erminie, 1903-1988
label: Creator
content: American Anthropological Association. Central States Branch
label: Correspondent
content: Sebeok, Thomas A. (Thomas Albert), 1920-2001
label: Correspondent
content: Schwartz, Douglas W., 1929-
label: Correspondent
content: Silverberg, James Mark
label: Correspondent
content: Sellers, Mary
label: Correspondent
content: Sahlins, Marshall David
label: Correspondent
content: Hart, Charles William Merton
label: Correspondent
content: Schnitt, Ivan
label: Correspondent
content: Schneider, Harold Kenneth, 1925-1987
label: Correspondent
content: Stout, David Bond
label: Correspondent
content: Titterington, P.F.
label: Correspondent
content: Titiev, Mischa
label: Correspondent
content: Spicer, Edward Holland
label: Correspondent
content: Smith, Marian W. (Marian Wesley), 1907-1961
label: Correspondent
content: Spuhler, James Norman
label: Correspondent
content: Spier, Robert Forest Gayton
label: Correspondent
content: Wallis, Wilson D. (Wilson Dallam), 1886-1970
label: Correspondent
content: Warner, William Lloyd
label: Correspondent
content: Watson, James B. (James Bennett), 1918-2009
label: Correspondent
content: Weckler, Joseph E., Jr.
label: Correspondent
content: Useem, John
label: Correspondent
content: Vaughan, James Herbert
label: Correspondent
content: Vaughan, Wilson Herbert
label: Correspondent
content: Wallace, Anthony F. C., 1923-
label: Correspondent
content: White, Leslie A., 1900-1975
label: Correspondent
content: Whiteford, Andrew Hunter
label: Correspondent
content: Whitten, Norman E.
label: Correspondent
content: Wittry, Warren L.
label: Correspondent
content: Wedel, Waldo R. (Waldo Rudolph), 1908-1996
label: Correspondent
content: Weer, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Weitzner, Bella, 1891?-1988
label: Correspondent
content: Angel, J. Lawrence (John Lawrence)
label: Correspondent
content: Aginsky, Ethel G.
label: Correspondent
content: Aberle, David F. (David Friend), 1918-2004
label: Correspondent
content: Bittle, William Elmer
label: Correspondent
content: Black, Robert A.
label: Correspondent
content: Boggs, Stephen Taylor
label: Correspondent
content: Borhegyi, Stephan F.
label: Correspondent
content: Bourguignon, Erika Eichhorn
label: Correspondent
content: Carlson, Gustav G.
label: Correspondent
content: Casagrande, Joseph B. (Joseph Bartholomew), 1915-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Champe, John L. (John Leland), 1895-
label: Correspondent
content: Christensen, James Boyd
label: Correspondent
content: Cobb, W. Montague
label: Correspondent
content: Cole, Fay-Cooper
label: Correspondent
content: Collier, Donald, 1911-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Henry, William E.
label: Correspondent
content: Field, Henry
label: Correspondent
content: Hoijer, Harry
label: Correspondent
content: Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963
label: Correspondent
content: Honigsheim, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Holmes, Lowell Don
label: Correspondent
content: Jantzen, Carl Raymond
label: Correspondent
content: Isaac, Barry Lamont
label: Correspondent
content: Jones, Volney H. (Volney Hurt), 1903-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Johnson, Frederick, 1904-1994
label: Creator
content: Kelley, J. Charles, 1913-1997
label: Correspondent
content: Kaplan, Bernice Antoville
label: Creator
content: Kneberg, Madeline D.
label: Creator
content: Keyes, Charles Fenton
label: Creator
content: La Barre, Weston, 1911-1996
label: Creator
content: Kurtz, Ronald Joseph
label: Correspondent
content: Haag, William George
label: Correspondent
content: Harding, Charles
label: Correspondent
content: Hanna, Katherine
label: Correspondent
content: Griffin, James B. (James Bennett), 1905-1997
label: Correspondent
content: Goldschmidt, Walter, 1913-2010
label: Correspondent
content: Guthe, Alfred K. (Alfred Kidder), 1920-1983
label: Correspondent
content: Griswold, Charles H.
label: Correspondent
content: Frantz, Charles
label: Correspondent
content: Fox, George R.
label: Correspondent
content: Godfrey, William S.
label: Correspondent
content: Gallagher, Art
label: Correspondent
content: Estel, Leo
label: Correspondent
content: Eggan, Fred, 1906-1991
label: Correspondent
content: Force, Roland W.
label: Correspondent
content: Deuel, Thorne, 1890-
label: Correspondent
content: Douglas, Frederick Huntington
label: Correspondent
content: Dragoo, Don W.
label: Correspondent
content: Guthe, Carl E. (Carl Eugen), 1893-1974
label: Correspondent
content: Driver, Harold E. (Harold Edson), 1907-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Bennett, John William
label: Correspondent
content: Culver, Dwight W.
label: Correspondent
content: De Pena, Joan Finkle
label: Correspondent
content: Despres, Leo Arthur
label: Correspondent
content: Bates, Marston
label: Correspondent
content: Helm, June, 1924-
label: Correspondent
content: Bauxar, J. Joseph
label: Correspondent
content: Beardsley, Richard K. (Richard King), 1918-1978
label: Correspondent
content: Bee, Robert L.
label: Correspondent
content: Baby, Raymond S.
label: Correspondent
content: Baerreis, David A., 1916-1989
label: Correspondent
content: Barnouw, Victor
label: Correspondent
content: Bascom, William Russell, 1912-1981
label: Creator
content: Lewis, Thomas M. N. (Thomas McDowell Nelson), 1896-
label: Creator
content: Lily, Eli
label: Creator
content: Lessa, William Armand
label: Creator
content: Lewis, Oscar
label: Creator
content: Laughlin, William Sceva
label: Creator
content: Lehman, Edward J.
label: Creator
content: Lange, Charles Henry
label: Creator
content: Lasker, Gabriel Ward
label: Correspondent
content: Meggers, Betty Jane
label: Correspondent
content: Melin, Mary
label: Creator
content: McGregor, Jo
label: Creator
content: McKern, W. C. (Will Carleton), 1892-
label: Creator
content: Marriott, McKim
label: Creator
content: Martin, Paul S. (Paul Sidney), 1899-1974
label: Creator
content: Lurie, Nancy Oestreich
label: Creator
content: Mandelbaum, David G.
label: Correspondent
content: Neumann, Georg K. (Georg Karl), 1907-1971
label: Correspondent
content: Nesbitt, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Nash, Manning
label: Correspondent
content: Moss, Leonard Wallace
label: Correspondent
content: Morgan, Richard G.
label: Correspondent
content: Miner, Horace M.
label: Correspondent
content: Merriam, Alan P. (Alan Parkhurst), 1923-1980
label: Correspondent
content: Rowe, Chandler William
label: Correspondent
content: Robinson, J.T.
label: Correspondent
content: Ritzenthaler, Robert E. (Robert Eugene), 1911-1980
label: Correspondent
content: Quimby, George I. (George Irving), 1913-2003
label: Correspondent
content: Pilling, Arnold R.
label: Correspondent
content: Philips, Jane
label: Correspondent
content: Osmundsen, Lita S.
label: Correspondent
content: Noon, John A.
label: Names
content: Central States Anthropological Society (U.S.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Anthropology
label: Topic
content: Professional associations
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were deposited at the National Anthropological Archives by the Central States Anthropological Society archivists.
creator: label: Correspondent
content: Nash, Philleo, 1909-1987
label: Creator
content: Central States Anthropological Society (U.S.)
label: Correspondent
content: Zimmerman, Lorraine May
label: Correspondent
content: Wolfe, Alvin W. (Alvin William), 1928-
label: Correspondent
content: Tax, Sol, 1907-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Wheeler-Voegelin, Erminie, 1903-1988
label: Creator
content: American Anthropological Association. Central States Branch
label: Correspondent
content: Sebeok, Thomas A. (Thomas Albert), 1920-2001
label: Correspondent
content: Schwartz, Douglas W., 1929-
label: Correspondent
content: Silverberg, James Mark
label: Correspondent
content: Sellers, Mary
label: Correspondent
content: Sahlins, Marshall David
label: Correspondent
content: Hart, Charles William Merton
label: Correspondent
content: Schnitt, Ivan
label: Correspondent
content: Schneider, Harold Kenneth, 1925-1987
label: Correspondent
content: Stout, David Bond
label: Correspondent
content: Titterington, P.F.
label: Correspondent
content: Titiev, Mischa
label: Correspondent
content: Spicer, Edward Holland
label: Correspondent
content: Smith, Marian W. (Marian Wesley), 1907-1961
label: Correspondent
content: Spuhler, James Norman
label: Correspondent
content: Spier, Robert Forest Gayton
label: Correspondent
content: Wallis, Wilson D. (Wilson Dallam), 1886-1970
label: Correspondent
content: Warner, William Lloyd
label: Correspondent
content: Watson, James B. (James Bennett), 1918-2009
label: Correspondent
content: Weckler, Joseph E., Jr.
label: Correspondent
content: Useem, John
label: Correspondent
content: Vaughan, James Herbert
label: Correspondent
content: Vaughan, Wilson Herbert
label: Correspondent
content: Wallace, Anthony F. C., 1923-
label: Correspondent
content: White, Leslie A., 1900-1975
label: Correspondent
content: Whiteford, Andrew Hunter
label: Correspondent
content: Whitten, Norman E.
label: Correspondent
content: Wittry, Warren L.
label: Correspondent
content: Wedel, Waldo R. (Waldo Rudolph), 1908-1996
label: Correspondent
content: Weer, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Weitzner, Bella, 1891?-1988
label: Correspondent
content: Angel, J. Lawrence (John Lawrence)
label: Correspondent
content: Aginsky, Ethel G.
label: Correspondent
content: Aberle, David F. (David Friend), 1918-2004
label: Correspondent
content: Bittle, William Elmer
label: Correspondent
content: Black, Robert A.
label: Correspondent
content: Boggs, Stephen Taylor
label: Correspondent
content: Borhegyi, Stephan F.
label: Correspondent
content: Bourguignon, Erika Eichhorn
label: Correspondent
content: Carlson, Gustav G.
label: Correspondent
content: Casagrande, Joseph B. (Joseph Bartholomew), 1915-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Champe, John L. (John Leland), 1895-
label: Correspondent
content: Christensen, James Boyd
label: Correspondent
content: Cobb, W. Montague
label: Correspondent
content: Cole, Fay-Cooper
label: Correspondent
content: Collier, Donald, 1911-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Henry, William E.
label: Correspondent
content: Field, Henry
label: Correspondent
content: Hoijer, Harry
label: Correspondent
content: Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963
label: Correspondent
content: Honigsheim, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Holmes, Lowell Don
label: Correspondent
content: Jantzen, Carl Raymond
label: Correspondent
content: Isaac, Barry Lamont
label: Correspondent
content: Jones, Volney H. (Volney Hurt), 1903-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Johnson, Frederick, 1904-1994
label: Creator
content: Kelley, J. Charles, 1913-1997
label: Correspondent
content: Kaplan, Bernice Antoville
label: Creator
content: Kneberg, Madeline D.
label: Creator
content: Keyes, Charles Fenton
label: Creator
content: La Barre, Weston, 1911-1996
label: Creator
content: Kurtz, Ronald Joseph
label: Correspondent
content: Haag, William George
label: Correspondent
content: Harding, Charles
label: Correspondent
content: Hanna, Katherine
label: Correspondent
content: Griffin, James B. (James Bennett), 1905-1997
label: Correspondent
content: Goldschmidt, Walter, 1913-2010
label: Correspondent
content: Guthe, Alfred K. (Alfred Kidder), 1920-1983
label: Correspondent
content: Griswold, Charles H.
label: Correspondent
content: Frantz, Charles
label: Correspondent
content: Fox, George R.
label: Correspondent
content: Godfrey, William S.
label: Correspondent
content: Gallagher, Art
label: Correspondent
content: Estel, Leo
label: Correspondent
content: Eggan, Fred, 1906-1991
label: Correspondent
content: Force, Roland W.
label: Correspondent
content: Deuel, Thorne, 1890-
label: Correspondent
content: Douglas, Frederick Huntington
label: Correspondent
content: Dragoo, Don W.
label: Correspondent
content: Guthe, Carl E. (Carl Eugen), 1893-1974
label: Correspondent
content: Driver, Harold E. (Harold Edson), 1907-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Bennett, John William
label: Correspondent
content: Culver, Dwight W.
label: Correspondent
content: De Pena, Joan Finkle
label: Correspondent
content: Despres, Leo Arthur
label: Correspondent
content: Bates, Marston
label: Correspondent
content: Helm, June, 1924-
label: Correspondent
content: Bauxar, J. Joseph
label: Correspondent
content: Beardsley, Richard K. (Richard King), 1918-1978
label: Correspondent
content: Bee, Robert L.
label: Correspondent
content: Baby, Raymond S.
label: Correspondent
content: Baerreis, David A., 1916-1989
label: Correspondent
content: Barnouw, Victor
label: Correspondent
content: Bascom, William Russell, 1912-1981
label: Creator
content: Lewis, Thomas M. N. (Thomas McDowell Nelson), 1896-
label: Creator
content: Lily, Eli
label: Creator
content: Lessa, William Armand
label: Creator
content: Lewis, Oscar
label: Creator
content: Laughlin, William Sceva
label: Creator
content: Lehman, Edward J.
label: Creator
content: Lange, Charles Henry
label: Creator
content: Lasker, Gabriel Ward
label: Correspondent
content: Meggers, Betty Jane
label: Correspondent
content: Melin, Mary
label: Creator
content: McGregor, Jo
label: Creator
content: McKern, W. C. (Will Carleton), 1892-
label: Creator
content: Marriott, McKim
label: Creator
content: Martin, Paul S. (Paul Sidney), 1899-1974
label: Creator
content: Lurie, Nancy Oestreich
label: Creator
content: Mandelbaum, David G.
label: Correspondent
content: Neumann, Georg K. (Georg Karl), 1907-1971
label: Correspondent
content: Nesbitt, Paul
label: Correspondent
content: Nash, Manning
label: Correspondent
content: Moss, Leonard Wallace
label: Correspondent
content: Morgan, Richard G.
label: Correspondent
content: Miner, Horace M.
label: Correspondent
content: Merriam, Alan P. (Alan Parkhurst), 1923-1980
label: Correspondent
content: Rowe, Chandler William
label: Correspondent
content: Robinson, J.T.
label: Correspondent
content: Ritzenthaler, Robert E. (Robert Eugene), 1911-1980
label: Correspondent
content: Quimby, George I. (George Irving), 1913-2003
label: Correspondent
content: Pilling, Arnold R.
label: Correspondent
content: Philips, Jane
label: Correspondent
content: Osmundsen, Lita S.
label: Correspondent
content: Noon, John A.
physloc: label: Note
content: This collection is stored off-site. Advance notice must be given to view collection.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Central States Anthropological Society records
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection consists of the records of the Central States Anthropological Society and documents the activities of its officers. Also included is a manuscript history of the organization.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: The Central States Anthropological Society (CSAS) was established as the Central Section of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), and it has informally been called the Central States Branch. Samuel A. Barrett led the creation of the new organization. The motivation was the difficulty for anthropologists of the central United States to attend AAA meetings, for the AAA had come to convene only in large northeastern or Middle Atlantic cities. The section's stated purpose was to promote "the cause of anthropology by means of a closer fraternization of the central states." "Central states" meant the entire region lying between the Appalachian and Rocky mountains. In fact, however, CSAS has been most successful and influential in the midwestern states.

The AAA approved the organization of the Central Section through a constitutional amendment adopted in December 1921. The section's constitution was adopted at its first meeting in 1922. It provided for two categories of membership—members who belonged to the AAA and associates who belonged to only the section. Both could vote and hold office. The constitution vested governance in an executive council made up of members elected to an executive committee together with the society's officers. The members of the executive committee itself were originally elected by a larger council, but the council was abolished in 1947. Since then the committee has been elected directly by the membership.

The original constitution provided for officers including a president, two vice presidents, a secretary-treasurer, and a corresponding secretary. The section failed to fill the latter office until 1952; and three years later the position was abolished as was the position of secretary-treasurer. Replacing them were two offices, a secretary and a treasurer. In 1957, the two offices were again combined as secretary-treasurer. In 1967, the officers came to include a newsletter editor and, in 1975, a proceedings editor. Both editors sat on the council as nonvoting members. The CSAS created other officers in 1975, including an immediate past president and a "student-liaison person," both of whom took places on the council. Also in 1975, the first vice president was designated to become the next president and the second vice president was designated to succeed the first vice president. (See Appendix A for a list of CSAS presidents.)

The main function of the Central Section has been the annual meeting. During the first few decades, these featured papers by many outstanding midwestern anthropologists. In keeping with the strong regional interest in archeology, the content was heavily archeological. This strong bent continued even after 1935 when many Central Section members joined the newly formed Society for American Archaeology (SAA). Until the 1950s, there was a strong connection between these two organizations, and they held joint meetings for many years. So strong was the connection, in fact, that the Central Section came to doubt its ability to hold a successful meeting on its own and feared that reduction of the archeological content of its programs would lead the archeologists to go off on their own and pull many section members along with them. Not until the SAA began to hold meetings outside the Middle West and the Central Section joined in meetings with other organizations did the Central Section strengthen its sociocultural interest, which has since become dominate.  By 1951, the Executive Board of the AAA voted to accept the organization's official name change to Central States Anthropological Society.

A condition of the special relationship with the AAA was support for the American Anthropologist. In return, the AAA provided a service in collecting the regular AAA dues from section members and turning a portion over to the section. This arrangement continued until 1959, when the AAA began to keep its entire dues and collected an additional amount for the section. In 1967, the AAA announced that it could no longer continue to offer such services without compensation. At that point, the CSAS broke the relationship. By 1972, the AAA was again providing the society billing services for a fee. In 1985, the CSAS became a constituent society in the AAA reorganization.

The Central States Branch established its own publication program when, from 1946-1952, it issued a mimeographed newsletter called the Central States Bulletin. In 1966, CSAS began to issue the Central States Anthropological Society Newsletter. In 1973, it also began to publish the Central States Anthropological Society Proceedings, which, in 1978, became Central Issues in Anthropology. Other than for these publications, most reports of and announcements about the organization have appeared in the AAA publications. 
During the 1950s and 1960s, the CSAS began efforts to promote improved graduate training. In 1953, it began to sponsor a Prize Paper Contest for students. In the 1960s, it surveyed regional graduate education and also explored possibilities for assisting with field training, lectures by visiting foreign anthropologists, and several other programs. In addition, special programs at annual meetings concerned education and teaching. The first of CSAS's two scholarship programs, the Leslie A. White Memorial Fund, was established in 1983 to support research in any subfield of anthropology by "young scholars" ("young," not in chronological years, but in the sense of new to the discipline).  In 1989, a second award, the Beth W. Dillingham Memorial Fund, was set up expressly to provide assistance to young scholars who are responsible for the care of dependent children while pursuing anthropological research.  Today, the CSAS remains dedicated to fostering anthropological scholarship and professionalism through its meetings and publications.

Further information about the history of CSAS can be found on the official website at http://www.aaanet.org/csas/.

Source

Guide to the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Revised and Enlarged, by James R. Glenn, 1996; with amendments, 2012 by Pamela Effrein Sandstrom.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10 Linear feet (19 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1922-2015
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.1977-55
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged in the following series: (1) History and Administrative Files; (2) Presidents' Files; (3) Secretary-Treasurers' Reports; (4) Minutes of Annual Business Meeting and Executive Board Meeting; (5) Correspondence; (6) Publications; (7) Awards; (8) Manuscripts; (9) Photographs.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The records of the Central States Anthropological Society (CSAS) were first compiled, organized, and deposited at the National Anthropological Archives by Barry L. Isaac, secretary-treasurer of CSAS in 1975-76 and first archivist for the society. His organizing scheme was retained when the collection was first processed. Subsequent deposits by Pamela Effrein Sandstrom, the second archivist for CSAS, were organized by president. Many of these files, however, were separated and incorporated into Isaac's organization.  In 2012, in consultation with Sandstrom, the collection was reorganized into the present 9 series. Cancelled checks and bank statement were also removed from the collection. Computer disks were separated due to preservation concerns.  In 2024, accessions 2000-42 and 2015-06 were incorporated into the collection.

Processed by Jill Fri (NAA volunteer) and Pamela Effrein Sandstrom (CSAS archivist)

Encoded by Jocelyn Baltz, June 2012

Revised by Gabrielle Sanchez, July 2024
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: These records document the history and activities of the Central States Anthropological Society. Materials include the constitution and by-laws, presidents' files, correspondence of other officers, secretary-treasurer reports, minutes of annual meetings and executive board meetings, manuscripts on the history of the society, publications, annual meeting programs, and photographs from annual meetings.

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: The records of the American Anthropological Association, the parent association of the Central States Anthropological Society, are held at the National Anthropological Archives.