May Mandelbaum Edel papers
name: label: Creator
content: Edel, May M. (May Mandelbaum), 1909-1964
label: Creator
content: Edel, Abraham, 1908-2007
label: Names
content: Benedict, Ruth, 1887-1948
label: Names
content: Boas, Franz, 1858-1942
place: label: Place
content: Uganda
label: Place
content: Brownsville (New York, N.Y.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Language and languages -- Documentation
label: Topic
content: Northern Bullom language
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by May Mandelbaum Edel's daughter, Deborah Edel, in 2005.
creator: label: Creator
content: Edel, May M. (May Mandelbaum), 1909-1964
label: Creator
content: Edel, Abraham, 1908-2007
culture: label: Culture
content: Jews
label: Culture
content: Indians of North America -- Plateau
label: Culture
content: Chiga (African people)
label: Culture
content: Okanagan
label: Culture
content: Kru (African people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: May Mandelbaum Edel papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: May Mandelbaum Edel (1909-1964) taught anthropology at Brooklyn College and the New School for Social Research, and founded the Anthropology Department at Rutgers University in 1960. She conducted fieldwork in Washington; Oregon; Uganda; and Brownsville, New York. The collection consists of field notes, lecture notes, language notes, manuscripts, books, correspondence, teaching materials, conference files, and personal papers. Included are lecture notes taken from courses with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, and extensive field notes for her work with the Okanagan Indians in Washington, the Bachiga (Bakiga) in Uganda, and Jewish families in Brownsville, New York.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: May Mandelbaum Edel was born on December 1, 1909 in New York. As a student at Barnard College, she took graduate anthropology classes at Columbia University under Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict. She continued her graduate studies at Columbia University and was awarded her Ph.D. in 1940. Her first fieldwork experience was with the Okanagan in 1930, and in the following year she conducted linguistic research among the Tillamook. As a fellow of the National Research Council, she traveled to Western Uganda in 1932 and stayed in the village of Bufuka (with the Bachiga people) where she did ethnographic work. In 1934 she married philosopher Abraham Edel, whom she would later collaborate with on the book Anthropology and Ethics.  She taught anthropology at Brooklyn College and at the New School for Social Research, and in 1960, founded the Anthropology Department at Rutgers University. May Mandelbaum Edel passed away on May 23, 1964 at the age of 54.

Chronology

1909 -- Born on December 1 in New York

1929 -- B.A. from Barnard College

1930 -- Field research in Washington among the Okanagan

1931 -- Field research in Oregon among the Tillamook

1932 -- Field research among the Chiga in Uganda

1934 -- Married Abraham Edel

1940 -- Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University

1947 -- Field research among Jewish families in Brownsville, New York

1956 -- Professor, New School for Social Research

1960 -- Founded the Anthropology Department at Rutgers University

1964 -- Died of illness on May 23
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.58 Linear feet (5 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1928-1996
label: Date
content: bulk 1928-1964
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2005-27
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Manuscripts
label: Type
content: Lecture notes
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Field notes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged in 7 series: 

Series 1: Research, circa 1930s - circa 1960s; 
Series 2: Writings, 1933-1995; 
Series 3: Writings By Others circa 1920s-1966; 
Series 4: Personal Files, circa 1950s-1967; 
Series 5: Student Files, 1928-1935; 
Series 6: Correspondence, 1932-1996, undated; 
Series 7: Professional Files, 1929-1963;
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed and encoded by Adam Fielding, 2014
bibliography: label: Selected Bibliography
content: 1934  co-editor and translator with Ernest Kalibala. Customs of the Baganda. By Sir Apolo Kagwa. New York: Columbia University Press.

1937  The Bachiga of East Africa.  -- In --  Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples. Margaret Mead, ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

1939  with Walter Cline, Rachel S. Commons, Richard H. Post, and L.V.W. Walters. The Sinkaitk or Southern Okanagon of Washington. Leslie Spier, ed. General Series in Anthropology No. 6. Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Co.

1939  The Tillamook Languages. Monograph of the International Journal of American Linguistics. 10(1). New York: J. J. Augustin.

1953  The Story of People: Anthropology for Young People. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

1955  The Story of Our Ancestors. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

1957  The Chiga of Western Uganda. New York: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.

1959  with Abraham Edel. Anthropology and Ethics. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas.

1965  African Tribalism: Some Reflections on Uganda. Political Science Quarterly 80: 357-372.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Manuscripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Lecture notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Field notes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of May Mandelbaum Edel document her student and professional career as an anthropologist. The collection consists of field notes, lecture notes, language notes, manuscripts, books, correspondence, teaching materials, conference files, and personal papers. Some of Edel's lecture notes reflect courses taken with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict. The language notes include vocabulary lists, and are for Bullom, and possibly Salish and Tillamook. There are also extensive field notes for her work with the Okanagan in Washington, the Chiga in Uganda, and Jewish families in Brownsville, New York. Writings include annotated drafts of manuscripts on the Chiga of Uganda as well as an annotated draft of her book The Story of People. Correspondence includes letters from Franz Boas and Ernest B. Kalibala. Also included is correspondence for Abraham Edel regarding Edel's published works and the donation of her papers.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Bullom and Kru materials complement three tape recordings, apparently of these same individuals, and said to have been "collected by Franz Boas," that are deposited in the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University.