American Ethnological Society records
name: label: Correspondent
content: Eggan, Fred, 1906-1991
label: Correspondent
content: Ewbank, Thomas, 1792-1870
label: Correspondent
content: Fischell, A.
label: Correspondent
content: French, Kathrine S. (Kathrine Story), 1922-2006
label: Correspondent
content: Aginsky, Bernard W. (Bernard Willard), 1905-
label: Correspondent
content: Driver, Harold E. (Harold Edson), 1907-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Dwight, Theodore F.
label: Correspondent
content: Goodenough, Ward Hunt
label: Correspondent
content: Gould, Charles N.
label: Correspondent
content: Beals, Ralph L. (Ralph Leon), 1901-1985
label: Correspondent
content: Fried, Morton H. (Morton Herbert), 1923-1986
label: Correspondent
content: Friedl, Ernestine, 1920-2015
label: Correspondent
content: Garfield, Viola Edmundson, 1899-1983
label: Correspondent
content: Goldfrank, Esther Schiff
label: Correspondent
content: Squier, E. G. (Ephraim George), 1821-1888
label: Correspondent
content: Turner, William W. (William Wadden), 1810-1859
label: Correspondent
content: Swadesh, Morris, 1909-1967
label: Creator
content: American Ethnological Society
label: Correspondent
content: Woodbury, Natalie Ferris Sampson
label: Anthropologist
content: Thompson, Laura, 1905-2000
label: Correspondent
content: Nelson, William Nelson
label: Correspondent
content: Nelson, N. C. (Nels Christian), 1875-1964
label: Correspondent
content: Ray, Verne F. (Verne Frederick), 1905-2003
label: Correspondent
content: Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews, 1874-1941
label: Correspondent
content: Steward, Julian Haynes, 1902-1972
label: Correspondent
content: Rouse, Irving, 1913-2006
label: Correspondent
content: Boas, Franz, 1858-1942
label: Correspondent
content: Rhodes, Willard, 1901-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960
label: Correspondent
content: Smith, Marian W. (Marian Wesley), 1907-1961
label: Correspondent
content: Service, Elman R. (Elman Rogers), 1915-1996
label: Correspondent
content: Hoebel, E. Adamson (Edward Adamson), 1906-1993
label: Correspondent
content: James, Alice G.
label: Correspondent
content: Keur, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Louise), 1904-1989
label: Correspondent
content: Lesser, Alexander, 1902-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Macgowan, D. I.
label: Correspondent
content: McClellan, Catharine
label: Correspondent
content: Murdock, George Peter, 1897-1985
label: Correspondent
content: Benedict, Ruth, 1887-1948
label: Correspondent
content: Buckley, S. B.
label: Correspondent
content: Bunnell, F. H.
label: Correspondent
content: Codere, Helen F., 1917-2009
label: Correspondent
content: Collier, Donald, 1911-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Dole, Gertrude Evelyn, 1915-2001
label: Correspondent
content: Gulick, William H.
label: Names
content: Indian Personality, Education and Administration Research Project
label: Names
content: Saint Mary's University (Halifax, N.S.). Institute of Human Values
label: Names
content: United States. Office of Indian Affairs
place: label: Place
content: Fiji
label: Place
content: Iceland
label: Place
content: Guam
label: Place
content: Germany
topic: label: Topic
content: Professional associations
label: Topic
content: Anthropology
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The treasurer's records dating from 1916 to 1924 were transferred to the archives by the American Museum of Natural History. All other records came to the archives from the American Ethnological Society.
creator: label: Correspondent
content: Eggan, Fred, 1906-1991
label: Correspondent
content: Ewbank, Thomas, 1792-1870
label: Correspondent
content: Fischell, A.
label: Correspondent
content: French, Kathrine S. (Kathrine Story), 1922-2006
label: Correspondent
content: Aginsky, Bernard W. (Bernard Willard), 1905-
label: Correspondent
content: Driver, Harold E. (Harold Edson), 1907-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Dwight, Theodore F.
label: Correspondent
content: Goodenough, Ward Hunt
label: Correspondent
content: Gould, Charles N.
label: Correspondent
content: Beals, Ralph L. (Ralph Leon), 1901-1985
label: Correspondent
content: Fried, Morton H. (Morton Herbert), 1923-1986
label: Correspondent
content: Friedl, Ernestine, 1920-2015
label: Correspondent
content: Garfield, Viola Edmundson, 1899-1983
label: Correspondent
content: Goldfrank, Esther Schiff
label: Correspondent
content: Squier, E. G. (Ephraim George), 1821-1888
label: Correspondent
content: Turner, William W. (William Wadden), 1810-1859
label: Correspondent
content: Swadesh, Morris, 1909-1967
label: Creator
content: American Ethnological Society
label: Correspondent
content: Woodbury, Natalie Ferris Sampson
label: Anthropologist
content: Thompson, Laura, 1905-2000
label: Correspondent
content: Nelson, William Nelson
label: Correspondent
content: Nelson, N. C. (Nels Christian), 1875-1964
label: Correspondent
content: Ray, Verne F. (Verne Frederick), 1905-2003
label: Correspondent
content: Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews, 1874-1941
label: Correspondent
content: Steward, Julian Haynes, 1902-1972
label: Correspondent
content: Rouse, Irving, 1913-2006
label: Correspondent
content: Boas, Franz, 1858-1942
label: Correspondent
content: Rhodes, Willard, 1901-1992
label: Correspondent
content: Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960
label: Correspondent
content: Smith, Marian W. (Marian Wesley), 1907-1961
label: Correspondent
content: Service, Elman R. (Elman Rogers), 1915-1996
label: Correspondent
content: Hoebel, E. Adamson (Edward Adamson), 1906-1993
label: Correspondent
content: James, Alice G.
label: Correspondent
content: Keur, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Louise), 1904-1989
label: Correspondent
content: Lesser, Alexander, 1902-1982
label: Correspondent
content: Macgowan, D. I.
label: Correspondent
content: McClellan, Catharine
label: Correspondent
content: Murdock, George Peter, 1897-1985
label: Correspondent
content: Benedict, Ruth, 1887-1948
label: Correspondent
content: Buckley, S. B.
label: Correspondent
content: Bunnell, F. H.
label: Correspondent
content: Codere, Helen F., 1917-2009
label: Correspondent
content: Collier, Donald, 1911-1995
label: Correspondent
content: Dole, Gertrude Evelyn, 1915-2001
label: Correspondent
content: Gulick, William H.
setName: label: See more items in
content: American Ethnological Society records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records of the American Ethnological Society (AES) document its activities from its founding in 1842 through the mid-1960s. The American Ethnological Society is the oldest anthropological association in America. It has been interested in publishing and promoting study of different cultures in the Americas from its founding in 1842 to the present. Materials include correspondence, reports, and financial records relating to the administrative functions of the organization.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Later accruals, containing the records of treasurers Elise Clews Parsons and N.C. Nelson (1916-1924) and editors Michael Herzfeld (1988-1990), Carol Greenhouse (1998-2002) and perhaps also Virginina Dominguez (2003-2007), are unprocessed.

Further accruals are expected.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: The American Ethnological Society is the oldest anthropological association in America. It has been interested in publishing and promoting study of different cultures in the Americas from its founding in 1842 to the present.

The American Ethnological Society was founded in 1842 by Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and founder of New York University. Early members were doctors, lawyers, businessmen and included Henry Schoolcraft, William Prescott and Theodore Dwight. Meetings were usually held at the home of the President and accounts of missionaries and explorers, who were "corresponding" members, were read. Local papers frequently covered these meetings. The Society published three periodicals in its early years including Transactions which first appeared in 1845. Interest in the Society declined after the Civil War. In 1906 a group of professional anthropologists led by Franz Boas joined the Society and reorganized it, adding the Office of Editor. Since then, the Society has been very active and has had a strong publications program, beginning with a linguistic series begun by Franz Boas. The Society holds annual meetings, usually in the spring at which prominent anthropologists present their findings. In addition to Franz Boas, the Society has included among its members such famous anthropologists as Ruth Benedict, E. Adamson Hoebel, Margaret Mead and Ward Goodenough.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 73 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1834-1964
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2007-11
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The material is arranged in the following series: (1) Early records, 1834-1886; (2) AES Meetings, 1910-1964; (3) Reports of the officers, 1925-1964; (4) Election records: Officer lists, constitutions, and amendments, 1917-1959; (5) Office correspondence, 1924-1956; (6) Membership records, 1862-1960; (6) Publication records, 1934-1962; (7) Financial records, 1902-1962; (8) Miscellany, 1860-1957.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection compiled by John Posniak and Jane Sessa, 1975-1976.

Updated by Patricia Penon, 2004.

Encoded by Rihoko Ueno, December 2011.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The records of the American Ethnological Society (AES) document its activities from its founding in 1842 through the mid-1960s.

The early years of the AES (1840s to 1880) are documented through correspondence, newspaper clippings, and proceedings. The bulk of the collection relates to the administrative functions of the AES from its reorganization in 1906 through 1965 including changes to the constitution and the elections of officers. The offices of Secretary-Treasurer and Editor are well documented through correspondence and reports. There is also a significant amount of correspondence to and from members, financial records, and information on the AES‟ interactions with other organizations such as the American Anthropological Association and the New York Academy of Sciences.

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.