Joan M. Gero records of the "Women and Production in Prehistory" Conference
name: label: Creator
content: Gero, Joan M.
label: Creator
content: Conkey, Margaret Wright, 1944-
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
label: Topic
content: Feminism
label: Topic
content: South America
label: Topic
content: Sex discrimination
label: Topic
content: Gender identity
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropolgoical Archives by Joan M. Gero in December 2015.
creator: label: Creator
content: Gero, Joan M.
label: Creator
content: Conkey, Margaret Wright, 1944-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Joan M. Gero records of the "Women and Production in Prehistory" Conference
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Joan M. Gero papers of the "Women and Production in Prehistory" Conference primarily document the work of Joan M. Gero (archaeologist known for her work in feminist, socio-political, and Andean archaeology) and co-organizer, Margaret W. Conkey, to organize the "Women and Production in Prehistory" Conference that took place April 5-9, 1988 at The Wedge Plantation in South Carolina (sometimes referred to as the "Wedge Conference"). The collection comprises Joan Gero's documentation pertaining to the conference, as well as it's promotion and publication in the seminal volume Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory. The collection consists of grant proposals and reports, program and participant information, photographs of the conference, audiotape recordings of papers presented, conference publicity and press clippings, correspondence between Gero and co-organizer Margaret W. Conkey, correspondence with Blackwell Publishers about the publication and royalties, and reviews of Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Joan Margaret Gero (1944-2016) was an American archaeologist and co-organizer, with Margaret W. Conkey, of the "Women and Production in Prehistory" Conference that took place April 5-9, 1988 at The Wedge Plantation in South Carolina (sometimes referred to as the "Wedge Conference"). The conference was, according to Gero (personal correspondence, 2015), "the first archaeological conference in the United States convened specifically to discuss women's roles in prehistory." The resulting book, Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory, was the first to consider women's roles in prehistory. It was re-printed six times, and has had a major impact on the archaeological field. 

Gero was a specialist in feminist archaeology, the socio-politics of archaeology, the ethics of archaeological practice, global and community archaeology, and Andean prehistory. She was perhaps best known for her foundational work to create a field of gender archaeology alongside Margaret Conkey, Janet Spectre, Alison Wylie and others. 

Gero was born in New York City in 1944. She completed her B.A. in English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, her M.A. in Elementary Education from Boston College in 1970, and her degrees in Anthropology (M.A. in 1977 and Ph.D. in 1983) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. 

During her career, Gero held professorships at the University of South Carolina (Assistant, 1984-1990, Associate 1990-1997) and American University (Associate 1998-2007; Emerita 2008-2016). She also held visiting professorships at the University of Cambridge (1991 and 2004-5), the Universidad Nacional del Centro de Buenos Aires, Olvarria in Argentina (1992), the Universidad Nacional de Catamarca in Argentina (1994), the University of Umeå and Uppsala in Sweden (1997), and was a Research Associate with Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) (1996-2016). 

Most of Gero's fieldwork was carried out in Argentina and Peru. Gero served from 1994-2004 as co-director (with M.C. Scottolin) of Proyecto Cajón, including Excavations at Yutopian, Valle del Cajón, and Provincia Catamarca. She conducted formative work for those excavations at Valle del Cajón in 1992 and 1993. From 1985 to 1989 Gero was Director of the Callejón de Huaylas Archaeological Project (northcentral Peruvian highlands). Prior to that, Gero was a lithics analyst for the Huaricoto Project in Callejón de Huaylas, Peru (1978-1979), and a crew member on the Harvard Moche Valley/Chan Chan Project in north coastal Peru (1973). Her first fieldwork was in Hampshire, England as a crew member on an Iron Age/Roman Excavation. She also served as crew chief for a field school in the Connecticut River Valley (Massachusetts. 1976), co-director for a field school at Mulberry Mound (Camden, South Carolina, 1985), and research assistant to Smithsonian Maritime Archaic excavations in Labrador (1971 and 1983). 

Gero was Head Series Editor for the One World Archaeology book series, and served on the advisory board for Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress.

Gero was an active member of a number of professional organizations, including the World Archaeological Congress, where she was senior North American representative from 1999-2008, and member of a Standing Committee on Ethics from 2007 to her death in 2016.

Gero received a number of awards and honors during her career. In 2013, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Archaeology Congress. In 2007, the American Anthropological Association presented Gero with the "Squeaky Wheel" Award for her work affecting change for women in archaeology. In 2016 the World Archaeological Congress created the Joan Gero Book Award in her honor.

The conference that this collection pertains to was planned with funds from two successful grants Gero wrote with Margaret Conkey. The first was from the National Science Foundation. The second was from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Both were entitled "Women's Production in Prehistory: An International Conference" and received in April 1988.

Gero was married to Stephen Loring, an Archaeologist in the NMNH's Department of Anthropology and Arctic Studies Center.

Chronology

1944 May 26 -- Gero born in New York City

1968 -- Gero receives B.A. in English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania

1970 -- Gero receives M.Ed. in Elementary Education at Boston College

1977 -- Gero receives M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst

1983 -- Gero receives Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts-Amhearst

1988 April 5-9 -- Women and Production in Prehistory Conference

1991 -- Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory published

2016 July 14 -- Joan M. Gero dies in Washington, D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.42 Linear feet (2 boxes)
label: Extent
content: 50 Negatives (photographic) (1 folder)
label: Extent
content: 26 Photographic prints (1 folder)
label: Extent
content: 14 Cassette tapes (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1987-2001
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2016-05
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Type
content: Photographic prints
label: Type
content: Cassette tapes
label: Type
content: Manuscripts
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Positives (photographs)
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The materials are largely arranged in the original order in which they were received. A chronological order was imposed on a few correspondence files, and a few original folders were split or renamed due to preservation or access considerations.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was donated by Joan M. Gero in 2015. Gero described and organized her collection before it was transferred to the National Anthropological Archives. For the most part, her original organization has been maintained, although a number of folders were split or renamed for research clarity or preservation purposes. The collection was processed (October 2019) and encoded (January 2020) by Diana E. Marsh.
bibliography: label: Selected Bibliography
content: Gero, Joan M. "Gender Bias in Archaeology: A Cross-Cultural Perspective." In  -- The Socio-Politics of Archaeology -- , edited by Joan M Gero, David M. Lacy and Michael L. Blakey, 51-57. Amhearst, MA: University of Massachusetts, 1983.

 Gero, Joan M. "Socio-Politics and the Woman-at-Home Ideology."  -- American Antiquity -- 50, no. 2 (1985): 342-350.

Gero, Joan M., and Margaret W. Conkey, eds.  -- Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory. --  Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1991.

Gero, Joan M. "Feasts and Females: Gender Ideology and Political Meals in the Andes."  -- Norwegian Archaeological Review --  25, no. 1 (1992): 15-30.

Gero, Joan M. "The Social World of Prehistoric Facts: Gender and Power in Paleoindian Research." In   -- Women in Archaeology: A Feminist Critique -- , edited by Hilary du Cros and Laurajane Smith. Canberra: Australian National University, 1993.

Gero, Joan M. "Archaeological Practice and Gendered Encounters with Field Data." In   -- Gender and Archaeology -- , edited by Rita P. Wright, 251-80. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.

Conkey, Margaret W., and Joan M. Gero. "Programme to Practice: Gender and Feminism in Archaeology"  -- Annual Review of Anthropology --  26, no. 1 (1997): 411-437.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Manuscripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Positives (photographs)
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1900-2000 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Color negatives -- Acetate film
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection comprises Joan Gero's documentation pertaining to the "Women and Production in Prehistory Conference," also known as the "Wedge conference," as well as it's promotion and publication in the seminal volume Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory. The collection consists of grant proposals and reports, program and participant information, photographs of the conference, audiotape recordings of papers presented, conference publicity and press clippings, correspondence between Gero and co-organizer Margaret W. Conkey, correspondence with Blackwell Publishers about the publication and royalties, and reviews of Engendering Archaeology: Women and prehistory.