S. Ann Dunham papers
name: label: Creator
content: Dunham, S. Ann (Stanley Ann)
place: label: Place
content: Indonesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Women anthropologists
label: Topic
content: Economic anthropology
label: Topic
content: Mothers of presidents -- United States
label: Topic
content: Microfinance
label: Topic
content: Blacksmithing
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the NAA by Ann Dunham's daughter, Maya Soetoro-Ng, in 2011.
creator: label: Creator
content: Dunham, S. Ann (Stanley Ann)
culture: label: Culture
content: Javanese (Indonesian people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: S. Ann Dunham papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The S. Ann Dunham papers, 1965-2013, primarily document her work as an economic anthropologist in Indonesia. The papers include her dissertation research on blacksmithing and materials relating to her professional work as a consultant for organizations like the Ford Foundation and Bank Raykat Indonesia (BRI). Her work included projects on microcredit, women in development, and rural industries. Materials consist of field notebooks, correspondence, reports, research proposals, case studies, surveys, lectures, photographs, research files, and floppy disks.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Chronology

1942 November 29 -- Born in Wichita, Kansas

1961 August 4 -- Son Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. born in Hawaii

1967 -- BA, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii

1967 -- First trip to Indonesia

1970 August 15 -- Daughter Maya Soetoro born in Indonesia

1972-1973 -- Asia Foundation grant

1973-1974 -- Part-time instructor in handicrafts, Bishop Museum, Honolulu

1973-1978 -- East-West Center, Technology and Development Institute grant

1975 -- M.A. in Anthropology, University of Hawaii

1975 -- Went to Indonesia for PhD fieldwork

1979-1980 -- Consultant on international development, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

1981-1984 -- Program Officer for Women and Employment, Ford Foundation Regional Office for Southeast Asia, Jakarta

1986-1987 -- Rural Development Consultant to the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, under the Gujranwala Integrated Rural Development Project (GADP), credit component

1988-1992 -- Research Coordinator and Consultant to the Bank Rakyat Indonesia (under 3 separate contracts funded by the World Bank and USAID in microfinance)

1992 -- PhD, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii

1992-1994 -- Research and Policy Coordinator, Women's World Bank, New York City

1995 November 7 -- Died in Honolulu

Stanley Ann Dunham was an anthropologist who worked primarily in Indonesia conducting research for her PhD in economic anthropology while also building a professional career as an international consultant with various non-governmental organizations. Born in 1942 in Kansas, Dunham attended high school in Mercer Island, WA and moved to Honolulu, HI with her family. She attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she received her BA in 1967, her MA in 1975, and her PhD in 1992, all in anthropology.

Dunham's research and work dealt mostly with Indonesian handicrafts and small non-argricultural rural industries, including the study of economic and technical aspects that were important to enabling and sustaining development and village level microfinance programs.

Her dissertation Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving Against all Odds was completed in 1992. The first half of her dissertation was published posthumously in 2009. 

Dunham is the mother of President Barack Obama.

She died on November 7, 1995 in Honolulu, Hawaii.


(Chronology courtesy of the Ann Dunham Chronology by Ellen Chapman, S. Ann Dunham papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Linear feet ((44 boxes))
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1965-2013
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2011-04
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged in 8 series: Series 1. Field notebooks, 1977-1994; Series 2. Professional, 1974-1994, undated; Series 3. Academic, 1973-1992, undated; Series 4. Personal and biographical, 1965-1994, undated; Series 5. Photographs, 1978-1992, undated; Series 6. Computer files, 1991-2012, undated; Series 7. Reference and research, circa 1969-2012, undated; Series 8. Collected materials about S. Ann Dunham, 1972-2013, undated.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Prior to their arrival at the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) in 2011, the S. Ann Dunham papers were provisionally processed by Bronwen Solyom, a librarian at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and friend of Ann Dunham's, with the help of volunteers. Solyom re-housed and labeled the majority of the materials in archival folders and sorted, re-housed, and labeled photographs and negatives in mylar sleeves. Solyom had proof sheets printed for some of the negatives and slides. A preliminary arrangement was determined during this phase of processing as, other than the field notebooks, the materials had very little intrinsic order created by Dunham.

Upon arrival at the NAA, the archivist re-boxed all the material, re-housed slides, some photographs, and oversized items, removed plastic bindings and deconstructed the spiral notebooks, removed and copied post it notes, removed rusty fasteners, and interleaved newspaper clippings and other highly acidic materials. The existing folder description was edited for consistency and dates were determined and added to the description where necessary. The series delineations and order determined by Solyom were minimally rearranged and streamlined by the NAA archivist. Many of the series notes in this collection were written based on information provided by Solyom.

Processed and encoded by Katie Duvall, 2016
bibliography: label: Selected Bibliography
content: 1980.  -- Women's work in village industries on Java.

1992.  -- Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: surviving against all odds -- .

with Alice G. Dewey and Nancy I. Cooper. 2009.  -- Surviving against the odds: village industry in Indonesia -- . Durham [NC]: Duke University Press.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The S. Ann Dunham papers, 1965-2013, primarily document her work as an economic anthropologist in Indonesia. The papers include her dissertation research on blacksmithing and materials relating to her professional work as a consultant for organizations like the Ford Foundation and Bank Raykat Indonesia (BRI). Her work included projects on microcredit, women in development, and rural industries. Materials consist of field notebooks, correspondence, reports, research proposals, case studies, surveys, lectures, photographs, research files, and floppy disks.

The field notebooks are mostly written in English, but also contain a mixture of Indonesian and Javanese, and include notes from her years of fieldwork in central Java, work-related travel, experiences as a consultant, and notes on readings. 

The bulk of the professional materials relate to Dunham's work at the Ford Foundation as Program Officer for Women and Employment in Jakarta from 1981-1984. Her work with the Provincial Development Program in the Indonesian Department of Industries, a consultancy in Pakistan, at Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), and at Women's World Banking are represented to a lesser degree.  

Academic materials primarily deal with Dunham's work toward her PhD, including her comprehensive exams and her dissertation. 

The personal and biographical materials include limited material regarding her son, President Barack Obama, and a comprehensive collection of her resumes and qualifications.

The bulk of the photographs relate to Dunham's early field research for dissertation, and subsequently her work as a consultant. 

Materials related to Dunham's computer files from 1991-1995 includes floppy disks, inventories, copies of floppy disks on CDs with content lists, and printouts of selected documents. They include final versions of her dissertation and files relating to her work with Women's World Banking and DAI (Development Alternatives Incorporated). The floppy disks and CD-roms are unavailable for research. The printed inventories, content lists, and documents are available.  

The reference and research materials were collected by Dunham over the course of her career and studies. A bibliography of the majority of the reference and research materials is filed with the materials.

The collected materials about S. Ann Dunham comprise files posthumously collected by Bronwen Solyom about Dunham and her legacy. These include academic files, publication files, biographical material, and files relating to the recognition of Dunham and her work.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Objects have been transferred to the Anthropology Collections department. For more information please contact the department at 301.238.1340.