Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel papers
name: label: Creator
content: Rosman, Abraham
label: Creator
content: Rubel, Paula
place: label: Place
content: Papua New Guinea
label: Place
content: Oceania
label: Place
content: New Ireland Island (Papua New Guinea)
label: Place
content: Middle East
label: Place
content: Iran
label: Place
content: Afghanistan
label: Place
content: North America
label: Place
content: Nigeria
label: Place
content: Africa, West
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
label: Topic
content: Kinship
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Abraham Rosman in 2019.
creator: label: Creator
content: Rosman, Abraham
label: Creator
content: Rubel, Paula
culture: label: Culture
content: Northwest Coast
label: Culture
content: Kalmyks
label: Culture
content: Kanuri (African people)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel were professors of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University.  The collection consists of materials documenting their research, writing, and teaching, and reflects their interests in ritualized exchange systems, kinship, social organization, and material culture.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Abraham Rosman was born in New York City in 1930. He earned his BA in anthropology from City College (1959) and PhD in anthropology from Yale (1962).  His dissertation "Social Structure and Acculturation among the Kanuri of Northern Nigeria" was based on fieldwork conducted in 1956-1957.  He was appointed Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University in 1962. He was a full professor at Barnard College from 1972 until his retirement in 1998.

Paula G. Rubel was born in The Bronx, New York in 1933.  She earned her BA in psychology from Hunter College (1953) and her PhD in anthropology from Columbia University (1963).  Her dissertation was based on fieldwork among an immigrant community of Russian Kalmyk Mongols in New Jersey.  She was part of the faculty of Barnard College from 1965 until her retirement in 1989, becoming a full professor in 1974.

Rosman and Rubel were married 1971.  They worked together throughout their careers, focusing their research on comparative studies and structural analysis of ritual exchange, kinship relations, power, social hierarchies, religion, and material culture.  They studied kinship and exchange along the Pacific Northwest Coast, among pastoral groups in Iran and Afghanistan, and in New Guinea and New Ireland. They also studied ethnographic objects, tribal art, and the social world of museums, collectors, and dealers.  Their partnership was collaborative, alternating first authorship with each publication.  They were the authors of numerous monographs including 
Feasting with Mine Enemy: Rank and Exchange among Northwest Coast Societies (1971), Your Own Pigs You May Not Eat: A Comparative Study of New Guinea Societies (1978), The Tapestry of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (1981), and Collecting Tribal Art: How Northwest Coast Masks and Eastern Island Lizard Men Became Art (2012).

Rubel died in 2018 and Rosman died in 2020.  Their final book, Aliens on Our Shores: An Anthropological History of New Ireland Papua New Guinea 1616-1914, was published posthumously in 2021.

Sources Consulted

Sharp, Lesley A. "Paula G. Rubel (1922-2018)." American Anthropologist. 121.2 (2019): 540-542.

Sharp, Lesley A. and Maxine Weisgrau. "Abraham Rosman (1930-2020)." American Anthropologist. 123.1 (2020): 205-207. 

Abraham Rosman

1930 -- Born in New York City

1951 -- Marries Bernice Lieberman

1952 -- BA in anthropology from City College

1962 -- PhD in anthropology from Yale University Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

1966  -- Associate Professor of Anthropology, Barnard college, Columbia University

1971 -- Divorces Bernice Rosman Marries Paula G. Rubel

1972 -- Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College, Columbia University

1998 -- Retires

2020 -- Dies

Paula G. Rubel

1933 -- Born Paula Glicksman in The Bronx, New York

1953 -- BA in pyschology from Hunter College

1954 -- Marries Hewitt Rubel

1963 -- PhD in anthropology from Columbia University 

1965 -- Lecturer, Barnard College, Columbia University

1966 -- Assistant Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University

1971 -- Divorces Hewitt Rubel Marries Abraham Rosman

1974 -- Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University

1998 -- Retires

2012-2014 -- President, Association of Senior Anthropologists

2018 -- Dies
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 10.5 Linear feet (24 boxes, 1 folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1956-2004
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2018-02
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into three series: (1) Fieldwork and research, 1952-2004; (2) Conference papers, 1970-1995; and (3) Teaching, circa 1980-circa 1990.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Original file order, titles, and spellings have been maintained when possible. Some files have been consolidated to simplify arrangement and remove duplicates. 

Processed and encoded by Gabrielle Sanchez, September 2022.
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Rubel, Paula G. 1967.  -- The Kalmyk Mongols: A Study in Continuity and Change -- . Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

1971.  -- Feasting with Mine Enemy: Rank and Exchange among Northwest Coast Societies -- . New York: Columbia University Press.

1981.  -- The Tapestry of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. -- . Glenview, IL.: Scott Foresman.

1978.  --  Your Own Pigs You May Not Eat: A Comparative Study of New Guinea Societies -- . Canberra: Australian National University Press.

2003. eds.  -- Translating Cultures: Perspectives on Translation in Anthropology -- .  New York: Berg Publishers.

2012.  --  Collecting Tribal Art: How Northwest Coast Masks and Eastern Island Lizard Men Became Art -- .  West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing.

 2021.  -- Aliens on Our Shores : An Anthropological History of New Ireland Papua New Guinea: 1616-1914 -- . Pasadena California: Development Resources Press.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of materials documenting Rosman and Rubel's research, writing, and teaching, and reflects their interests in ritualized exchange systems, kinship, social organization, and material culture. The bulk of the collection documents their fieldwork and research among the Kanuri of Nigeria, Kalmyk Mongols in New Jersey, Northwest Coast and Athabaskan societies, pastoral nomads of Iran and Afghanistan, peoples of New Guinea and New Ireland, as well as research on art, ethnographic objects, museums, and collecting.  The collection includes field notes, historical and archival research and notes, bibliographies, correspondence, writings, maps, photographs, and sound recordings.

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.