Scope and Contents

Strong's papers include correspondence, field notes, diaries, newspaper clippings, teaching notes and student papers, manuscripts of his writings, writings by other authors, papers from the various organizations in which he served, maps, and a considerable number of photographs from his field work. The materials date from 1902 to 1965, with most of the materials being from 1927 to 1955.

Strong's papers reflect his professional life, but there is little personal material. Except for the Rawson-MacMillan Labrador Expedition, there is little information from Strong's years at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Other than information on field work expenses, there is little light shed on Strong's personal financial situation. There is no personal correspondence with either of his wives and little correspondence with family members, except for his brother, Ronald. Some correspondence from the late 1930s to the early 1940s is not present and its whereabouts is not known. Of special interest is a collection of drawings by Naskapi Indian children collected while Strong was on the Labrador expedition in 1928. Strong collected obituaries, vitae, news articles, and writings on and by other anthropologists. He was an inveterate doodler, and his fascinating creations appear throughout the papers.

Strong also collected materials from other researchers, including Loren Eiseley's 1931 field notes from the Morrill Expedition, Maurice Kirby's 1932 notes on the Signal Butte excavations, notes and drawings from the 1936 Honduras expedition by Alfred V. Kidder II, and the field notebooks kept by Clifford Evans for the 1946 Virú Valley expedition in Peru. Contributed photographs from field expeditions are from A.T. Hill, Waldo Wedel, and John Champe.

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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in 12 series: (1) Miscellaneous personal papers, 1914-1963; (2) Correspondence, 1922-1965; (3) Materials relating to field work, 1921-1963; (4) Miscellaneous research notes, 1917-1960, most undated; (5) Maps and charts, 1902-1949; (6) Drawings by Naskapi Indians and Eskimos, 1910, 1928; (7) Manuscripts of writings, 1922-1962, undated; (8) Writings by other authors, 1902-1961; (9) Papers relating to organizations, 1926-1961; (10) Teaching materials and course work, 1909, 1928-1961; (11) Miscellany, 1902-1961, most undated; (12) Photographs, 1913-1950.

Biographical Note

William Duncan Strong (1899-1962) was a major figure in American anthropology. His accomplishments were as a field worker in archaeology and ethnology, archaeological theorist, writer, and teacher. He was, furthermore, a leader in anthropological organizations. In 1954, his position in the field was recognized by the award of the Viking Fund Medal for his contributions to archaeology.

William Duncan Strong's early interest was in zoology, but, while an undergraduate at the University of California, he was brought into anthropology under the influence of Alfred Louis Kroeber. He conducted archaeological and ethnological field research in several areas of the New World, including Labrador, southern California, Honduras, and Peru. Strong was the first professionally trained archaeologist to focus on the Great Plains, and it was there that he applied the so-called direct historical method, working from known history in interpreting archaeological sites. His work in all these areas are represented by notebooks, diaries, specimen catalogues, maps, and photographs.

Strong spent the majority of his professional life affiliated with various universities and taught many anthropologists who became influential in their own right. His students included Loren Eiseley, Waldo R. Wedel, Joseph Jablow, Oscar Lewis, John Landgraf, Dorothy Keur, David Stout, Charles Wagley, Eleanor Leacock, John Champe, Albert C. Spaulding, Victor Barnouw, John M. Corbett, Walter Fairservis, and Richard B. Woodbury. Strong preserved the student papers by some of these anthropologists as well as their correspondence with him.

Strong influenced American anthropology by his service in professional societies. He served as president of the American Ethnological Society, the Institute of Andean Research, and the Society for American Archaeology. He was the director of the Ethnogeographic Board (his journal from his tenure as director is in the papers) and chairman of the Committee on Basic Needs of American Archaeology. In this latter capacity, Strong was involved in establishing a program to salvage archaeological sites before they were destroyed by public works. Strong served as the anthropological consultant to the Bureau of Indian Affairs during Franklin Roosevelt's administration and advised on new directions to be taken in Indian Service policy.

Strong died suddenly on January 29, 1962.

For a complete bibliography of Strong's works, see Solecki, Ralph, and Charles Wagley. "William Duncan Strong, 1899-1962," 65, no. 5 (October 1963): 1102-1111. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1963.65.5.02a00080

Related Materials

Additional materials in the National Anthropological Archives relating to William Duncan Strong can be found in the records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Handbook of South American Indians, Institute of Social Anthropology, River Basin Surveys, the Society for American Archaeology, and Tulamniu Project (1933-1934); the papers of Ralph Leon Beals, John Peabody Harrington, Frederick Johnson, Frank Maryl Setzler, Ruth Schlossberg Landes, Albert Clanton Spaulding (including information on the Arzberger site), and Waldo Rudolph and Mildred Mott Wedel; Photographic Lot 14, Bureau of American Ethnology Subject and Geographic File; Photographic Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology-United States National Museum Photographs of American Indians; Photographic Lot 77-80, Portraits of Smithsonian Anthropologists; Photographic Lot 92-35, Ralph S. Solecki Photographs of Anthropologists; Numbered Collections, MS 4821 (records of the Anthropological Society of Washington), MS 4261 (photographs made on a site survey in the Santa Barbara Mountains, California, 1934), MS 4302 (journal covering the 1936 expedition to Honduras), MS 4846 (correspondence between BAE authors and the BAE editor's office), and MS 7200 (original field catalog of Honduran artifacts, 1936); and in the non-archival reference file. There are also materials in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in record units 87 (Ethnogeographic Board), 9528 (Henry Bascom Collins interviews), and 1050102 (papers of T. Wayland Vaughan). In the Human Studies Film Archives there is material on Strong in the video dialogues of Charles Wagley, 1983.