Scope and Contents
This collection reflects the work of an anthropologist in Micronesia during 1952-1954. The U.S. Government employed Alfred F. Whiting as a staff anthropologist in the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific, Ponape District. His field notes, papers, photographs, and correspondence make up this collection. Marjorie Grant Whiting contributed to part of the collection including the linguistics texts and photograph file.
Diaries contain a daily record of events and mostly concern professional matters. Correspondence inlcudes official reports, answers to questions of persons in the government of the Trust Territory, and summaries of economic conditions of the islands. Some of the letters are personal letters and contain information about Whiting's work. Most frequent correspondents are Homer Barnett and Saul Riesenberg.
Note cards in the subject file are indexed by subject. Historical data is mostly information, which is quoted. Original research and data gathering inlcudes lists of persons and their roles, social arrangements, material culture and census data. Miscellaneous notes represent field notes and first drafts of reports.
Special files were created by Whiting about Nan Matol, and ancient burial place, and the diary of a young man in school in Ponape.
Hand drawn and traced maps show the physical features and social aspects of the island. Location of houses, land ownership, historic structres and other man-made features are shown on the maps. Maps are drawn on tracing paper and krasft paper and measure as large as 42 inches by 100 inches. Diagrams show family relationships and other social aspects.
Processed material contains Ponapean and English language items. Newsletters, government reports, and linguistic material are included. Whiting began a Ponapean language newletter while he was in Ponape, and several copies are in the collection.
Mrs. Whiting compiled the photograph collection, in two sections. The subject index of photographs is filed by subject. Reference is made to the print and negative file by number of film and exposure. The second part of the collection is the photograph file. It contains contact prints and negatives, which are filed in chronological order of exposure. Negatives are filed behind the prints which are numbered to provide access from the subject file of photographs. Photographs were taken of geographic features, social situations, and material culture.
The final part is a collection of books in Japanese about Micronesia.
