National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Ted Allan Rathbun papers, 1961-2004

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.2005-08
Creators:
Rathbun, Ted A., 1942-
Dates:
1961-2004
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
26 Linear feet
53 document boxes, 4 record storage boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 folder, 3 computer disks
Repository:
This collection is comprised of the professional papers of Ted Allan Rathbun. The collection documents his career as a forensic anthropologist and educator through correspondence, publications and teaching materials. The collection includes the publications resulting from his research in South Carolina, Egypt, and Glorieta, New Mexico, as well as a small portion of his research data. His other writings that can be found in the collection include his monographs, journal articles, papers presented at conferences, and reviews he wrote for various journals and publications. The collection also includes materials relating to his consulting activities for law enforcement agencies, and military and historical organizations. Additionally, the collection contains materials related to organizations that he was a member of and his syllabi and lecture notes as a professor at the University of South Carolina. The collection also includes Rathbun's course notes when, as a student at the University of Kansas, he studied under William Bass, Ellis Kerley and other notable anthropologists. Among his correspondents were J. Lawrence Angel, Eve Cockburn, Henry Dobyns, Henry Field, T. Dale Stewart, and T. Cuyler Young.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of the professional papers of Ted Allan Rathbun,. The collection documents his career as a forensic anthropologist and educator through correspondence, publications and teaching materials. The collection includes the publications resulting from his research in South Carolina, Egypt, and Glorieta, New Mexico, as well as a small portion of his research data. His other writings that can be found in the collection include his monographs, journal articles, papers presented at conferences, and reviews he wrote for various journals and publications. The collection also includes materials relating to his consulting activities for law enforcement agencies, and military and historical organizations. Additionally, the collection contains materials related to organizations that he was a member of and his syllabi and lecture notes as a professor at the University of South Carolina. The collection also includes Rathbun's course notes when, as a student at the University of Kansas, he studied under William Bass, Ellis Kerley and other notable anthropologists. Among his correspondents were J. Lawrence Angel, Eve Cockburn, Henry Dobyns, Henry Field, T. Dale Stewart, and T. Cuyler Young.
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

Arrangement
Arranged into 10 series: 1) Correspondence (1969-2004); 2) Field Work (1976-1996, 2001); 3) Consulting Work (1974-2004); 4) Research Data (1977-1980); 5) Publications (1963-2001); 6) Grants (1977-1991); 7) Professional Organizations (1981-2000); 8) Grants and Publications Reviews (1974-2000); 9) University of South Carolina (1970-2004); 10) Education (1961-1970)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Ted Allan Rathbun (1942-2012) earned his B.A. (1964), M.A. (1966), and Ph.D. (1971) in anthropology from the University of Kansas, where he studied under anthropologist William M. Bass. He taught English as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran, where he became fluent in Farsi and did research for his doctorate. He conducted research on topics as wide-ranging as population growth in Iran; the physical characteristics of Woodland Indians; Coastal South Carolina paleopathology; growth rates among ancient urban states; shark attacks and human remains; social class and health; the history of African American health; and predynastic cemeteries at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt. Through his South Carolina field work and publications, Rathbun became noted for expanding the knowledge of Afro-American history from the colonial and Civil War times.
Rathbun was also a pioneer in establishing and expanding the use of forensic anthropology technology by law enforcement. He was licensed in South Carolina to assist coroners, law enforcement officials and medical examiners in identifying human remains. He and his students refined a process for the reconstruction of victim's faces, which were then used to assist in their identification. He served as a consulting physical anthropologist to the Charleston County Medical Examiner (1973-93); Deputy State Archaeologist for Forensics (1985-2000); and Consultant to the U.S. Military Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (1990-2003/2004) where he reviewed cases of military (and civilian) remains from the Vietnam, Korea, and WWII eras. He also participated in the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) efforts for identification of the victims of September 11, 2001.
Rathbun taught at the University of South Carolina for 30 years. He was a popular classroom professor and led research field trips with his students. In 1996 he received the Louise Fry Scudder Faculty Award, which recognized him for excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching, student mentoring and advising, and service contributions beyond the university. He retired from full-time teaching in 2000.
Rathbun was also a research associate of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology; director of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology (1985-91); and for 15 years a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences. In 2005, he was honored by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences with the T. Dale Stewart Award — its highest honor in Forensic Anthropology — for his lifetime achievements and contributions to the field.
1942
Born April 11
1964
Married
1964
Earns B.A. from University of Kansas, Honors in Anthropology
1966
Earns M.A. from University of Kansas, Physical Anthropology
1966-1968
Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran
1970
Instructor at the University of South Carolina
1971
Earns PhD. from University of Kansas, (Physical Anthropology of SWAsia, Applied Cultural and Cultural Ecology). Dissertation:
An Analysis of the Physical Characteristics of the Ancient Inhabitants of Hasanlu, Iran
1971-1975
Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina
1975-1984
Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina
1984-2000
Professor at the University of South Carolina
1987-1989
Chairman of the Anthropology Department
1990-1996
Undergraduate Director
1996
Awarded Louise Fry Scudder professorship
1999
Named Distinguished Professor
2000
Named Distinguished Professor Emeritus
2005
Honored by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences with the T. Dale Stewart Award
2012
Passed away on November 14

Administration

Author
Ann R. Hunt
Processing Information
The papers of Ted Allan Rathbun were received well organized and documented. The processing archivist kept most of the existing groupings and arrangement and organized the first deposit into ten series. Folder titles assigned by the archivist are placed within square brackets.
Files received in 2013 were prepared for deposit by Rathbun's colleague Michael Trinkley. Trinkley maintained Rathbun's original organization and folder titles and rehoused the files in archival folders and archival slide sleeves. He photocopied acidic notes on archival paper and transferred Rathbun's electronic files from a variety of CDs and 3.50" floppy disks onto a DVD-R. This accretion was physically added to the end of the collection, but intellectually integrated within the container list. Two series were added to accommodate Rathbun's collection of slides and electronic files.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Dr. Rathbun donated his professional papers to the National Anthropological Archives in 2005. Additional files were donated in 2013 by his wife, Babette Rathbun, after his death.
Separated Materials
Biological specimens found within Series 3. Consulting Work, Subseries: Forensic Cases were transferred to Physical Anthropology Collections, National Museum of Natural History. Videos, also from the forensic case files, were transferred to the Human Studies Film Archives.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use
Conditions Governing Access
Rathbun's forensic case files donated in 2013 are restricted until 2088. Two folders containing student grades have been separated and are restricted until 2055. For preservation reasons, his computer disks have been separated and restricted. Please note that the collection contains images of human remains.
Preferred Citation
Ted Allan Rathbun papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Materials
Rathbun's South Carolina research materials are at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. His other field research data can be found at the Field Museum in Chicago and the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.
His body was donated to the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee and the Physical Anthropology Collections, National Museum of Natural History.

More Information

Selected Bibliography

Selected Bibliography
1972 An Analysis of the Physical Characteristics of the Ancient Inhabitants of Hasanlu, Iran. Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida: Field Research Projects.
1975 A Study of the Physical Characteristics of the Ancient Inhabitants of Kish, Iraq. Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida: Field Research Projects.
1982 (with Mark J. Brooks, Larry Lepionka and John Goldsborough, Jr.) Preliminary Archaeological Investigations at the Callawassie Burial Mound (38BU19), Beaufort County, South Carolina. Columbia., S.C.: Research Manuscript Series 185. S.C. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina
1984 (co-editor with Jane Buikstra). Human Identification: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
South Carolina Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hierakonpolis (Extinct city) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glorieta National Battlefield (N.M.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Forensic anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Biological anthropology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of South Carolina. Department of Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Kansas. Department of Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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