National Anthropological Archives

Ralph S. Solecki photographs of Anthropologists, 1922-circa 1980

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.PhotoLot.92-35
Creators:
Solecki, Ralph S.
Dates:
1922-circa 1980
Languages:
Multiple languages
.
Physical Description:
24 Prints
silver gelatin
7 Negatives
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Photographs include informal and formal portraits and candid images of anthropologists, including William Duncan Strong, Waldo Wedel, Carlyle Smith, Philip Smith, A.T. Hill, Rose Solecki, Robert Stigler, Ruth Bunzel, George Metcalf, and others. Some of the photographs were taken by archaeologist Ralph S. Solecki (1917-2019), but others are not. Handwritten labels on the back of most photographs indicate the photographer and the subjects.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Some photographs are grouped together in a file, following original order. The collection is then arranged chronologically by date of the photograph or first photograph within a file.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Stefan Ralph Solecki (1917-2019) was born on October 15th, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Newtown High School in 1936, he attended the City College of New York from 1936-1941 and received a B.S. in Geology in 1942. Solecki then served in the US Army and fought in World War II. He was discharged in 1945. In 1946, Solecki enrolled at Columbia University to study Anthropology, and he received a M.A. degree in 1950. During this time, Solecki worked for the River Basin Surveys at the Smithsonian Institution. He also accompanied a geological survey to northern Alaska in 1949 (and later in 1961). In 1951, he became an associate curator of archaeology at the Smithsonian Institution. In that same year, he traveled to Iraq to survey prehistoric sites and began Season I of excavation at Shanidar Cave. Solecki then received a Fulbright fellowship to return to Iraq in 1953-1954 to continue excavations at Shanidar Cave (Season II) and conduct research at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. In 1955, he married Rose M. Lilien (b. 1925). From 1956-1957, both Ralph and Rose Solecki travelled to Iraq, where Ralph conducted a third season of excavation at Shanidar Cave and Rose excavated the nearby Zawi Chemi Shanidar village site. In 1958, he received his PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University and accepted a faculty position within the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. In 1960, the Soleckis returned for a fourth and final field season of excavation at Shanidar Cave and Zawi Chemi Shanidar, where they were accompanied by Smithsonian Institution curator of Physical Anthropology, T. Dale Stewart. Following the final two seasons of excavation at Shanidar Cave, Solecki led a number of Columbia University expeditions to various locations around the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He also spent three seasons (1963-1964, 1981, 1987) surveying and excavating the site of Yabroud in Syria and three field seasons excavating the sites of Nahr Ibrahim (1969, 1970, 1973) and El Masloukh (1969) in Lebanon. Ralph and Rose Solecki both held positions at Columbia University until Ralph's retirement in 1988. In 1990, Ralph and Rose served as adjunct professors at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. In 2000, they left Texas A&M University and moved to South Orange, New Jersey. Ralph Solecki died in Livingston, New Jersey on March 20, 2019.

Administration

Author
Sarah Ganderup and Molly Kamph
Custodial History
Donated by Ralph S. Solecki, 1992.
Processing Information
The collection was initially processed and described by Sarah Ganderup in 2012.
In December 2022, Molly Kamph added photographs separated from the Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki papers and updated the collection's finding aid including the collection-level descriptive notes and adding file-level descriptions.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Photo Lot 92-35, Ralph S. Solecki photographs of Anthropologists, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.

Related Materials
The National Anthropological Archives holds the Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki papers, Ruth Leah Bunzel papers, William Duncan Strong papers, the Waldo Wedel and Mildred Mott Wedel papers, the Carleton Stevens Coon papers, and several collections created by or featuring Frank H. H. Roberts, Alfred Kroeber, James A. Ford, and A.T. Hill.
The National Museum of the American Indian holds the Marshall Saville photograph collection.

More Information

Local Call Number(s)

Local Call Number(s)
NAA Photo Lot 92-35


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bunzel, Ruth Leah, 1898-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stigler, Robert, 1921- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Strong, William Duncan, 1899-1962 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Columbia University Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Solecki, Rose L. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wedel, Waldo R. (Waldo Rudolph), 1908-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saville, Marshall H. (Marshall Howard), 1867-1935 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ford, James Alfred, 1911-1968 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coon, Carleton S. (Carleton Stevens), 1904-1981 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maranjian, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Roberts, Frank H. H. (Frank Harold Hanna), 1897-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Smith, Philip Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
naa@si.edu