Scope and Contents

The records concern Julian Steward's semiautonomous project attached to the Bureau of American Ethnology to produce a multivolume reference work (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143). The material consists mainly of administrative and reference documents, correspondence, reports, proposals, and manuscripts of writings. Some manuscripts are in a form other than that which was published. The overwhelming bulk of illustrations used in the Handbook has not been located.

Correspondents and authors include Ackerknecht, Erwin H. ; Anelim, John E. ; d'Aloja, Ada ; Altieri, Radames A. ; Aparicio, Francisco de ; Baldus, Herbert ; Barbero, Andres ; Barnett, Homer Garner 1908- ; Beals, Ralph Leon 1901-1985 ; Beers, Howard W. ; Belaieff, Ivan ; Benedict, Ruth, 1887-1948 ; Bennett, Wendell Clark ; Bertoni, Guillermo Tell ; Bird, Junius Bouton ; Buoncristiani, John J. ; Byers, Douglas Swain ; Canals Frau, Salvador ; Casanova, Eduardo ; Chapman, Oscar L. ; Collier, Charles W. ; Cooper, John Montgomery Fr 1881-1949 ; Eggan, Fred Russell ; FarfÃ"an, JosÃ"e M. B. ; Fejos, Paul ; Foster, George McClelland Jr ; Frenguelli, Joaquin ; Gamio, Manuel ; Garcia Valdes, Pedro ; Garro, J. Eugenio ; Gaudia, Enrique de ; Gifford, Edward Winslow ; Gilmore, Raymond M. ; Gillin, John Philip ; Goldman, Irving, 1911-2002 ; Griffin, James Bennett ; Hallowell, Alfred Irving ; Heizer, Robert Fleming 1915-1979 ; Henckel, Karl Otto ; Hernandez de Alba, Gregorio ; Herskovits, Melville J. 1895-1963 (Melville Jean), ; Herzog, George ; Hilger, Marie Inez, Sister 1891-1977 ; Hoijer, Harry ; Horton, Donald ; Hostos, Adolfo de ; Howard, George D. ; Imbelloni, Jose ; Johnson, Frederick, 1904-1994 ; Kirchhoff, Paul ; Kroeber, A. L. 1876-1960 (Alfred Louis), ; Kubler, George ; La Barre, Weston, 1911-1996 ; Larco Hoyle, Rafael ; Lauriault, Edwin H. ; Leap, M. L. ; Lehmann, Henri ; Leighly, John ; Levi-Strauss, Claude ; Lipkind, William 1904-1974 ; Lothrop, S. K. 1892-1965 (Samuel Kirkland), ; Lowie, Robert Harry ; Maes, Ernest E. ; Marques Miranda, Fernando ; Mason, John Alden, 1885-1967 ; McCown, Theodore Doney ; Means, Philip Ainsworth ; Meggers, Betty Jane ; Metraux, Alfred ; Mishkin, Bernard ; Moe, Henry Allen, 1894-1975 ; Murdock, George Peter, 1897-1985 ; Murra, John V. 1916- (John Victor), ; Nimuendaju, Curt ; OºNeale, Lila Morris ; Ortiz, Sergio Elias ; Osgood, Cornelius ; Park, Willard Z. ; Provinse, John H. ; Redfield, Robert ; Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo de ; Richardson, Frederick L.W. ; Rivet, Paul ; Rockefeller, Nelson A. ; Rouse, Irving ; Rowe, John Howland ; Sauer, Carl O. ; Scott, Donald ; Spier, Leslie ; Steedman, Elsie V. ; Steggerda, Morris ; Stewart, T. D. 1901-1997 (Thomas Dale), ; Stirling, Matthew Williams, 1896-1975 ; Stone, Doris ; Stout, David Bond ; Strong, William Duncan, 1899-1962 ; Tello, Julio C. ; Tschopik, Harry S. Jr. ; Vaillant, George Clapp ; Valcercel, Luis E. ; Wagley, Charles, 1913- ; Wheeler-Voegelin, Erminie, 1903-1988 ; White, Leslie Alvin ; Weitzner, Bella ; Collier, Donald ; Collier, John ; Herzog, Ernesto.

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 into 3 series: (1) Administrative and reference file, 1934-1947; (2) correspondence, 1939-1947; (3) manuscripts of writings, early 1940s.

Historical Note

The Handbook of South American Indians is the product of efforts of the National Research Council Division of Anthropology and Psychology. In 1934, the Smithsonian Institution was urged to sponsor the project which was formally edited by Baron Erland Nordenskiöld until his death. Unsuccessful funding hindered the Smithsonian from going forward with the project until 1940 when the funds from the Department of State's Interdepartmental Committee were finally approved. However, during 1938-1939 the Smithsonian went through with a program.

Julian H. Steward, the director of the Institute for Social Anthropology, was designated the Handbook's editor in 1939. During 1940 through 1941, Robert H. Lowie and Alfred Métraux came to help with the Handbook, along with Gordon R. Willey. The project also attracted the attention and participation of many experts from the United States, Latin America, and Europe.

In 1946, most of the Handbook was completed with the exception of a few parts of the six-volume project.