"The Art of West African Strip-Woven Cloth" video and slides
1 Video recording ((12:25 min.) (VHS) , sound, color)
Photographs taken by Gavin Ashworth during the summer of 1987 in several villages in Mali and Cote d'Ivoire. The images detail all phases of strip weaving, from the spinning of yarn to the assemblage of the individual strips into large pieces. The still photographs were used in the video which was entitled, Patterns of Life: West-African Strip Weaving Traditions, produced by Caribiner, Inc. for the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1987. Text accompanying videos for sale reads, "In many areas of West Africa, fabric is woven in long narrow strips. The strips are cut to length and then sewn together to make rectangular cloths with striking geometric patterns. These beautiful cloths are worn as wrappers, shawls, and robes. Originally a slide presentation for an exhibition, the Art of West African Strip-Woven Cloth explores the creative activities of the various artisans involved in textile production: spinners, dyers, weavers, and sewers."
Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel papers
Rubel, Paula
Abraham Rosman and Paula G. Rubel were professors of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University. The collection consists of materials documenting their research, writing, and teaching, and reflects their interests in ritualized exchange systems, kinship, social organization, and material culture.
Historic maps of Africa collection
The Historic Maps of Africa collection includes 78 maps and dates from circa 1631 to 1973. Geographic content of individual maps varies from topographical information, boundaries of colonial territories, and ethnic groups, among other topics. While several depict the continent of Africa in its entirety, many focus on specific countries and geographic regions. There are a particularly large number of maps depicting the West African Coast.
Sugar Plant Hunting by Airplane in New Guinea
Brandes, E. W. (Elmer Walker)), b. 1891
Peck, Richard K.
116 Photographs (Lantern slides)
Edited film made by the United States Department of Agriculture during an expedition to locate disease resistant varieties of sugar cane in the Territory of Papua and Mandated Territory of New Guinea. Footage was shot during 57 flights in what was ostensibly the first European exploration of sites in the interior …
Stephen Grant postcards
6,859 Postcards (color, 10 x 15 cm. or smaller)
Picture postcards collected by Stephen Grant, Education Official, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while serving in Africa.
Homer Garner Barnett Papers
The Homer Garner Barnett papers, 1934-1973, consist of papers, photographs, slides, maps, and periodicals primarily documenting his ethnological work among American Indians, Palauans, and the people of Netherlands New Guinea (Irian Jaya).
Stephen Grant postcards
James B. Watson papers
Watson, James B. (James Bennett), 1918-2009
bulk 1933-1987
47 Sound recordings
This collection contains the professional papers of cultural anthropologist James B. Watson, and documents his fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, Brazil, and Del Norte, Co., as well as his teaching career at the University of Washington. Included are field notes, lecture notes, correspondence, maps, photographs, books, articles, journals, grant proposals, surveys, data punch cards, conference materials, and sound recordings.
West African photographs
169 Photographic prints (dupe prints (2 v.), black & white, 8 x 10 in. )
169 Photographic prints ((1 album), black & white, 14 x 20 cm. or smaller.)
Photographs of West Africa, mostly from Lagos and coastal Nigeria, 1877-1895. There are high quality pictures of trading houses and residences in Lagos, often with the name of the owners given in the caption. One of the buildings depicted is the cathedral. Several exceptional images portray chiefs, such as the King of Opobo, and the wives of the King of Opobo, the Balogun of Epe, the Alake of Abeokuta, and the chief of New Calabar. Of greatest interest is a photograph entitled "Benin Gods" which shows figures from the Kingdom of Brass, taken in circa 1877/1878. There are also views of Cape Coast, Elmina, Accra, Wydah, Fernando Poo, Porto Novo, Grand Popo, and one from Liberia. The themes range from architecture to dances and weddings. Of particular interest are two depictions of fancy dress.
Amelia Earhart Project Recordings
Long, Elgen Marion, 1927-
This donation consists of 156 separate interviews or sound sources collected by Elgen Long while he was researching and writing his book, Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved which promotes the theory that Amelia Earhart's aircraft came to rest at the bottom of the ocean near Howland Island.
This collection is in English.
