James Faris (1936 – present) is an American cultural anthropologist and epistemologist who received his PhD from Cambridge University in 1966. He conducted fieldwork in the fishing settlement of Cat Harbour, Newfoundland, among the Nuba of Southeastern Kordofan in the Sudan, and among the Navajo in the American Southwest. His research specializations include cognitive anthropology, art and aesthetics, ritual, social organization and reproduction, anthropological linguistics, and visual anthropology and critical theory and representation. The James Faris Papers, 1960-2014, primarily document his fieldwork with the Nuba peoples of Southeastern Sudan. His papers also include materials related to representation of the Nuba peoples and various controversies in visual anthropology and documentary film that related to Leni Riefenstahl and her filmmaking among the Nuba. During the 1960s Faris was drawn into activism against the Vietnam War while at the University of Connecticut and his papers contain ephemeral materials on radical anthropology and racism from that period. The collection consists of field notes, correspondence, photographs, sound recordings, films (including scripts and transcriptions), videos, book and papers drafts, and news and magazine clippings.

Photographs taken by Melville J. Herskovits during his trips with his wife, Frances Shapiro Herskovits, to Surinam (1928-29); Dahomey, now Republic of Benin (1931); Haiti (1934); and Brazil (1941-42). From 1928 to 1943 Melville Herskovits and his wife, Frances Herskovits (nee Shapiro) traveled together throughout West Africa and the Americas to collect evidence of the legacy of African culture. The contributions of Frances Herskovits to her husband's research were fully recognized in an exhibition held by the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, from April 2-August 9, 1998. Entitled, "Living Tradition in Africa & the America: The Legacy of Melville J. and Frances S. Herskovits," the brochure noted, "On each trip, Frances was a full partner in the research...Until Melville's death in 1963, they worked together on the analysis of their data and the writing of books and articles; and after he died, she edited a collection of his papers."

The collection documents George Eaton Simpson's fieldwork in Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Nigeria and consists of 704 unique images. The 1936 images of Haiti were primarily made at Milot, Fort Liberté, and Cap Haitien. The 1937 images were predominantly taken in Plaisance, Haiti; these include images of people, buildings, houses, street views, co...

Notes include statements from Moroccan informants about the existence, location, physical and cultural characteristics of and superstitions about the pygmies. The handwritten notes include some statements by Moroccan and European informants that are not included in the typescript. Letters include: Haliburton to Max Muller, August 8, 1891, summarizi...

Photographic images taken by Hector R. Acebes from 1949 to 1953 throughout many countries to include Mali, Tanzania and Morocco.

Materials in this record unit were donated to the Archives by Lucile Quarry Mann and the National Zoological Park between 1977 and 1988. During 1980 and 1981, Lucile Mann narrated the 16mm motion picture on audiotape with scripts by Pamela M. Henson, Oral Historian. In 1985, the motion picture was transferred to a 3/4" videotape and the t...

This collection consists of approximately 6,479 postcards collected by Charles C. Tylander. The postcards represent many national and international airlines including Adria Airways (Germany/Slovenia); Aer Lingus (Ireland); Aeroflot (Russia); Aeromexico (Mexico); AeroPeru (Peru); Aero Trasporti Italiani (ATI) (Italy); Air Afrique (France); Air Alger...

This accession consists mostly of drafts, lists, notes, correspondence, and data compiled during the preparation and publication of Alexander Wetmore's The Birds of the Republic of Panama, Part 4. Also included are 35 mm color slides taken on trips to Panama, 1955, and Rhodesia, 1957.

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

The papers comprise materials relating to Conrad Kottak's research in Madagascar among the Betsileo people, 1966-1967. Included are village data, questionnaires, and a copy of Kottak's resulting monograph The Past in the Present: History, Ecology, and Cultural variation in Highland Madagascar.