Anthropological Fieldwork Online

Anthropological Fieldwork Online is a digitized collection of the fieldwork and ethnographies created by prominent anthropologists, including Mararet Mead, Ruth Benedict, Mary Edith Durham, Raymond Firth, Max Gluckman, Arthur Maurice Hocart, Bronislaw Malinowski, George Hubbard Peppe, Charles and Brenda Seligman, and Victor Turner. Material types include correspondence, photographs, manuscripts of writings and lectures, fieldwork notebooks, photographs, memorabilia, organization files, teaching and office files, and other papers. Many cultural groups are described in these materials, but the greatest number of materials are on Bantu peoples; Indigenous peoples of what is now the American West, including Hopi, Keresan speakers (Keres people), Navajo, Tohono O’odham, Ute-Southern Paiute, and Zuni; and Pacific Islanders, including Fijians, Manus, Papua New Guineans, Samoans, and Solomon Islanders.  

Studying the work of anthropologists of the past can help researchers understand the foundations of the field and critically evaluate the practices that should continue and practices that should be repudiated. Historically, some practices of anthropology and ethnography were connected to racism and colonialism. Many present-day anthropologists instead strive to understand their own position and power, center the voices of community members, and respect community autonomy and knowledge systems. 

This collection may also be cross-searched with other anthropology and ethnography collections in ProQuest One Anthropology.