Frances Emma Watkins, born December 27, 1899 and died circa 1987, was an anthropologist specializing in the American Southwest, publishing mostly in the 1930s and 1940s. Watkins was an employee of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian from 1930 to the mid-1950s. This collection, spanning from 1855-1968, includes the manuscripts, personal papers, research notes and publications by Frances E. Watkins, as well as manuscripts, research materials, and publications that she collected. There are extensive materials on Charles Fletcher Lummis and George Wharton James, including correspondence, manuscripts, and clippings both by and about them. This collection also includes travel brochures and publications on California and the Southwest from 1930-1960.

Frances Emma Watkins was born on December 27, 1899 in Denver, Colorado. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Denver in 1929, specializing in archaeology and anthropology. While earning her degree, Watkins participated in a 1928 School of American Research excavation at Jemez, New Mexico under Dr. Edgar L. Hewett. After graduation in 1929, Watkins joined Isabel Kelly and Eva Horner to do field work in a program sponsored by the Laboratory of Anthropology in New Mexico. The group of three women directed an excavation at Tecolote in New Mexico under the tutelage of Dr. Alfred V. Kidder. It was possibly the first excavation directed by an all-female team.

18.0 Linear feet (32 boxes)

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry National Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Autry Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry National Center as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.