Papers of Roy A. Rappaport, an ethnographic anthropologist whose area of specialization was the religious ritual of the Tsembaga people of the Maring speaking region in Papua New Guinea. The Rappaport Papers represent the research and materials generated from his fieldwork with the Tsembaga Maring of the Simbai Valley during two field trips (1962-1963 and 1981-1982). Rappaport's first field trip was in conjunction with Columbia University for his dissertation, and the second trip served as a follow-up study. Rappaport's research was concerned with the means by which ritual mediates the relationships of a congregation, or population, to entities external to itself. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, and local Papua New Guinea officials; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic data collected in field notebooks; typescript summaries; diaries; photographs and audiorecordings. The papers span the period 1961 to 1985, with the bulk dates of 1962 -1982. The papers are arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE; 2) FIELD NOTES, 1962-1963; 3) FIELD NOTES, 1981-1982; 4) WRITINGS; 5) TEACHING MATERIAL; 6) PHOTOGRAPHS; and, 7) AUDIORECORDINGS.

Roy A. (Skip) Rappaport was born in New York City on March 25, 1926. Rappaport earned his B.S. in hotel administration from Cornell University (1949) and his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University (1966).

13.50 linear feet (32 archives boxes, 5 card file boxes and 3 oversize folders)

Master reel-to-reel and cassette audio-tapes in Series 7 are restricted. Researchers must request a listening copy to be produced.