Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Spier, Leslie, 1893-1961
- Abstract:
- Material documenting Spier's work as an anthropologist, primarily relating to American Indians. Includes correspondence on his research on Indian cradles; comparative notes on ethnography; field notebooks, mainly on the Plains and Klamath Indians; and material relating to Salish Indian weaving. Also includes research conducted for his book Growth of Japanese Children Born in America and Japan and course materials for a class he taught on California Basin Plateau Indians.
- Extent:
- 3.3 linear feet 6 boxes, 1 carton
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Leslie Spier papers, BANC MSS 79/7 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Material documenting Spier's work as an anthropologist, primarily relating to American Indians. Includes correspondence on his research on Indian cradles; comparative notes on ethnography; field notebooks, mainly on the Plains and Klamath Indians; and material relating to Salish Indian weaving. Also includes research conducted for his book Growth of Japanese Children Born in America and Japan and course materials for a class he taught on California Basin Plateau Indians.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Leslie Spier, anthropologist, was born on December 13, 1893, in New York City where he grew up, graduating with an engineering degree from the College of the City of New York in 1915. After meeting Franz Boas, however, he went on to obtain a doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University in 1920. While still a graduate student he was named Assistant Anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, a position he retained until 1920, when he came to Berkeley as lecturer and acting curator in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California.
Spier's first field trip, during his stay with the American Museum, took him to the Southwest, an area he was to explore in much greater depth during ensuing years. He also assisted in intensive field studies of the Plains Indian tribes, analyzing and summarizing the data of all the field workers.
Upon leaving California where he stayed only one year, Spier went on to the Universities of Washington, Oklahoma, and Chicago and then to Yale, resigning from Yale in 1939 to accept a professorship at the University of New Mexico. After his retirement in 1955 he returned to Berkeley in 1960 as a research associate. He died of a heart attack on December 3, 1961.
Spier wrote numerous carefully organized monographs, meticulously documented by extensive field trips. He also served as editor for many important anthropological publications.
- Acquisition information:
- The Leslie Spier papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Professor Robert F. G. Spier on July 19, 1978.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Leslie Spier papers, BANC MSS 79/7 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481