Anne M. Smith papers

Collection

Identifier: ACCN 2829

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Anne M. Smith papers consist of field notebooks, manuscripts, subject files and tales organized by tribe and region.

Dates

1936-1980

Creator

Smith, Anne M. (Anne Milne), 1900-1981 (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Note

Anne "Nan" Millspaugh Smith (1900-1981) was born in New York City and was educated at Cornell University (B.A., 1922) and Yale University (M.A., 1937; Ph.D., 1940) where she pursued a doctorate in anthropology under the tutelage of Edward Sapir and Leslie Spier. In 1936 and 1937, as part of her studies, she traveled to the Intermountain West where she conducted interviews with the elder members of local Native American Tribes, the Ute of the Uinta and Ouray Reservation in particular. Along with her secondary research--record of which is included in this collection--Dr. Smith's findings from this period form the basis both of her master's thesis, The material Culture of the Northern Ute and her doctoral dissertation, An Analysis of Basin Mythology. In preparation of this work, Dr. Smith compiled the tales she had collected in an unpublished multi-volume manuscript (c.f. boxes twelve and thirteen). In the years that followed, two separate publications would make more widely available the valuable information gathered by Smith in this period: Ethnography of the Northern Utes in 1974 and an abridged collection of myths, Ute Tales in 1992.

After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Smith joined the faculty of the University of New Mexico Field School, staying on as a special lecturer until 1941. In 1939 she married Eastburn Smith. Early in World War II, the couple directed the local War Relocation Authority, but resigned after only a year in protest of the treatment of Japanese internees. From 1957-1960 and from 1962 until her retirement in 1965 Dr. Smith worked as curator at the Museum of New Mexico.

Throughout a varied career both in and outside academia, Dr. Smith's commitment to various causes affecting Native Americans was a constant. In the 1950s, she was an expert witness in the Uinta and Ouray Reservation’s Land Claims lawsuit against the Federal Government. She worked with numerous state and non-profit organizations treating issues that affected New Mexico's Native American populations.

References:

Marilyn Ogilvie and Joy Harvey, eds., The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science (New York: Routledge, 2000), 1201-1202.

Joseph Jorgensen, Forward to Ute Tales, Anne M. Smith and Alden Hayes, Collectors. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992.

Extent

6.25 Linear Feet (13 boxes)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Anne M. Smith papers (1936-1980) primarily stem from material gathered by Dr. Smith in 1936 and 1937 in the course of field work conducted among the Native American peoples of the Great Basin, the Ute Tribe in particular.