Object Details
- Local Numbers
- Accession #1976-95
- Creator
- Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961
- Collection Creator
- Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961
- Topic
- Language and languages -- Documentation
- Linguistics
- Phonetics
- Names, Geographical
- Ethnology
- Creator
- Harrington, John Peabody, 1884-1961
- Culture
- Indians of North America
- Indians of Central America
- Indians of South America
- See more items in
- John Peabody Harrington papers
- Extent
- 29.79 Linear feet (89 boxes)
- Date
- 1907-1957, undated
- Archival Repository
- National Anthropological Archives
- Identifier
- NAA.1976-95, Series 8
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- John Peabody Harrington papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
- The preferred citation for the Harrington Papers will reference the actual location within the collection, i.e. Box 172, Alaska/Northwest Coast, Papers of John Peabody Harrington, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. However, as the NAA understands the need to cite phrases or vocabulary on specific pages, a citation referencing the microfilmed papers is acceptable. Please note that the page numbering of the PDF version of the Harrington microfilm does not directly correlate to the analog microfilm frame numbers. If it is necessary to cite the microfilmed papers, please refer to the specific page number of the PDF version, as in: Papers of John Peabody Harrington, Microfilm: MF 7, R34 page 42.
- Arrangement
- Series is arranged into 20 subseries: (1) Supplemental material on Alaska/Northwest Coast; (2) Supplemental material on Northern and Central California; (3) Supplemental material on Southern California/Basin; (4) Supplemental material on the Southwest; (5) Supplemental material on the Plains; (6) Supplemental material on the Northeast/Southeast; (7) Supplemental material on Mexico/Central America/South America; (8) Miscellaneous linguistic and ethnographic notes; (9) Linguistic questionnaires; (10) Bibliographic and library-related materials; (11) Memoranda prepared in response to letters of inquiry; (12) Records relating to non-American languages; (13) Records relating to Arabic origins of Spanish words; (14) Records relating to personal names; (15) Records relating to state names, province names, and other geographical names; (16) Records relating to the Siberian origin of the American Indian; (17) Records relating to lectures; (18) Records relating to phonetics; (19) Miscellaneous writings on various linguistic topics; (20) Major writings on linguistics.
- Rights
- Contact the repository for terms of use.
- Existence and Location of Copies
- Microfilm and digital surrogates of microfilm are available. See volume 8 microfilm reels and subseries catalog records.
- Scope and Contents
- The arrangement of material in this section forms the basis for Vol. 8 of the microfilmed papers. The reel numbers of corresponding microfilm are listed where appropriate. This series within the John Peabody Harrington papers represent the results of the linguistic studies which John P. Harrington conducted before, during, and after his employment at the Bureau of American Ethnology (1915 -1954). There are various materials which supplement the field notes described in the other series of his papers. The files, which are arranged by tribe or language, usually consist of only a few pages, although those for several of the California groups are more extensive. The highly miscellaneous linguistic and ethnographic notes consist of a large, unorganized block of notes, containing little or no original field data, and notes on grammatical terminology and anthropometrics. The subseries "Linguistic Questionnaires" contains many of the semantically arranged lists which he used to elicit linguistic and ethnographic information in the field. The bibliographic records indicate a variety of the secondary sources which he used in his work. Filed immediately after these materials is a set of notes which Harrington used in preparing responses to inquiries which were sent to the Bureau of American Ethnology. The responsibility of handling a portion of the bureau's reference correspondence was a major aspect of his job as ethnologist during the periods when he was not conducting fieldwork. Many of the remaining subseries reflect the diversity of topics Harrington explored during his fifty-year career in linguistics. Some studies, such as those on state names or on the origin of the American Indian, were related to his interest in American Indian languages. Others grew, perhaps, from his early training in classical and Indo-Germanic languages and philology. There are files on the etymologies of personal names, on the Arabic origin of Spanish words, and on numerous world languages. The last four subseries represent Harrington's attempts to synthesize his research and field experiences. There are notes for lectures he gave at a number of summer-school sessions from around 1910 to 1915 and records which reveal a life-long attempt to develop a standard phonetic alphabet. The files on miscellaneous writings contain drafts for over one hundred short papers on a wide variety of linguistic subjects. The final set of records, "Major Writings on Linguistics," comprises notes, drafts, and illustrative materials for a magnum opus on language, the study of which Harrington believed would provide the "masterkey to man."
- Restrictions
- No restrictions on access.
- Record ID
- ebl-1626971434170-1626971435065-3
