Archives West Finding Aid
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Robert Anderson papers, 1940-1990
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Anderson, Robert, 1914-1989
- Title
- Robert Anderson papers
- Dates
- 1940-1990 (inclusive)19401990
- Quantity
- 3.5 linear feet
- Collection Number
- MS 0573
- Summary
- The Robert Anderson papers (1940-1990) contain correspondence, notebooks, research notes, maps, articles, news clippings, and manuscript drafts related to the life and work of this University of Utah Professor of Anthropology. Dr. Anderson's early research files concern the Cheyenne Indians. His later interest in psychiatry and anthropological theory culminated in the publication of his textbook The Cultural Context in 1976.
- Repository
-
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860
Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu - Access Restrictions
-
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.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Robert Anderson was born on 17 February 1914, in Bessemer, Michigan. Growing up in Marquette, Anderson worked part-time for the Marquette Mining Journal, reporting for the daily newspaper on Saturday and over summer vacations during high school. Following graduation from Northern Michigan College in 1937, Anderson taught high school for two years and was commencing graduate work in anthropology when the Second World War began.
Anderson was drafted in 1942, and the Army took advantage of his journalism and writing experience by assigning him to the Stauffer survey of American soldiers in Alaska, a project which yielded the multi-volume The American Soldier. Anderson also edited The News, the newsletter of the Percy Jones Hospital Center at Ft. Custer, Michigan.
After his discharge from the Army in 1945, Anderson went back to school, receiving his M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1947, a year that also saw his marriage to Alma Fassett. Anderson continued his graduate work at Columbia University, but returned to Michigan in 1948 to study under noted anthropologist Leslie White. In 1951, after extensive research that yielded a dissertation on the Cheyenne Indians, Anderson received his Ph.D. in anthropology.
Anderson began his career as a college professor in 1951 at Florida State University. Three years later he accepted the post of Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, where he would serve for the next thirty five years. In 1956, Anderson was made Associate Professor, and in 1963 he achieved the rank of Professor of Anthropology. In 1960, Anderson began lecturing in psychiatry, becoming an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry in 1970. In 1976, Anderson published a textbook, The Cultural Context: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, noted for a mature approach in an introductory work. Having built a reputation as an excellent lecturer and erudite scholar, he received the first College of Social and Behavioral Science Superior Teaching Award in 1980.
After a distinguished career, Robert Anderson retired from the University of Utah on 1 July 1989. He died on 17 August 1989.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Robert Anderson papers (1940-1990) are a valuable resource for the student of anthropology, especially as that discipline relates to Indians of the North American Plains. The seven boxes that constitute the collection contain Anderson's research, a selection of his published works, and correspondence that concerns his career as an anthropologist and university professor. The materials filed in boxes one and two relate to Anderson's study of the Cheyenne culture as it appeared in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Included are the notebooks, correspondence, and writings that resulted in Anderson's dissertation, A Study of Cheyenne Culture History, With Special Reference to the Northern Cheyenne. The focus of box three is The Cultural Context, the anthropology textbook authored by Anderson. A copy of the book is included, as well as publishing and copyright materials, related correspondence, and various drafts and typescripts. General correspondence is filed in boxes four and five and illuminates Anderson's career from the late 1940s to late 1980s. Boxes six and seven hold miscellaneous materials.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on 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.
Preferred Citation
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Gift of Alma Anderson in 1990.
Processing Note
Processed by Ian Craig Breaden in 1990.
Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.
Separated Materials
Photographs (P0342) and audiovisual material (A0448) have been tranferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Research Files and ManuscriptReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Volume | ||
| 1 | 1-2 | Notebook |
1952 |
| Folder | |||
| 1 | 1 | Notes
Some notes are in shorthand.
|
|
| 1 | 2 | Buffalo Ceremony |
|
| 1 | 3 | Interviews |
|
| 1 | 4 |
The Yellowstone News
Article describing a contemporary Medicine Lodge ceremony.
|
1952 |
| Volume | |||
| 2 | 1 | Notebook, Cheyenne Indians |
1949 |
| Folder | |||
| 2 | 1 | Thematic Apperception Tests, Cheyenne Children |
|
| 2 | 2 | "Distribution of Indian Ceremonial Rattles North of the Rio Grande" |
|
| 2 | 3 | "Distribution of some Tupes of Indian Rattles in Middle and South America" |
|
| 2 | 4 | Interview, Dan Old Bull
Contains a typescript of a three-hour conversation between Dan Old Bull and John Stands In Timber which took place near the Sun Dance encampment west of Lame Deer, Montana. Dan Old Bull recalls his childhood when the Cheyenne still lived in the old ways. He describes an attack on his village by the U.S. Army in conjunction with Crows, Pawnees, Shoshones, and Utes. Other topics covered include the creation of reservations and the enlistment of various people as army scouts. Old Bull also relates his genealogy (14 pages).
|
|
| 2 | 5 | Interview, John Sandcrane
John Sandcrane (1871-1950), Keeper of the Sacred Buffalo Hat of the Northern Cheyenne, relates "The Story of Custer Made Mistake by Indian Law Over at Southern Cheyennes" to his grandson, Edward Sandcrane (6 pages). He also relates "The Life of Medicine Man Made by John Sandrane who Keep the Sacred Head for Cheyennes," in which he discusses the beginnings of the Cheyenne and their relationship to Sweet Medicine (7 pages).
|
1950 |
| 2 | 6 | Correspondence |
1949-1979 |
| 2 | 7 | Lame Deer, Montana |
1950s-1960s |
| 3 |
The Cultural Context
This box contains correspondence, typescript drafts, and other materials related to the introductory text written by Robert Anderson.
|
1971-1977 |
CorrespondenceReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | |||
| 4 | Correspondence |
1948-1967 | |
| Folder | |||
| 5 | 1 | Notes of Appreciation |
|
| 5 | 2-4 | General Correspondence |
|
| 5 | 5 | David Kaplan |
|
| 5 | 6 | Robert Carneiro |
|
| 5 | 7 | Jack Kelso |
|
| 5 | 8 | Students |
|
Subject FilesReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 6 | 1 | Olivia de Havilland |
|
| 6 | 2 | Map, Alaska |
|
| 6 | 3 |
The News
Newsletter of the Percy James Hospital.
|
1945 |
| 6 | 4-5 | Surveys, Alaska Soldiers |
1944 |
| 6 | 6 | Talks and Interviews
Contains correspondence, notes, summaries, and pamphlets related to talks given by Anderson. Complete transcripts include "Anthropology and Archaeology," "Marriage Customs Around the World," "Social and Economic Aspects of Northern Cheyenne Ceremonialism," and "What We Can Learn from Studying Primitive Societies."
|
1950s |
| 6 | 7 | Aesthetics, Art in Anthropology |
1960s-1980s |
| 6 | 8 | Marshall Sahlins |
CareerReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 7 | 1 | Papers and Articles |
|
| 7 | 2 | Transcripts and Grants |
|
| 7 | 3 | Vitae Material |
|
| 7 | 4 | Appointments, Promotions, and Pay |
|
| 7 | 5-6 | AAA-NSF Visiting Lecturer Program |
1961-1963 |
| 7 | 7 | University of Colorado Materials |
|
| 7 | 8 | Biographical Information and Obituaries |
1989-1990 |
| 7 | 9 | Correspondence, Navajo Tribal Council |
1971 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Cheyenne Indians
- Ethnology
Personal Names
- Anderson, Robert, 1914-1989--Archives
Corporate Names
- University of Utah--Faculty
Form or Genre Terms
- Correspondence
- Drafts (documents)
- Notes (documents)
Finding aid created by Ian Craig Breaden.
1990 (last modified: 2019)
