Amelia Susman Schultz Papers

Mss.Ms.Coll.171

Date: 1917-1978 | Size: 4.75 Linear feet

Abstract

The Amelia Susman Schultz Papers primarily contain original ethnographic fieldwork and related research at Round Valley Indian Reservation in California conducted during the late 1930s, especially with Konkow Maidu, Wailaki and Nomlaki Wintu people, and between 1948 and 1950 in Brienz, Switzerland. The papers include field notebooks, printed materials, research notes, one audio tape, draft manuscripts, sketch maps, and correspondence.

Background note

Amelia Susman L. Schultz (1915-2021) was an anthropologist and linguist. She was Franz Boas' last surviving student.

Scope and content

Series I contains: original field notebooks produced in and around Brienz, Switzerland; correspondence from the time, some in German; derived ethnographic notes; various printed materials relating to the village, collected between around 1948 and 1950; a 7-inch reel-to-reel tape recording phonology and texts of the Brienzerdeutsch variety; and research toward several articles, some unpublished, of ethnographies of Brienz.

Series II contains: original field notebooks at the Round Valley Indian Reservation, California; derived ethnographic notes; and notes and correspondence relating to the collection of secondary sources toward Susman Schultz's PhD thesis and other briefer articles. The thesis on acculturation and settler contact at Round Valley was initially intended to be published in 1940 as part of Ralph Linton's edited volume "Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes", but was not able to be published due to fear of libel for unspecified reasons. It was later revised and published in 1976. Research from both periods is reflected here.

Series III contains a small volume of correspondence, printed ephemera and surveys to nursing home in Washington, relating to genetic counseling, especially Huntington's Disease.

Digital objects note

This collection contains digital materials that are available in the APS Digital Library. Links to these materials are provided with context in the inventory of this finding aid. A general listing of digital objects may also be found here.

Collection Information

Indexing Terms


Subject(s)

  • Anthropology -- United States.
  • California Indians
  • German language
  • Indians of North America -- California -- History
  • Linguistics
  • Maidu Indians
  • Medicine
  • Science -- History -- 20th century.
  • Wailaki people
  • Whites -- Relations with Indians
  • Yuki people

Collection overview

  Box 1-3, 8-11

This series contains: original field notebooks produced in and around Brienz, Switzerland; correspondence from the time, some in German; derived ethnographic notes; various printed materials relating to the village, collected between around 1948 and 1950; a 7-inch reel-to-reel tape recording phonology and texts of the Brienzerdeutsch variety; and research toward several articles, some unpublished, of ethnographies of Brienz.

  Box 4-6, 10

This series contains: original field notebooks at the Round Valley Indian Reservation, California; derived ethnographic notes; and notes and correspondence relating to the collection of secondary sources toward Susman Schultz's PhD thesis and other briefer articles. The thesis on acculturation and settler contact at Round Valley was initially intended to be published in 1940 as part of Ralph Linton's edited volume "Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes", but was not able to be published due to fear of libel for unspecified reasons. It was later revised and published in 1976. Research from both periods is reflected here.

An index to "Notes on full sheets" and "Notes on half sheets" is the file "Bibliography". Other files within this series may also be described within that file.

  Box 7

This series contains a small volume of correspondence, printed ephemera and surveys to nursing home in Washington, relating to genetic counseling, especially Huntington's Disease.



Detailed Inventory

 Series I. Fieldwork in Brienz, Switzerland
  Box 1-3, 8-11

This series contains: original field notebooks produced in and around Brienz, Switzerland; correspondence from the time, some in German; derived ethnographic notes; various printed materials relating to the village, collected between around 1948 and 1950; a 7-inch reel-to-reel tape recording phonology and texts of the Brienzerdeutsch variety; and research toward several articles, some unpublished, of ethnographies of Brienz.

 Audio tape #1: tape
  1 sound_tape_reel Box 11

7" reel-to-reel tape with Brienzerdeutsch phonology and texts, recorded with a speaker in Brienzwiler between 1948 and 1950.

01-01 Brienzerdeutsch recording
ca. 1948-1950 1 .mp3 00:20:38

Location of originals: This file is a compressed, digitized version of the original. The APS Library maintains the original format (sound tape reel) as well as an uncompressed digitized version of this recording.

Access digital object:
https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/audio:24647

01-02 Brienzerdeutsch recording
ca. 1948-1950 1 .mp3 00:06:26

Location of originals: This file is a compressed, digitized version of the original. The APS Library maintains the original format (sound tape reel) as well as an uncompressed digitized version of this recording.

Access digital object:
https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/audio:24648/

 Audio tape #2: correspondence, transcription
ca. 1948-1962 19 page(s) Box 1

Correspondence with E. Knetschke and Wm Moulton concerning the tape (3 p.); transcriptions of recorded words, phonemes and texts (16 p.).

 "Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic: A small-scale example"
  9 page(s) Box 1

Typeset draft using discussions of Brienz local economy and religion.

 Census data
1951-1960 8 page(s) Box 1

Census data for Brienz, 1941 and 1950, with correspondence with Statistisches Bureau des Kantons Bern.

 Correspondence with Amelia Susman Schultz's parents
1948-1950ca. 30 p.Box 1
 Cursive alphabet
  1 page(s) Box 1

Handwritten page.

 "Der Brienzer" newspaper
1949 8 item(s) Box 10

Brienz local newspaper. Nos. 47, 73, and 97-102 of 1949.

 "Economics and Ethics of an Alpine Village" #1
1952ca. 70 p.Box 1

Mostly typeset draft of an article; correspondence to Melville J. Herskovitz, American Anthropologist, requesting its publication, also with Joseph H. Greenberg (3 p.); additional notes and newspaper clippings.

 "Economics and Ethics of an Alpine Village" #2
ca. 1952 Box 1

Several mostly-complete typeset draft (max 36 p.), with some notes, and correspondence with "Isabel".

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "I. Conditions of observation"
  Box 1
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "II. General description"
  Box 1
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "III. History"
  Box 1
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "IV. Material culture"
  Box 1
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "V. Language"
  Box 1
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "VI. Religion"
1947-1949 Box 1

Includes copies of the printed materials "Gruss vom Brienzersee" (selections between 1947-1949), "Gemeindeblatt der Kirchgemeinde Brienz" (December 17, 1949), and other clippings.

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "VII. Political org. records"
1917-1948 Box 1

Includes several publications of Buckdruckerei Brienz (1920-1937) and the identification card for Elias Schultz (1948).

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "VIII. Education"
  Box 1

Includes nos. 1 and 2 of "Wir Schnitzler: Mitteilungsblatt der Schuelervereinigung" (1949) and other materials relating to schooling.

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "IX. Economics"
  Box 1

Includes many printed materials relating to advertisements of products and services.

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "XI. Emotional concom."
  Box 1

Title is possibly abbreviation of "emotional concomitant".

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "XII. Personalities"
  Box 2
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "Children"
  Box 2
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "Family - Marriage - Sex"
  Box 2
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "Health Recreation Calendar Military Pets Daily Cycle"
  Box 2
 Ethnographic notes by subject: "Misc."
  Box 2

Includes outline of an article.

 Ethnographic notes by subject: "Raw data soc. org."
  Box 2

Title possibly abbreviation of "social organization".

 Field notebook [1?]
  1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "2"
"June 3-" 1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "3"
  1 notebook Box 2

Includes correspondence as insert.

 Field notebook "4"
  1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "5"
"Sept. 1949" 1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "6"
1949 1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "7"
  1 notebook Box 2

Includes correspondence from Werner Amacher, August 1950, in German.

 Field notebook "8"
1949 1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "9"
  1 notebook Box 2
 Field notebook "10"
1950 1 notebook Box 3

Contents listing at front includes pregnancy, child rearing, class mobility, and other dialects (of Swiss German).

 Field notebook [Lang 1?]
  1 notebook Box 3

Includes interlinear texts with correspondent Martha Schild, and vocabulary from "150 years ago" (ca. 1800).

 Field notebook "Lang 2"
  1 notebook Box 3

Includes correspondence from Martha Schild dated May 1950, family nicknames, phonology, lexica, and possibly an interlinear text.

 Field notebook (untitled)
  1 notebook Box 3
 General correspondence
1949-1978; 1949-1951ca. 25 p.Box 3

Topics include procuring publications and the phonology of Brienzerdeutsch. Some is in German with residents of Brienz (especially Viktor Huggler).

 The Kroeber Anthropological Society advertisement
ca. 1960 4 page(s) Box 3
 Lexical card file
  2 boxes ca. 1400 p. Box 8-9

Order is Brienzerdeutsch, mixed phonemic and alphabetic, and slips include Hochdeutsch/Schriftdeutsch (Standard German) and English translations.

 Materials for learning Standard German/Hochdeutsch
 ca. 35 p.Box 3
 Miscellaneous article pages, outlines, notes
  Box 3
 "Name-Calling in the Alps" #1: correspondence
1952-1960 Box 3

Correspondence with Gertrude Thoeni and others, with lists of insults.

 "Name-Calling in the Alps" #2: drafts, data
1952-1960ca. 41 p.Box 3

Typeset drafts of article on epithets (max 11 p.); sheets with data and notes. Alternative titles: "Descriptive epithets in Brienzerdeutsch" and "A Specialized Social Vocabulary in a Swiss German Dialect or Epithets in the Alps".

 "Name-Calling in the Alps" #3: submission, correspondence
1977-1978 Box 3

Correspondence is with Reinhold Aman, editor of Maledicta, and William G. Moulton, concerning possible publication. Submitted manuscript is titled "A Specialized Social Vocabulary in a Swiss German Dialect or Epithets in the Alps" (15 p.).

 Phonology notes
1949ca. 45 p.Box 3
 "Segmental Phonemes of Brienzerdeutsch" #1: draft
  25 page(s) Box 3

Typeset draft of the 1951 publication.

 "Segmental Phonemes of Brienzerdeutsch" #2: reprint
1951-1960 Box 3

Reprint from Studies in Linguistics Vol. 9, Nos. 2-3, 1951, with accompanying memorandum from 1960.

 "The Social Organization of Alptown, Switzerland" #1
ca. 1952ca. 130 p.Box 3

Typeset and handwritten drafts of 86-page article on Brienz ethnography. Includes additional notes and miscellanea, including an unaddressed letter.

 "The Social Organization of Alptown, Switzerland" #2
1951 Box 3

Full draft and partial draft (max. 86 p.).

 "Verzeichnis der Steuerpflichtigen fuer die Veranlagungsperiode 1949/1950"
1950 32 page(s) Box 3

Directory of taxable persons in Brienz.

 Series II. Fieldwork at Round Valley, California
  Box 4-6, 10

This series contains: original field notebooks at the Round Valley Indian Reservation, California; derived ethnographic notes; and notes and correspondence relating to the collection of secondary sources toward Susman Schultz's PhD thesis and other briefer articles. The thesis on acculturation and settler contact at Round Valley was initially intended to be published in 1940 as part of Ralph Linton's edited volume "Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes", but was not able to be published due to fear of libel for unspecified reasons. It was later revised and published in 1976. Research from both periods is reflected here.

An index to "Notes on full sheets" and "Notes on half sheets" is the file "Bibliography". Other files within this series may also be described within that file.

 "Agencies of White Contact"
  28 page(s) Box 4

Outlines research questions and methodologies relating to the interaction between Native Californians and settlers.

 "Bibliography"
  2 page(s) Box 4

This serves as an index to "Notes on half sheets" and "notes on full sheets" (both notes on sources).

 Bibliography pages
  Box 4

Part of a notebook and other loose sheets listing references.

 Chronology of Round Valley, 1852-1934
  4 page(s) Box 4
 Ethnographic notes by subject #1: "Attitude of whites" to "Genealogies"
  Box 4
 Ethnographic notes by subject #2: "Government" to "Pentecost"
  Box 4
 Ethnographic notes by subject #3: "Personalities" to "Police"
  Box 4

Bulk of folders is the "Personalities" section, which consists of brief, typed summaries of the people who Susman interviewed, met, or heard about, including a brief bio and summary of main information from those whom she interviewed. People listed in this folder are identified in the following way in this order: Arthur Anderson, Polly Anderson (Konkow), Bill Axton, Bill Atchison, Mervin Britton, Evelyn Brown, Jessie Brown, Raymond Brown, Sarah Brown, Flora Clark (Wailaki), Mary Clark (Modoc), Nelda Curtis (Wailaki), Bill Dobbins, Nancy Dobey, Blanche Dorman, Dudley Dorman, Maggie Dorman, Ed Downes (Konkow), John Duncan (Wintun), Annie Feliz (Konkow), Victoria Frazier, Jack French Yellowjacket (Wailaki), Donald Fulweider, Elsie Fulweider, Jim Fulweider, Leland Fulweider, Willard Fulweider, Mrs. John Heenan, Kitty Henley, Clifford Hoaglin, Tommy Hoaglin, Preston Jackson, Robert Jackson, Galice Joe, Alice Joe (Nomlaki), Lulu Johnson, Stephen Knight, Emma Leger (Konkow), Frank Logan (Yuki), Fred Major (Wailaki, Yuki), Mary Major, Melvin Major, Austin McLaine (Chilean, Konkow), Emma McKay, Julia Miller, Ned Miller, Sarah Miller, Ralph Moore (Yuki), John Paniani (Hawaiian), Charlotte Piña, Maxine Piña, Susan Piña (Nomlaki), Buck Potter, Ellen Powell, Elijah Reeves, Billy Reeves, Gus Russ, Old Tip, Walter Updegraff (Wodi), Willie Wagoner, Ora Want, George Ward, Norah Ward, Vida Ward, Phenie Willits, Dorothy Wilsey, Elinor Wilsey (includes a letter from Elinor Wilsey to Amelia Susman), Fred Wilsey, Mrs. Grace Wilsey, Johnnie Wilsey, Ollie Wilsey, Florence Winton, Tabitha Wright, Lucy Young (Wailaki), Sam Young. (Note: designations of tribal affiliation given above reflect such information when it is given and as it is given in the manuscripts. This information appears to be incomplete and not comprehensive.)

 Ethnographic notes by subject #4: "Population" to "White eco"
  Box 4
 Ethnographic notes by subject #5: Orphaned slips
 ca. 10 p.Box 4
 Field notebook #1
1937-07-03-1937-07-11 1 notebook Box 4

Primarily consultants: Polly Anderson, Annie Feliz. "Concow"/Konkow Maidu.

 Field notebook #2
1937-07-11-1937-07-22 1 notebook Box 4

Primary consultants: Annie Feliz, Austin McLaine. "Concow"/Konkow Maidu.

 Field notebook #3
1937-07-22-1937-08-14 1 notebook Box 4

Primarily consultant: Austin McLaine. "Concow"/Konkow Maidu.

 Field notebook #4
1937-08-14-1937-08-26 1 notebook Box 4

Primary consultants: Fred Major, Lucy Young. Wailaki.

 Field notebook #5
1937-08-27-1937-09-05 1 notebook Box 4

Primary consultants: Lucy Young (Wailaki), Alice Joe (Nomlaki).

 Field notebook #6
1937-09-05-1937-09-27 1 notebook Box 4

Primary consultants: Lucy Young, Fred Mayor.

 Field notebook #7
1937-09-28-1937-10-05 1 notebook Box 5

Primary consultants: Fred [Mayor?], Ralph Moore.

 Field notebook #8
1937-10-05-1937-10-08 1 notebook Box 5

Primary consultants: Fred Mayor, Lucy Young.

 Field notebook #9
1937-10-08-1937-10-15 1 notebook Box 5

Primary consultants: Lucy Young, Fred Mayor.

 Field notebook #10
1937-10 1 notebook Box 5

Primary consultant: Lucy Young.

 Language maps copied from A. L. Kroeber
  2 page(s) Box 10

Pencil-drawn maps showing Algonquian languages across North America and the languages of California.

 Letter from Alice L. Cox
1938 2 page(s) Box 5
 Letter from Gordon McGregor, Department of the Interior
1938 1 page(s) Box 5
 Letter from Paul North Rice, New York Public Library
1937 3 page(s) Box 5
 Letter from Ruth Hauck, Covelo, California
1938 5 page(s) Box 5
 Letter to Edith Murphey
1938 2 page(s) Box 5
 Map of rivers and indigenous cultural areas of northern California
  1 page(s) Box 5

Sketch map.

 Miscellaneous notes #1
ca. 1938-1940 Box 5
 Miscellaneous notes #2
1970s Box 5

Some likely relates to "Treaties".

 Notes and bibliography on Californian history
  3 page(s) Box 5
 Notes on Curtis, Edward S., "The North American Indian"
  54 page(s) Box 5
 "Notes on full sheets": Anon.-Miscellaneous
  Box 5
 "Notes on full sheets": Potter-Wheeler
  Box 5
 "Notes on half sheets": Anderson-Hunt
  Box 5
 "Notes on half sheets": "Department of the Interior - Office of Indian Affairs - Reports - 1849-1937"
 ca. 200 p.Box 6
 "Notes on half sheets": Kroeber-Tassin
  Box 6
 "One Hundred Per Cent American - 4th of July Oration given at Round Valley Indian Reservation"
  3 page(s) Box 6

Transcript of a speech "probably on July 4th - 1933, by William Frazier, partially printed in July "Sunset" - 1934, chiefly because of its intense patriotism".

Related material: A very similar version of this speech was printed as "We Are A People Alive" in Indians at Work vol. 7 pp.12-13 (March, 1940), published by the Office of Indian Affairs, and available at the National Museum of the American Indian, call number E98-15139.

 "Outline for report on acculturation in any given tribe"
  2 page(s) Box 6
 Populations of Round Valley, 1856-1936
  2 page(s) Box 6
 "The Round Valley Indians of California"
ca. 1970sover 119 p.Box 6

Full typeset draft with notes.

 "Round Valley" paper outline
  8 page(s) Box 10
 "Social & economic survey R. V. 1934(?)"
  2 page(s) Box 6
 "Treaties"
  Box 6

Notes from sources related to treaties. Multiple copies, over 40 p. each.

 United States Department of the Interior family records
1934 Box 6

Consultants from the field notebooks are included.

 Series III. Genetic counseling
  Box 7

This series contains a small volume of correspondence, printed ephemera and surveys to nursing home in Washington, relating to genetic counseling, especially Huntington's Disease.

 Huntington's Disease Foundation of America, Puget Sound Chapter informational leaflet
  1 page(s) Box 7
 Hall, Judith G., M.D..
"Legal Aspects of Medical Genetics"
  1 page(s) Box 7
 Letter from James B. Wilson
1969 1 page(s) Box 7

Assistant Attorney General, University of Washington, on "Washington laws regarding sterilization (male and female) and artificial insemination".

 Letter from Ralph T. Gibson [to Merle Denney]
1974 1 page(s) Box 7
 Letter to Stedelijk Museum
1975 1 page(s) Box 7
 Survey preliminary letters, forms
1973 8 page(s) Box 7

Letters were sent by Schultz to members of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Chorea or on the Medical Genetics Clinic files, University Hospital. Includes preliminary information requests, one response, Schultz's notes, and a genealogy.

 Survey responses
1974 55 item(s) Box 7

Survey responses from various Washington State nursing homes, returned (completed or undelivered) to the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease (CCHD). Many envelopes are unopened.

 University of Washington University Hospital: "Newsnotes" vol. V, no. 18
1975 2 page(s) Box 7