Ethel Gertrude Goldberg Aginsky (September 24 1910 – March 28 1990) was a linguist, cultural anthropologist, professor, and author, who conducted extensive research among Indigenous peoples of California.

After a B.A. degree at New York University, she obtained a doctorate in 1934 from Columbia University under Franz Boas. Her thesis was "A Grammar of the Mende Language", for which she worked with Mende speaker Dwight Sumner from Sierra Leone who was living in New York City to attend Columbia Teachers College. Her MA thesis was a study of Waldemar Jochelson's Aleutian grammar housed at New York Public Library.

She undertook fieldwork between 1935 and 1936 to transcribe and translate Puyallup Txwilshootseed texts at Tacoma. She worked with at least Mary Adams, Henry Allen, Emily Hawk, Annie James, Anthony James, Nancy Sherwood, Kimball Sherwood, Joseph Sparr, Annie Wilbur, Jimmy (or Jimmie) Wilbur, Willy Wilbur, Mrs. Willy Wilbur, and Marcel Williams.

Along with her husband Burt W. Aginsky (also an anthropologist), she conducted fieldwork and secondary source research with Pomo people in California, also from the 1930s onwards. Various funding sources were used for a social science field laboratory that helped students with experience conducting fieldwork. This long period of research resulted in the co-authored book "Deep Valley" (1967).

Additionally, Aginsky was chair (1939-45) and professor in the anthropology department at Hunter College, associate professor of anthropology for Syracuse University, and 1958 visiting professor of anthropology for the University of Buenos Aires. She was the supervisor of a diet and nutrition study for the National Committee on Nutrition in 1940, and a consultant on Japan and Burma for the U.S. Office of Strategic Defense from 1942 to 1945. Both Ethel and Burt were distinguished professors at the United States International University, and in later life in La Jolla directed the Institute for World Understanding: Peoples, Cultures, Languages.

Aginsky was fluent in at least 12 (possibly up to 18) languages, and was a pianist.

She was long a member of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), including for some time as its treasurer, and is listed in Who's Who Among American Women, Directory of Linguistics and Community Leaders, and Noteworthy Americans.

[Biography adapted from a draft provided by Jay Miller]

13 notebooks recorded by Ethel Aginsky. The first 11 notebooks document Aginsky's research with mostly Puyallup people between November 1935 and January 1936. Puyallup (Washington) is the only location identified. Consultants include: Mary Adams, Henry Allen, Emily Hawk, Annie James, Anthony James, Nancy Sherwood, Kimball Sherwood, Joseph Sparr, Annie Wilbur, Jimmy (or Jimmie) Wilbur, Willy Wilbur, Mrs. Willy Wilbur, and Marcel Williams. The notebooks include texts (histories, conversations, etc.) and wordlists. In addition to Lushootseed, there is Chehalis and Twana language identified. Notebooks 12-13 are Aginsky's unrelated classroom notes.

Provenance

Gift of Mendocino County Museum, Willits, California, 2022. Located by, and transfer assisted by, Jay Miller.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Ethel Aginsky Notebooks Collection (Mss.SMs.Coll.127), American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Notebooks are arranged in chronological order. Notebook numbers assigned by the archivist. Titles from front covers. Notebooks 06-11 are continuous pagination. Dates of notebooks, where present, are assumed to be as detailed in the back pages, which describes pay for consultants. These do not mention year - years 1935 to 1936 are assumed based on the days of the week written. Processed by Paul Sutherland in 2022.

• Field notes.

• California

• Anthropology
• Linguistics
• Lushootseed
• Native American linguistics
• Puyallup Indians