PAUL RADIN PAPERS
Papers and publications by and about Paul Radin and anthropology. Included are original papers about folk literature and religion among African-Americans, Ottawa-Ojibwa Indians, Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians, and other ethnic groups worldwide. Also included are uncommon publications, many with autographs and/or notes by the author as well as essays and an FBI file about Radin. 13.1 cubic feet.
Mary Sacharoff-Fast Wolf compiled the original and facsimile documentation about Radin from 1981 to 1991, She was a would-be biographer of Radin who had acquired original papers from her friend and Radin's widow, Doris Woodward Radin, as well as colleagues, associates, and relatives. Notable originals include two book-length manuscripts never published in their entirety -- The Nature of Primitive Religion and Souls Piled Like Timber: The Religious Experience of the Pre-War American Negro. The latter, however, has three chapters missing, which were separated from the Souls manuscript prior to Marquette's acquisition of this collection. Several folders of original notes and drafts on the Ottawa-Ojibwa, Winnebago, and others ethnic groups are also included along with some facsimiles from Radin papers acquired by Sacharoff-Fast Wolf from the American Philosophical Society.
Most of the correspondence consists of facsimiles from collections at other institutions. Included are copies from the papers of Felix Frankfurter, Harvard University and Library of Congress; Sheldon Glueck, Harvard University; Alfred L. Kroeber, Bancroft Library; Robert H. Lowie, Bancroft Library; Roscoe Pound, Harvard University; Thomas Reed Powell, Harvard University; Paul Radin, American Philosophical Society and National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution; and Paul Radin, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice.
The bulk of Radin's original field manuscripts and sound recordings are held by other institutions. These materials were transferred by Paul and/or Doris Radin to the American Philosophical Society, 1960, 1972-1984, and by Sacharoff-Fast Wolf to the Japanese American National Museum. For information on Radin Collections at other repositories or online, see:
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/folklife/. Winnebago, 1908-1912."The Paul Radin Collection," pp. 308-322 in The Federal Cylinder Project, A Guide to Filed Cylinder Collections in Federal Agencies, Volume 2, Northeastern Indian Catalog Southeastern Indian Catalog, edited by Judith A. Gray and Dorothy Sara Lee with Gregory Pontecorvo, 1985.
American Philosophical Society, http://www.amphilsoc.org/. Ottawa-Ojibwa, Winnebago, Zapotec, and other Native Americans, ca. 1912-1959 (12 ½ feet). A guide to manuscripts relating to the American Indian in the library of the American Philosophical Society, compiled by John F. Freeman, E77 .F74 1965; see also Inventory to the Preservation Photocopies of the Paul Radin Papers - 497.3 R114, 2005, 10 pp., which should be used in conjunction with the Freeman guide.
Encyclopedia of Hotcâk (Winnebago) Mythology, http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/.
Japanese American National Museum, Hirasaki National Resource Center, http://www.janm.org/nrc/. Japanese Americans in California (ca. ½ ft.).
Social Science Institute, Fisk University, WPA Slave Narratives, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro06.html.
Gift of the Tazzla Institute for Cultural Diversity (formerly Institute of Archetypal Ethnology), Helene E. Hagan, Executive Director, 1997. Subsequent donated additions include a file about Radin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, recieved via the Tazzla Institute, 1998; recordings from Richard P. Werbner, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, 2003; and transcripts transcripts of the Werbner recordings from Lucretia Crawford, Lakeland College, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 2003. Separated from the collection in 1997 were Mrs. Radin's programs and playbills primarily from theatres, movies, and concerts in New York and California, 1919-1965. Processed by Mark G. Thiel, CA (Certified Archivist), and students assistants, 1998-2003.
An anthropologist born in Lodz, Poland (then part of the German Empire) in 1883 who moved to Elmira, New York the next year. Radin graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1902 and earned his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1911. He conducted field among the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk), Nebraska and Wisconsin, 1908-1912; Ojibwa and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1912-1917; Huave and Zapotec, Oaxaca, Mexico, 1912-1913, 1927-1929; Wiyot and Yurok, California, 1917-1918, 1930; and Ottawa, Michigan, 1925. Later he supervised student field research among African Americans, Nashville, Tennessee, 1927-1928; and various ethnic groups (Chinese, Greek, Irish, Italian, and Japanese), San Francisco, California, 1937-1940s.
Radin taught or lectured at many institutions, including Mills College, California, 1917-1918; University of California, 1918-1920, 1932; Cambridge University, England, 1920-1925; Jung Institute, Switzerland, 1925, 1953-1956; Fisk University 1927-1930; Black Mountain College, 1941-1942, 1944; Kenyon College, 1947, 1949-1952; and Brandeis University, 1957-1959. His numerous publications include The Winnebago Tribe, Primitive Man as Philosopher, The World of Primitive Man, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology, Social Anthropology, and Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian, one of the first self-told life histories of an American Indian viewed as a unique human being. Radin married Doris Woodward (1901-1991) in 1932. He died in 1959.
At Fisk University, Radin's students collected autobiographies and religious conversion stories in Nashville from men and women who previously had been slaves in Virginia, South Carolina, and other areas of the South. Fisk published much of the material in 1945, 1978, and 1993 as God Struck Me Dead: Religious Conversion Experiences and Autobiographies of Negro Ex-slaves, BV4930 .G59 1993. However, Radin continued editing and analyzing these and other manuscripts until at least 1952, to which he added a commentary on slave-slave owner relationships and Christianity in the lives of slaves.
Most of the unpublished materials pertain to lectures in Europe and the United States, various publications, incomplete works never published, or posthumous recollections by colleagues and informants. Included are several folders of notes and drafts on Crashing Thunder: The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian, Primitive Man as Philosopher, and Primitive Literature. Also included are notes and drafts for "Souls Piled Like Timber, The Religious Experience of the Prewar Negro" an unfinished project on African American spirituality, along with general notes on Native American religion and literature, and specific material relating to the Kiowa, Ottawa, and Winnebago.
Besides English, several languages are used throughout the collection. Many of the notes from lectures in Europe are written in German whereas Spanish is used for a number of publications pertaining to Latin America. Furthermore, most of the texts about native languages are written bilingually using that language together with a national language, either English or Spanish.
For general information on the options and procedures for researching and receiving copies of materials in this collection, see General Information and Services.
Paul Radin Series 1, Correspondence: The correspondence pertains to Radin, colleagues, associates, and family as well as the languages and cultures of a number of ethnic groups. The principal ethnic groups include the Siksika [Blackfeet] (Montana and Canada), 1901-1917; Ojibwa and Ottawa (Michigan and Canada), 1911-1922; Towawa (Indonesia), 1941-1960; Winnebago (Nebraska and Wisconsin), 1901-1960; Wiyot and Yurok (California), 1913-1920; and Zapotec (Mexico), 1913-1930. Notable correspondents include: Franz Boas, 1901-1939; Mrs. Sidney Cowell, 1982-1983; Regna Darnell, 1983-1985; Stanley Diamond, 1957-1983; Cora Du Bois, 1981-1983; Felix Frankfurter, 1925-1943; Abe M. Halperin, 1982-1984; Ake Hultkrantz (Sweden), 1983-1989; Carl G. Jung (Switzerland), 1957; Josef Kandert (Czechoslovakia), 1983; Kimiko Kitayama, 1982-1983; Alfred L. Kroeber, 1901-1939; Louis B. Kuppenheimer, 1982-1984; Williard E. LaMere (Winnebago), 1983-1984; Laurie Lathrop, 1983-1984; Barbara Leons, 1982-1983; Claude Levi-Strauss, 1984-1989; Robert H. Lowie, 1909-1962; Nancy O. Lurie, 1982-1984; Stanford N. Lyman, 1982-1983; John Martin, 1953-1982; Piero Mattey (Italy), 1982-1985; William McGuire, 1981-1991; John V. Murra, 1982-1984; James M. Nyce, 1984-1990; Maud Oakes, 1981-1984; Melba Phillips, 1981-1986; Roscoe Pound, 1919-1922; Thomas Reed Powell; Anita Radin, 1981-1985; Doris Radin, 1959-1984; Max Radin, 1925-1943; Rhea Radin, 1981; Rudolf Ritsema, 1983-1989; Runis (Netherlands), 1952; N. Edward Sapir (Canada), 1909-1939; Stella Stacy (Winnebago), 1958; Maurice Stein, 1981-1990; Omer C. Stewart, 1981-1982; George W. Stocking, Jr., 1983-1985; Arthur J. Vidich, 1982-1984; and Richard P. Werbner, 1982-1989.
The end of the series includes correspondence on microfiche (Canada), a bound appointment book, and a facsimile copy of the file regarding Radin from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The F.B.I. file documents Radin's global travels and activities relating to communism and U.S. black-white race relations.
Paul Radin Series 2-1, General Notes and Manuscripts and Series 2-2, Ethnographic Notes: The writings include materials by Radin and others working with him. They are divided topically into two sub-series: a general one focusing on broad anthropological topics and a second focusing on ethnic groups. Both are arranged alphabetically by topic or ethnic, national, or religious group with corresponding but unidentified materials at the end of each series. Most notable are two extensive manuscripts never published in their entirety: The Nature of Primitive Religion, in Series 2-1, and Souls Piled Like Timber: The Religious Experience of the Pre-War American Negro, in Series 2-2 under African Americans. Substantial Ottawa-Ojibwa and Winnebago documentation is also included in Series 2-2.
African American: All documentation pertains to Souls Piled Like Timber, The Religious Experience of the Prewar Negro. These papers are arranged first by materials intended for publication according to their final publication order. Within each folder drafts are arranged in chronological order with folder headings noting the number of drafts included, final page numbers, the total number of pages, and names of authors and interviewers, if known. 15 folders have revised names with original ones following. Missing from the manuscript are Chapters 1.The Past of the American Negro, 4. Slaves and Masters as Depicted in the Autobiographies, 5. The Adoption of Christianity by the American Negroes, and the Conclusion. Related items to be either included in an Appendix of 30 conversion experiences or not published at all follow at the end. This includes an analysis of the conversion experiences by Michael De Lazlo, a student of Radin's.
Ottawa-Ojibwa: This documentation includes a substantial manuscript fragment on oral literature, beliefs, and practices; short stories; and sketches of warfare-related objects. Cited sources include publications and at least 30 informants from 12 communities: Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Harbor Springs, Mt. Pleasant, Petosky, St. Ignace, and Whitefish River in Michigan; Garden River, Sarnia, and Walpole Island in Ontario, Canada; and Hiawatha, Rice Lake, and unidentified areas in places unknown. Two manuscript fragments identified as possibly Ottawa-Ojibwa are included among the unidentified folk literature at the end of this series (Box 5).
Winnebago (Ho-Chunk, Hocąk, or Hotcâk): This documentation includes a typescript of Sam Blowsnake's autobiography; short stories; various sketches; musical scores to traditional songs by George La Mere; facsimile copies of Winnebago and English texts in Radin papers at the American Philosophical Society; and writings by Richard P. Werbner, a student of Radin's who conducted research in Winnebago, Nebraska. The Blowsnake autobiography correspondes to Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian. The Werbner writings include transcripts by Lucretia Crawford of three autobiographical interviews (two women of Winnebago ancestry and a third of Fox [Mesquakie] ancestry) plus edited versions and other field notes. The Crawford transcripts correspond to the Werbner sound recordings in Series 2-3-1 and 2-3-2. Two manuscript items identified as possibly Winnebago are included among the unidentified folk literature at the end of Series 2-2 in Box 5.
Series 2-3-1, Recordings (Reel to Reel) and Series 2-3-2, Recordings (Cassettes): Besides the transcripts noted in Series 2-2, Werbner's sound recordings include a fourth autobiographical interview in Winnebago (a woman of Winnebago ancestry), and stories in Winnebago, both of which lack English translations. To facilitate public use, the originals, Series 2-3-1, Recordings (Reel to Reel), have been reformatted onto audio cassettes, Series 2-3-2, Recordings (Cassettes). Citations should acknowledge the interviewees and interviewer as well as quotations of more than 1,000 words require permission from Werbner or his heirs. Benefits derived from commercial reproduction of the recordings are consigned to the Winnebago Tribal Council, Winnebago, Nebraska.
Paul Radin Series 3-1, Books, Bulletins, and Pamphlets and Series 3-2, Journal Articles: These published writings constitute approximately two thirds of the collection, many of which are not readily available elsewhere. The arrangement is chronological and many items are autographed and/or include notations by the author. Major fields include language, literature, and religion among the Indians of the Americas, especially the Ojibwa and Winnebago of the Great Lakes region and the Mixe, Zapotec, and others of Mexico. Also included are writings pertaining to other ethnic groups in San Francisco, Mexico, and Africa. The "giants" described in the Winnebago Hero Cycles have been interpreted as Norse, ca. 1100-1300. At this time, the Greenland Norse were Catholics.
Paul Radin Series 4, Writings by Others, re: Related Anthropology and/or Anthropologists: These Items are about Radin, his colleagues, and their research topics, including native languages, oral literature, and religious beliefs among the Winnebago and others. The arrangement is alphabetical by author or title and includes articles, books, dissertations, notes and interviews. Included are several items by would-be Radin biographer Mary Sacharoff-Fast Wolf.
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