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Finding Aid for the Barbara G. Myerhoff papers
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Table of contents
Title: Barbara G. Myerhoff papers
Collection number: 0275
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
100.0 Linear feet
169 boxes and 7 clamshell binders
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1969-1984
Date (inclusive): 1911-1985
Abstract: Papers of Barbara G. Myerhoff, a University of Southern California professor and noted anthropologist, consist of manuscripts,
notes, printed material, publications, audiotapes, correspondence, and photographic material related to her teaching, field
research, and publishing activities.
creator:
Myerhoff, Barbara G.
Open for use by appointment only. Collection stored off-site.
Box 162, personal correspondence between Barbara Myerhoff and Deena Metzger (1974-1976) is sealed until further notice.
Audiotapes may not be used by researchers until preservation reformatting is complete. Recording quality status was unknown
at time of processing.
[Identification of item], Barbara G. Myerhoff papers, Collection no. 0275, University Archives, Special Collections, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California
File sources include Barbara G. Myerhoff's Department of Anthropology office at the University of Southern California, and
storage areas throughout her home and study. All files were located at Myerhoff's residence during completion of the original
boxing and inventory.
Processed by: Laurel A. McPhee, Winter 2004
Barbara Gay Myerhoff was born on February 16, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio. She received a B.A. degree in Sociology from the University
of California, Los Angeles in 1958, a M.A. in Human Development at the University of Chicago in 1963, and returned to the
University of California, Los Angeles to receive her Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1968. Myerhoff taught in the Department of Anthropology
at the University of Southern California for the duration of her professional career. Her areas of research included the Huichol
Indians of Mexico; youth movements of the 1960s; ritual and symbols; performance and narrative; women, feminism, and friendship;
and aging and ethnicity among Jewish communities in Los Angeles. A prolific writer and researcher, Myerhoff edited and authored
several monographs in addition to numerous articles and essays, and contributed to major collaborative projects on aging and
ethnicity. In the 1970s, Barbara G. Myerhoff began an extensive study of the elderly Jewish immigrants living in Venice, California.
Her award-winning documentary film and book of the same title,
Number Our Days, showed how aging Eastern European immigrants made everyday life meaningful, surviving amidst hardship, invisibility and
poverty. She redefined academic and public perceptions of the elderly and was a pioneer in her scholarship on women and religion.
Her research took a personal turn with her final documentary,
In Her Own Time, which documented Myerhoff's fatal cancer diagnosis and her participation in Hasidic healing rituals. In addition to the
above, Myerhoff was also a consulting editor to Parabola (a journal of myths and traditions), a lecturer at the Center for
the Healing Arts in Westwood, California, and a consultant and lecturer for psychiatric residents in the Department of Social
Psychiatry at the Los Angeles County General Hospital. Barbara Gay Myerhoff died on January 7, 1985 at the age 49.
Papers of Dr. Barbara G. Myerhoff, a University of Southern California professor and noted anthropologist, consist of manuscripts,
notes, printed material, publications, audiotapes, correspondence, and photographic material related to her teaching, field
research, and publishing activities. Files comprise clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, slides, negatives, and promotional
materials documenting Barbara G. Myerhoff's rich and varied interests, which included the Huichol Indians of Mexico; youth
movements of the 1960s; ritual and symbols; performance and narrative; women, feminism, and friendship; and aging and ethnicity
among Jewish communities in Los Angeles. The collection also includes annotated books from Barbara G. Myerhoff's personal
library, voluminous copies of articles and reprints, interview audiotapes, drafts, and her personal correspondence with Victor
W. Turner, Deena Metzger, and Marc Kaminsky.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
The papers are organized in eight series: Series 1: Undergraduate and graduate course materials, 1954-1969; Series 2: USC
administrative and academic files, 1917-1985; Series 3: Research project files, 1911-1984; Series 4: Manuscripts and drafts,
1963-1984; Series 5: Publications, 1947-1984; Series 6: Personal correspondence, 1974-1984 Series 7: Photographic materials,
1965-1984; Series 8: Books, 1944-1984.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Kaminsky, Marc, 1943- -- Correspondence
Metzger, Deena -- Correspondence
Myerhoff, Barbara G. -- Archives
Myerhoff, Barbara G. -- Correspondence
Turner, Victor Witter -- Correspondence
University of Southern California. Dept. of Anthropology. -- Faculty
Anthropology--Study and teaching--California--Archival resources
Audiotapes
Bali (Indonesia : Province)--Photographs
Clippings
Correspondence
Costa Rica--Photographs
Feminism--Study and teaching--California--Archival resources
Huichol Indians--Religion--Archival resources
Jews--California--Los Angeles--Identity--Archival resources
Manuscripts
Mexico--Photographs
Negatives (photographic)
Notes
Older Jews--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Older Jews--California--Los Angeles--Biography--Archival resources
Older Jews--United States--Social life and customs--Archival resources
Photographs
Printed ephemera
Publications
Ritual--Archival resources
Slides (photographs)
Sociology--Study and teaching--California--Los Angeles
Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Photographs
Venice (Los Angeles, Calif.)--Social life and customs--Archival resources
Youth movements--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources