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Rappaport (Roy) Papers
MSS 0516
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Table of contents
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Roy Rappaport Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0516
Physical Description:
19.2 Linear feet
(41 archives boxes, 5 card file boxes, 3 oversize folders, 4 map case folders)
Date (inclusive): 1961-1985
Abstract: Papers of Roy A. Rappaport, an ethnographic anthropologist. The collection includes research papers and materials generated
from his fieldwork with the Tsembaga Maring of the Simbai Valley in Papua New Guinea during two field trips (1962-1963 and
1981-1982). Rappaport's first field trip was in conjunction with Columbia University for his dissertation, and the second
trip served as a follow-up study. Rappaport's research was concerned with the means by which religious ritual mediates the
relationships of a congregation, or population, to external entities. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, students,
friends, and local Papua New Guinea officials; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic data collected
in field notebooks; typescript summaries; field notes and maps; diaries; photographs and sound recordings.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Roy A. Rappaport, an ethnographic anthropologist. The collection includes research papers and materials generated
from his fieldwork with the Tsembaga Maring of the Simbai Valley in Papua New Guinea during two field trips (1962-1963 and
1981-1982). Rappaport's research was concerned with the means by which religious ritual mediates the relationships of a congregation,
or population, to external entities. The papers include correspondence with colleagues, students, friends, and local Papua
New Guinea officials; manuscripts of published and unpublished works; ethnographic data collected in field notebooks; typescript
summaries; field notes and maps; diaries; photographs and sound recordings.
The fieldwork from 1962-1963 represents Rappaport's research for his dissertation. The second trip (1981-1982) served as a
follow-up study that reflected similar interests, but ultimately demonstrated how the Tsembaga Maring have acculturated in
the face of increasing pressure from Western culture. There is a greater breadth and depth of research material from the first
trip; however, the research from the second trip evidences some comparative studies. Rappaport's wife, Ann, compiled extensive
Tsembaga Maring linguistic material, which is also included in the papers. The collection was processed in two accessions.
ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 2005
Arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE; 2) FIELD NOTES, 1962-1963; 3) FIELD NOTES, 1981-1982; 4) WRITINGS; 5) TEACHING
MATERIALS; 6) PHOTOGRAPHS; 7) SOUND RECORDINGS and 8) WRITINGS BY OTHERS.
ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 2015
Arranged in four series: 9) CORRESPONDENCE; 10) FIELD NOTES AND MAPS; 11) PHOTOGRAPHS; AND 12) AUDIOCASSETTE.
Roy A. "Skip" Rappaport (1926-1997) was born in New York City. He earned his B.S. in hotel administration from Cornell University
(1949) and his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University (1966).
From October 1962 to December 1963, Rappaport spent fourteen months in the Simbai Valley of the Madang Territory in Papua
New Guinea researching the Tsembaga Maring for his dissertation. The Tsembaga Maring, shifting swidden horticulturists, occupied
approximately three square miles of the southern wall of the Simbai Valley, a region that had been contacted (1958) and "controlled"
(1962) by the Australian government. Rappaport collected extensive information on Tsembaga demography, ritual, animal husbandry,
gardening, linguistics, and nutrition. His research was supplemented by contact with other researchers in the Simbai Valley
working with neighboring tribes, including Andrew and Cherry Vayda and Allison and Marek Jablonko, who were associated with
the Columbia University Expedition along with Rappaport. In addition, Ann Rappaport, who accompanied her husband in the field,
was primarily responsible for Tsembaga Maring linguistic research.
Rappaport's dissertation, "Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People: An Anthropological Study of the Tsembaga Maring"
(1966), was later expanded to
Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People (1967). It became a landmark study of human ecology in a New Guinea central highland tribal society.
Just prior to defending his dissertation, Rappaport accepted a position in the Department of Anthropology at the University
of Michigan where he was a faculty member from 1965 until 1997, eventually distinguishing himself as the Walgreen Professor
for the Study of Human Understanding. In addition, he served as the chair (1975-1980) of the Department of Anthropology and
was the president of the American Anthropological Association from 1987-1989.
A grant from the National Science Foundation enabled Rappaport to take a second trip to the Simbai Valley from October 1981
to August 1982. This trip served as a follow-up study designed to analyze the change and acculturation of the Tsembaga Maring
under increasing pressure from Western culture.
Rappaport authored two additional books:
Ecology, Meaning, and Religion (1984) and,
Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (1999), published posthumously. He also authored over 60 journal articles.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Roy Rappaport Papers, MSS 516. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 2000, 2015.
Original sound recordings in Series 7 and 12 are restricted. Researchers may request a listening copy be produced in advance.
Original negatives in Series 6C are restricted, but have been fully digitized.
Selected images from this collection have been digitized.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Madang Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs
Maring (Papua New Guinean people) -- Rites and ceremonies
Maring language
Maring (Papua New Guinean people)
Maring (Papua New Guinean people) -- Genealogy
Papua New Guinea -- Simbai River Valley -- History, Local
Papua New Guinea -- Simbai River Valley -- Description and travel
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Diaries -- 20th century
Anthropology -- Study and teaching
Madang Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Social conditions
Traditional farming -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Swine -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Human ecology -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Acculturation -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Kinship -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Madang Province
Rappaport, Roy A. -- Archives
Cook, Edwin A. -- Correspondence
Jablonko, Allison Peters, 1936- -- Correspondence
Columbia University Expedition (1962-1963 : Papua New Guinea)
Clarke, William C. -- Correspondence
Vayda, Andrew Peter -- Correspondence
Watson, James B. (James Bennett), 1918-2009 -- Correspondence