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MSS 0481
MSS 0481
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Title: Harold Scheffler Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0481
Contributing Institution:
Mandeville Special Collections Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.9 Linear feet
16 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 7 oversize folders
1,370 online items
Date (inclusive): 1926 - 1981
Abstract: The papers of Harold Scheffler, anthropologist, relate to Scheffler's field research on ambilineal descent groups on Choiseul
Island in the Solomon Islands between 1958 and 1961 and to his comparative study of religious revitalization movements, especially
the Christian Fellowship Church, conducted on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968. Scheffler studied social structure, kinship
and ethnographic semantics among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers
on Rendova Island (1967-1968), and among Simbo islanders (1960). Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students;
manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs,
and audiorecordings. Also included are grammars, vocabularies and linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages
of the Solomon Islands. Of particular interest are manuscript notes by Bernard Deacon, a British anthropologist, and typescript
transcriptions of Deacon's notes by Camilla Wedgwood on Ambrym, an island in Vanuatu. The papers span the period from 1926
to 1981 with the bulk of the material generated between 1958 and 1971. The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE,
2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK, 6) WRITINGS
OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.
creator:
Scheffler, Harold W.
Collection is open for research.
Not Available
Harold Scheffler Papers, MSS 0481. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Harold Walter Scheffler was born on October 24, 1932, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Southeast Missouri State College
in 1952 and transferred to the University of Missouri the following year. His studies were interrupted by military service
with the United States Army, 1954-1955, after which he returned to the University of Missouri and received a B.A. degree in
anthropology and sociology in 1956.
Scheffler then went on to the University of Chicago for graduate work in anthropology, receiving an M.A. in 1957. He continued
in the doctoral program at Chicago and, with the assistance of a Carnegie Corporation Tri-Institutional Pacific Program grant
(1958-1960) and a Fulbright grant (1960-1961), conducted eighteen months of fieldwork (1958-1961) on the island of Choiseul
in what was then called the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in
1963, having submitted a dissertation entitled "Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure" (later published
in 1965 as
Choiseul Island Social Structure).
Scheffler studied social structure and kinship on Choiseul Island between November 1958 and April 1961. He spent most of his
time in the village of Voza in the Tepazaka District, but also lived on the opposite side of the island in Ogo village in
the Varisi District and made trips to Simbo Island. Scheffler learned and conducted this research in the Varisi language.
After returning from Choiseul, Scheffler taught at the University of Connecticut (1961-1962) and Bryn Mawr College (1962-1963).
He joined the Yale University faculty in 1963, and has remained there throughout his career.
Post-doctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation enabled him to return to the Solomon Islands. Between
1967 and 1968, Scheffler conducted research on the island of Rendova as the principal investigator in a study entitled "Revitalization
Movements in the British Solomons," which compared religious movements in three locations. This project examined the separatist
Christian Fellowship Church on New Georgia Island (fieldwork conducted by Frances Hine Harwood), the South Seas Evangelical
Mission in the Langalanga Lagoon area of Malaita (fieldwork conducted by Matthew Cooper) and the participation of people on
Rendova Island in revitalization movements (fieldwork conducted by Scheffler).
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Harold Scheffler relate to Scheffler's ethnographic research in the Solomon Islands, specifically his dissertation
fieldwork on Choiseul Island conducted between 1958 and 1961 and his comparative study of religious revitalization movements
and separatist churches on Rendova Island between 1967 and 1968. Scheffler studied social structure and kinship, particularly
ambilineal descent groups, among Varisi language speakers on Choiseul Island (1958-1961), among Baniata language speakers
on Rendova Island (1967-1968) and among Simbo islanders (1960). Materials include correspondence with colleagues and students;
manuscripts of journal articles and published works; ethnographic data collected in diaries, field notes, genealogies, photographs,
and audiorecordings; and, writings of others related to his areas of research. Also included are grammars, vocabularies and
linguistic materials for the Varisi and Baniata languages. The papers occupy five linear feet and are arranged in eight series:
1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER, 3) CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK, 4) RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK, 5) MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK,
6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 8) AUDIORECORDINGS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from anthropologists John Barnes, William Davenport
and Murray Groves; the ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and two of Scheffler's graduate students, Matthew Cooper and Frances
Harwood. There are also letters from government offices in the Solomon Islands, the National Science Foundation and Yale University
related to Scheffler's research and travel.
SERIES 2: WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER
The WRITINGS BY SCHEFFLER series contains manuscripts of Scheffler's journal articles and published works related to the Solomon
Islands, including a typescript of his dissertation entitled
Kindred and Kin Groups in Choiseul Island Social Structure (1963) and drafts for articles on kinship, land tenure and separatist church movements. Also included are proposals for research
grant applications to fund his fieldwork and analysis. The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.
SERIES 3: CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK
The CHOISEUL ISLAND FIELDWORK series documents Scheffler's dissertation field work, contains field notes and typescript summaries,
and is arranged in five subseries: A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Varisi Language Material,
and E) Maps.
A) The Diaries (1958-1961) contain Scheffler's day-to-day, handwritten entries describing places visited, contacts made, conversations
with informants, new words or usages, and records of expenses during his fieldwork on Choiseul.
B) The Field Notes subseries contains manuscript notebooks with dated entries of ethnographic information from informants,
typescript notes that organize, synthesize and summarize the field data on land tenure in the notebooks, and typed notecards
with field data classified according to the Human Relations Area Files coding system. The notecards also include a sociological
census of Choiseul Island, notes on cases brought before the native courts, notes on readings, and a bibliography.
C) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains notebooks and charts with lineage names, relationships and explanations
of terminology.
D) The Varisi Language Material subseries contains comparative word lists, a dictionary, descriptions of grammatical forms,
and several examples of text. Varisi is one of the six languages on Choiseul Island and spoken by many groups outside the
Varisi District.
E) The Maps subseries contains seven blueprint drainage maps with Scheffler's (?) annotations of topographical features, villages
and trails.
SERIES 4: RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK
The RENDOVA ISLAND FIELDWORK series document's Scheffler's fieldwork and study of revitalization movements and is arranged
in five subseries: A) Diaries, B) Field Notes, C) Genealogies and Kinship Charts, D) Baniata Language Material, and E) Maps.
A) Diaries (1967-1968). The Rendova diaries contain travel accounts, observations on the Christian Fellowship Church, its
leader Silas Eto (Holy Mama) and Frances Harwood's field work.
B) The Notebooks contain census data and genealogical information collected on the Baniata side and Rouro.
C) The Genealogies and Kinship Charts subseries contains a single set of kinship charts.
D) The Baniata Language Materials subseries contains typescript comparative word lists, descriptions of grammatical forms,
exercises and a vocabulary compiled by Arthur Capell.
E) This subseries contains two commercial maps of Rendova Island (ca. 1965) with annotations and one commercial map of the
Solomon Islands group (1951).
SERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK
The MISCELLANEOUS FIELDWORK series contains notebooks with general observations and bibliographies on the Solomon Islands,
the specific island of Simbo (1960) and Ambrym Island in Vanuatu.
SERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
Most of the material in the WRITINGS OF OTHERS series relates to separatist church movements, including Frances Harwood's
research on the Christian Fellowship Church, an instance of a schismatic church in Melanesia. Also included are handwritten
notes, largely related to Ambrym Island, made by British anthropologist Bernard Deacon (1903-1927) and typescript copies of
Deacon's notes made by Camilla Wedgwood.
SERIES 7: PHOTOGRAPHS
The PHOTOGRAPHS series is arranged according to periods of fieldwork in two subseries: A) 1958-1961 and B) 1967-1968.
A) The first subseries contains slides and black-and-white photoprints taken between 1958 and 1961 on Choiseul Island, but
also on side trips to Papua New Guinea, Norfolk Island and Simbo Island. The images document village life in Voza, Scheffler's
base on Choiseul; shell money (kesa) and its surrounding rituals; war making; music making; and, people. The Simbo Island
images depict skull houses and shrines.
B) The second subseries contains images documenting the religious revitalization movements and activities on Rendova, Choiseul,
and New Georgia Islands, especially Paradise (Menakasapa) village and the Christian Fellowship Church and its leader, Silas
Eto.
SERIES 8: AUDIORECORDINGS
The AUDIO RECORDINGS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Choiseul and B) Rendova. Within each subseries the recordings
contain recitations of texts, pan flute music and songs.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Deacon, Bernard, 1903-1927 -- Notebooks, sketchbooks etc
Scheffler, Harold W. -- Archives
Choiseul (Solomon Islands)--Pictorial works
Christianity--Solomon Islands
Ethnology--Solomon Islands--Choiseul
Kinship--Solomon Islands--Choiseul
Land tenure--Solomon Islands--Choiseul
Malekula (Vanuatu)
Oceania
Rendova (Solomon Islands)--Pictorical works
Social change--Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands--History--20th century--Sources
Solomon Islands--Languages
Solomon Islands--Pictorial works
Solomon Islands--Religious life and customs
Solomon Islands--Social Conditions
Solomon Islands--Social Life and customs