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Edwin Cook Papers
MSS 0187
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Table of contents
Creator:
Cook, Edwin A.
Title: Edwin Cook Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1944 - 1984
Extent:
20.20 linear feet
(32 archives boxes, 15 card file boxes, 10 oversize folders.)
Abstract: Papers of Edwin Aubrey Cook (1932-1984), American anthropologist, professor, and specialist in Manga culture in Papua New
Guinea. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1959 and attended Yale University for his graduate education. Cook
devoted his career to anthropological work, focusing on kinship and social structure of the Manga tribe in Papua New Guinea.
He taught at the University of Hawaii; University of California, Davis; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and Florida
State University. He served as the book review and articles editor in Social/Cultural Anthropology for AMERICAN ANTHROPLOGIST.
Although the papers span 1944-1984, the bulk of the collection was created between 1964-1973. The bulk of the collection
is comprised of manuscripts, reprints and audiorecordings relating largely to Cook's anthropological studies of native New
Guinea society.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0187
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Not Available
Edwin Cook Papers, MSS 0187. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Edwin Aubrey Cook, American anthropologist, was born in 1932. He attended the University of Arizona, where his interest in
anthropology was stimulated by the guidance of Professor Edward H. Spicer. After graduating with high distinction and honors
in 1959, Cook went on to graduate study at Yale University and was further influenced by Professors Floyd G. Lounsbury, Harold
W. Scheffler, and Leopold J. Pospisil. While working with Pospisil, Cook developed an interest in New Guinea. Cook conducted
field work in the Jimi River District of the Western Highlands District (now Province) of Papua New Guinea from 1961 through
1963, with support from the National Institutes of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Cook's dissertation, MANGA SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, was presented in 1967.
Cook made a total of four visits to the Manga tribe, with his final visit being completed in the summer of 1981. His research
interests encompassed many aspects of the Manga tribe's transition into the modern world, from first contact in 1956 to the
problems of post-independence. He was particularly interested in problems of social structure and kinship. His interest
in this area is reflected in the book, BLOOD AND SEMEN: KINSHIP SYSTEMS OF HIGHLAND NEW GUINEA (University of Michigan, 1980),
which he coedited with Denise O'Brien.
Cook taught anthropology at the University of Hawaii (1966-68), the University of California at Davis (1968-70), Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale (1971-78), and at Florida State University (1978-1984). He was an active member of the
Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania, as well as serving as the book review and articles editor in Social/Cultural
Anthropology for AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST from 1974 through 1978.
Cook died in Tallahassee, Florida, on April 24, 1984. He was married to the anthropologist Susan Pflanz Cook.
Scope and Content of Collection
Accession Processed in 1995
The Edwin Cook Papers contain anthropological investigations in Papua New Guinea and include manuscripts, reprints, publications,
photographs, genealogy charts, notecards, data punchcards, maps, and audiorecordings created between 1944-1984. The collection
is arranged in five series: 1) SUBJECT FILES, 2) WRITINGS, 3) AUDIORECORDINGS, 4) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 5) WRITINGS OF OTHERS.
SERIES 1: SUBJECT FILES
The SUBJECT FILES series is the largest and most extensive series, containing genealogy charts, the Holtzman Inkblot Technique
books and forms, Mount Hagen Primary "T" School curriculum publications, New Guinea kinship books, T.A.T. (Thematic Apperception
Test) papers, and maps. This series is organized alphabetically.
SERIES 2: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS series is arranged in four subseries: A) Books, Papers and Journal Articles, B) Fieldnotes, C) Computer Punch
Cards, and D) Language Dictionary Card File. The Books, Papers and Journal Articles subseries contains manuscripts for his
book BLOOD AND SEMEN: KINSHIP SYSTEMS OF HIGHLAND NEW GUINEA, Manga pacification manuscripts and a preliminary draft of ZEUS,
PIGS AND INITIATION. The Fieldnotes subseries contains comments on patrol reports, interviews and diaries that date from
1959-1968. The Computer Punch Cards subseries are T.A.T. interviews on kinship, linguistics, psychology and stories, punched
out and computer-typed at the top of each card. The Language Dictionary Card File subseries is a collection of notecards
on the Narak language translated to English.
SERIES 3: AUDIORECORDINGS
The AUDIORECORDINGS series, spanning 1958-1972, contains taperecordings of interviews, song learning, church functions, festivals,
meetings, stories and T.A.T. responses. The Narak language tapes were recorded by Stephen Wurm in 1958, prior to Cook's arrival.
This series is organized in the original order numbered by Cook.
SERIES 4: PHOTOGRAPHS
The PHOTOGRAPHS series comprises two folders: one of aerial prints of mountainous terrain, the other of contact sheets of
village activities.
SERIES 5: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
The WRITINGS OF OTHERS series contains reprints of other anthropologist's articles that are substantially annotated by Cook.
Reprints from Leopold J. Pospisil, George Peter Murdock, William A. Lessa, Robert M. Glasse, Harold Scheffler and A.C. Van
der Leeden are included within this series, which spans from 1955-1979 and is organized alphabetically.
Accession Processed in 2006
The accession processed in 2006 contains Edwin Cook's research of Papua New Guinea during the trips he made in 1961-1963 and
1971-1972; some materials from his 1950s graduate work; and his last trip to Papua New Guinea in 1981. The materials include
daily notebooks, typed notecards, slides and prints, and manuscripts. The accession is arranged in eight series: 6) MISCELLANEOUS
MATERIALS, 7) CORRESPONDENCE, 8) FIELD NOTES, 9) WRITINGS, 10) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 11) SUBJECT FILES, 12) PHOTOGRAPHS, and
13) SUSAN PLANZ-COOK MATERIALS.
SERIES 6: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series includes biographical, employment and grant materials dating from 1958-1983.
SERIES 7: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series contains letters dating 1960-1983. The correspondence reflects his various trips to Papua New Guinea,
his time as the book review and articles editor for the AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, and interactions with other anthropologists
and faculty members.
SERIES 8: FIELD NOTES
The FIELD NOTES series is arranged in two subseries: A) Handwritten Notes and B) Typewritten Notes. The Handwritten Notes
subseries are daily note entries from 1961-63, 1971-72 and 1981 trips to Papua New Guinea. The Typewritten Notes are arranged
by subject on filing cards.
SERIES 9: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS series contains notes, drafts and manuscripts for articles and other works including drafts of ZEUS, PIGS AND
INITIATION and handwritten notes and typed drafts of CHILDREN MAKE ME HAPPY: FERTILITY DECISION MAKING AMONG THE MANGA co-authored
with his wife, Dr. Susan Planz-Cook.
SERIES 10: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
The WRITINGS OF OTHERS series is mainly articles by other anthropologists sent to Edwin Cook for review before publication
or presentation.
SERIES 11: SUBJECT FILES
The SUBJECT FILES series contains research files from Papua New Guinea, including interview notes, census records, local government
rules, and tribal genealogy notes. It also includes many files on the Family Fertility Project done during 1981. One notable
file is that on the Adultery Case of Men; these notes were heavily used in papers by Edwin Cook and in a joint paper with
Susan Planz-Cook, published after Edwin Cook's death.
SERIES 12: PHOTOGRAPHS
The PHOTOGRAPHS series depicts village life shots, ritual practices such as bride price bargaining, an adultery trial, and
natives posed in ceremonial dress. It is arranged in two subseries: A) Photoprints and B) Slides. The photoprints include
black-and-white photos with descriptions, negatives, and contact sheets from the 1961-63 and 1971-72 trips to New Guinea.
The Slides subseries is mostly from the 1971-72 trip, with a couple folders from the 1961-63 trip.
SERIES 13: SUSAN PLANZ-COOK MATERIALS
The SUSAN PLANZ-COOK MATERIALS series is arranged in three subseries: A) Miscellaneous, B) Writings and C) Field Notes. Susan
Planz-Cook, Edwin Cook's second wife, was an anthropologist studying the tribes in Papua New Guinea and accompanied her husband
on his 1971-72 and 1981 trips, working on her own and their joint research. The Miscellaneous subseries contains biographical
information and interview notes. The Writings subseries contains her 1977 dissertation and her paper LACTATION AND THE REPRODUCTIVE
CYCLE AMONG THE MANGA. The Field Notes subseries contains notes from her 1971-72 and 1981 trips to New Guinea.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Cook, Edwin A. -- Archives
Pflanz, Susan Marie
Manga (Papua New Guinean people)
Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Western Highlands Province
Social structure -- Papua New Guinea -- Western Highlands Province
Kinship -- New Guinea
Adultery -- New Guinea
Thematic Apperception Test
New Guinea -- Social life and customs
Papua New Guinea -- Western Highlands Province
Cook, Edwin A. -- Blood and semen