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Ross (Harold) Papers
MSS 0733
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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: Harold Ross Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0733
Physical Description:
4.88 Linear feet
(9.5 archives boxes, 1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1962-2010 (bulk 1966-1980)
Abstract: Papers of cultural anthropologist Harold Marion Ross, who was known for his ethnographic studies of the Baegu people of Malaita
in the Solomon Islands. The collection includes correspondence, research files, manuscripts, notebooks, photographs, slides,
and audio recordings.
Harold Marion Ross was born June 11, 1936 to Gerda and Marion Ross in Kansas City, Missouri. After earning a B.A. magna cum
laude in anthropology from Harvard University in 1958, Ross served as a submarine officer in the US Navy and studied languages
at the University of Indiana. He returned to Harvard in 1962, continuing to serve in the US Naval Reserve until he retired
with the rank of Captain, and earned an M.A. in anthropology in 1964.
In 1966-1968 Ross conducted ethnographic field research for his doctoral dissertation in Malaita, in the Solomon Islands,
accompanied by his wife Kathryn Penstone Ross and their two children. Ross and his family lived with the Baegu, a traditional
agricultural community noted for unilineal descent, limited acculturation, and a shared market economy with a neighboring
fishing population on the Lau Lagoon.
Ross received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard in 1970, and then earned an M.B.A at Eastern Illinois University in 1974.
He joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1968 as assistant professor of anthropology, later
becoming associate professor and associate department head. Ross was professor of anthropology at St. Norbert College in Green
Bay, Wisconsin; dean and vice president for academic affairs at Daemen College in Buffalo, New York; and dean of faculty and
vice president for academic affairs at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri starting in 1990.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of anthropologist and professor Harold Marion Ross document his research among the Baegu people of Malaita in the
Solomon Islands and his teaching career in anthropology. The collection dates from 1962-2010 and is arranged in seven series:
1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) SUBJECT FILES, 4) RESEARCH PROJECTS, 5) JOURNALS & NOTEBOOKS, 6) IMAGES, AND 7) AUDIO RECORDINGS.
Photographic negatives are restricted. Researchers must request permission to view negatives from the Director of Special
Collections & Archives. Original audio tapes are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced. Personally
identifiable medical records are restricted until 2089.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Harold Ross Papers, MSS 733. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 2010.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Baegu (Melanesian people)
Ross, Harold M. -- Archives