O'Neale (Lila M.) Collection - Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico, 1908-1948

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Summary

Title:
O'Neale (Lila M.) Collection - Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico
Dates:
1908-1948
Creators:
UC Design Department Lila O'Neale; O'Neale
Abstract:
Extent:
The O'Neale (Lila M.) Collection contains nine (9) accessions (Acc.677; Acc.1064; Acc.1947i; Acc.1948i; Acc.1949a; Acc.1950e; Acc.2234; Acc.3032.03; Acc.4308); six (6) banker boxes and one (1) oversized box (DOC1930.1)
Language:
Preferred citation:

O'Neale (Lila M.) Collection - Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. UC Berkeley, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Background

Scope and content:

The O'Neale (Lila M.) Research Archive (DOC1930.1) contains a diverse array of documentation, media, and archaeological specimens. Textile analyses--including notes on provenience, fabric, color, design, size, pattern measurements, and stitching techniques--are present throughout the Research Archive. Various drawings, black-and-white photographs, and photo-negatives of South and Central American textiles are similarly prominent. What is more, the Research Archive contains several textile and thread samples from both Peru and Mexico. The O'Neale (Lila M.) accessions include archaeological specimens, looms, cloth fragments, and textiles from Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, California, and the Southwestern United States. Also see: Lila M. O'Neale papers, BANC MSS 2013/185, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Biographical / historical:

Lila Morris O’Neale (1886 - 1948) was born in Buxton, North Dakota on November 2, 1886 and died from pneumonia on February 2, 1948 at the age of 61. Prior to obtaining her academic degrees, O’Neale was a teacher in San Jose, California. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University in 1910. Then in 1916, O’Neale received a Bachelor’s in Household Art from Columbia University. In 1927, O’Neale began studying decorative arts in the Design Department at the University of California-Berkeley, where she received her masters degree and then, in 1930, her PhD in Anthropology at the age of 44. After graduating, O’Neale became a professor at the University of California-Berkeley teaching history, design, and analysis of textiles and costumes. In 1931, O’Neale became the first female professor of Anthropology. In addition to teaching, O'Neale served as the Associate Curator of Textiles at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley, now the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. That same year, O’Neale was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship that funded her research in Peru concerning Inca and pre-Inca textiles. O’Neale completed four monographs throughout her life encompassing her work: Textile Periods in Ancient Peru (1930), Yurok-Karuk Basket Weavers (1932), Papago Color Designations (1943, with Juan Dolores) and Textiles of Highland Guatemala (1945). Following her death in 1948, O’Neale was succeeded by Anna H. Gayton, an anthropologist and folklorist at the University of California, Berkeley. Throughout the 1950s, Gayton compiled and interpreted a significant portion of O’Neale’s scholarship, and therefore her legacy is undoubtedly relevant to the history of the Research Archive.

Acquisition information:
Much of O'Neale's object collections were donated to the Hearst Museum of Anthropology after her death and reside under several accession numbers (Acc.677; Acc.1064; Acc.1947i; Acc.1948i; Acc.1949a; Acc.1950e; Acc.2234; UC Design Department transfer: Acc.3032.03; and Acc.4308).

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Textiles
Names:
UC Design Department
Places:
Peru
Guatemala
Mexico

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by UC Berkeley, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology staff.
Date Prepared:
1908-1948
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

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Terms of access:

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Preferred citation:

O'Neale (Lila M.) Collection - Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. UC Berkeley, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Location of this collection:
103 Anthropology and Art Practice Building
Berkeley, CA 94720-3712, US
Contact:
(510) 643-6390
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