Bascom (William R.) Collection - Africa, 1945-1998

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]

Online content

Online items

Summary

Title:
Bascom (William R.) Collection - Africa
Dates:
1945-1998
Creators:
Bascom, William Russell Bascom Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
Abstract:
Extent:
Call Numbers: Acc.1271, Acc.1301, Acc.1370, Acc.1477, Acc.1484, Acc.1656, Acc.1683, Acc.1770, Acc.1807, Acc.1890, Acc.1950, Acc.2058, Acc.2059, Acc.2063, Acc.2067, Acc.2115, Acc.2148, Acc.2205, Acc.2256, Acc.2277, Acc.2281, Acc.2285, Acc.2303, Acc.2308, Acc.2354, Acc.2460, Acc.2580, Acc.2731, Acc.2818, Acc.2819, Acc.2916, Acc.2924, Acc.2933, Acc.2988, Acc.3023, Acc.3072, Acc.3100, Acc.3170, Acc.3193, Acc.3274, Acc.3365, Acc.3367, Acc.3446, Acc.3515, Acc.3589, Acc.4614, Acc.4659, Acc.4661, Acc.4677, Acc.4685, Acc.4692, Acc.4696. Note: languages in accessions include English, French, and German, though most are written in English. Objects are from Africa, predominantly from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya; from the Yoruba culture/religion and Ashanti religion; wire recordings from Cuba and pots bought in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
Language:
Preferred citation:

Bascom (William R.) Collection - Africa. UC Berkeley, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Background

Scope and content:

Objects from various African countries and cultures, such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Yoruba culture/religion, and the Ashanti religion. Items within the collection include photographs of objects; photographs and prints of African countries and cultures; motion picture films titled “The Yoruba- Life in Southwestern Nigeria on the Guinea Coast of West Africa” (1950-51) and “Yoruba Crafts” (1950-51); reel-to-reel tapes on Yoruba drumming and vocal music in Nigeria (n.d.) and Cameroon music in West Africa (n.d.); wire recordings, twenty-two reels recorded in Cuba (1947-48), four reels of Yoruba Proverbs (1940), and two reels of public lectures from the University of Havana (1950); objects from various African countries include masks, figurines, carvings, stools, spoons, metalwork, mats, whistles, adzes, knives, textile samples, gold weights, drums, strings of beads; pots purchased in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

Biographical / historical:

William Russell Bascom was born on May 23, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois, and died on September 11, 1981 in San Francisco, California. Bascom received his B.A.in 1933 from the University of Wisconsin (Physics), his M.A. in 1936 from the University of Wisconsin (Anthropology), and his Ph.D. in 1939 from Northwestern University (Anthropology). Bascom specialized in the art and culture of West Africa and the African Diaspora, and is especially known for his studies of Nigerian Yoruba culture and religion. In 1954, Bascom crafted the “four functions of folklore.” He was the Director of the Robert H. Lowie Museum (present-day Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology) at the University of California, Berkeley from 1957 to 1979.

Acquisition information:
For more information on specifics, look at the accessions in the finding aid. For further specific information, request a research visit at PAHMA: https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/request-a-research-visit/

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by UC Berkeley, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology staff.
Date Prepared:
1945-1998
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

https://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/request-a-research-visit/

Terms of access:

Images and information are © 2020 The Regents of the University of California, all rights reserved. Images and information may be reproduced or transmitted, but not for commercial use. For commercial use, contact PAHMA-MediaPermissions@berkeley.edu. With the exception of objects and media for which the Museum does not hold copyright, this work is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. By downloading any information or images from this site, you agree to the terms of that license. Users are expected to abide by all copyright laws. Distribution, reproduction, or other use requires the written permission of any copyright and other rights holders unless the materials are in the public domain or authorized by fair use or other statutory exemption. It is the user’s obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in this collection.

Preferred citation:

Bascom (William R.) Collection - Africa. 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
PAHMA-Registration@berkeley.edu
Website