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Finding Aid to the William R. Bascom Papers, 1933-1981
BANC MSS 82/163 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: William R. Bascom papers
Date (inclusive): 1933-1981
Collection Number: BANC MSS 82/163 c
Creators :
Bascom, William Russell, 1912-1981
Bascom, Berta
Bascom, Berta
Extent:
Number of containers: 40 cartons, 3 boxes
Linear feet: 51.2
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Includes papers related to Bascom's lifelong work on West African
art, culture, and folklore and his teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and
Northwestern University. Materials include personal and professional correspondence; field
notes; lecture notes; course notes; and manuscripts of books and articles. Some papers
written by his wife Berta Bascom are also included.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite
and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17,
U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of
University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of
the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
[Identification of item], William R. Bascom Papers, BANC MSS 82/163 c, The Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Copy of "Yoruba narrow band weaving," by William R. Bascom and Ruth M. Boyer (long
version with appendices) is also available on microfilm with call number BANC FILM 2283.
Copies of Havana field notes and Santería copy book no. 2, Cuba, 1948 (carton
28) are also available on microfilm with call number BANC FILM 3266.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Robert H. Lowie Museum of
Anthropology
University of California,
Berkeley. Dept. of Anthropology
American Folklore Society
Kiowa Apache Indians
Santeria
Gullahs
Yoruba (African people)
Pohnpei (Micronesia)
Faculty papers.
Lecture notes.
Manuscripts for publication.
Field notes.
The William R. Bascom papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Berta Bascom in July
1984.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Bancroft Library Staff in 2010.
William Russell Bascom was a pioneer in the field of African Studies and Folklore. He
received his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin and his PhD from
Northwestern University in 1936. He taught at Northwestern, Cambridge University, and the
University of California at Berkeley, where he was also director of the Lowie Museum of
Anthropology. During World War II, he joined the O.S.S. and co-authored
A Pocket Guide to West Africa.
Bascom was the first American anthropologist to do field work among the Yoruba people of
Nigeria. He made his first trip to Nigeria in 1937 at the age of 25. Over the next 23
years he spent a total of 5 years among the Yoruba, learning their culture and folklore
and describing in detail all aspects of their life. During his many periods of residence
in Nigeria, he and his wife Berta Montero Bascom assembled one of the foremost collections
of books and art of the Yoruba people, their folklore, and history.
Professional Activities, Awards, and Major Works
A one-time president of the American Folklore Society, Professor Bascom was awarded the
prestigious Giuseppe Pitre International Folklore Prize for one of his 10 books,
Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West
Africa.
Other major works include:
The Sociological Role of
the Yoruba Cult-Group
(1944),
Ponape: A Pacific Economy
in Transition
(1947),
The Yoruba of Southwestern
Nigeria
(1969),
African Art in Cultural Perspective: An
Introduction
(1973), and
Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba
Divination from Africa to the New World
(1980).
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes papers related to Bascom's lifelong work on West African art,
culture, and folklore and his teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and
Northwestern University. Materials include personal and professional correspondence; field
notes; lecture notes; course notes; and manuscripts of books and articles. Some papers
written by his wife Berta Bascom are also included.
The collection is arranged into eight series: correspondence, writings and publications,
research, teaching, U.C. Berkeley, professional associations, biographical materials, and
Berta Bascom papers.