Inventory of the United States Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Survey Staff (Yale University) card file

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff

Hoover Institution Library and Archives

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Stanford University

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Title: United States. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Survey Staff (Yale University) card file

Date (inclusive): 1942

Collection Number: 55002

Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 39 oversize boxes (15.6 Linear Feet)

Abstract: Project to compile anthropological information on peoples of the Pacific Islands and East Asia. Notes, photographs, and extracts from printed sources, relating to the people of the Bonin and Izu Islands, the Carolines, Hokkaido, the Kuriles, the Marianas, the Marshalls, Micronesia, Burma, Siam, Indonesia, Nauru, the Ryukyus, and Formosa. Compiled in preparation for Allied military government administration in these areas.

Creator: United States. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Survey Staff (Yale University)

Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1955.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], United States Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Survey Staff (Yale University) card file, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Data Sets File Guide

The following data set codes are used for all areas except for Formosa/Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. From Outline of Cultural Materials: A Working Manual Prepared for Emergency Use by the Cross-Cultural Survey and the Strategic Index of the Americas , Yale University, circa 1943. More detailed information on Codes is available at the Hoover Institution.

Data Set Codes

10. Basic data
11. History and Culture Contact
12. Total Culture
13. Language
14. Communication
15. Exploitative Activities
16. Technology
17. Capital
18. Housing
19. Food
20. Drink and Indulgence
21. Dress and Adornment
22. Routine of Living
23. Labor
24. Specialization
25. Exchange
26. Finance
27. Transportation
28. Travel
29. Recreation
30. Art
31. Numbers and Measures
32. Lore and Learning
33. Reaction to Nature
34. Religion
35. Ethics
36. Property and Contract
37. Social Stratification
38. Family
39. Kinship
40. Kin and Local Groups
41. Government
42. Law and Social Control
43. Ingroup Conflict
44. War and Peace
45. Human Organism
46. Sex
47. Reproduction
48. Infancy
49. Childhood
50. Youth
51. Marriage
52. Adulthood
53. Old Age
54. Sickness
55. Death

Historical Note

These data files were developed on behalf of the Chief of Naval Operations Cross Cultural Survey Staff at Yale University. They were donated by the Navy Department to the Hoover Institution in November 1955.

From this raw data, a series of Civil Affairs Handbooks were prepared at the School of Naval Administration at Columbia University, in the period of 1943-1945, to be used by military government organizations moving into the areas surrendered by the Japanese.

For a working project outline the Cross Cultural Survey staff adapted an index and outline guide that had been set up for processing anthropological data concerning indigenous cultures of the Americas. A highly trained staff reviewed materials in western languages and some in Japanese. Abstracts and condensations of useful information were put on 5x8 inch slips and filed according to a numerical key to the Cross Cultural Survey outline.

Five sets of the files were established, with one each at Yale University, Columbia University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Fifth Naval District Intelligence Office (New York), and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at Washington.

Two research units were established at Columbia University. Under the direction of Commander George P. Murdock, one unit prepared Civil Affairs Handbooks for the Japanese mandated islands, the Ryukyus, and the Izu and Bonin Islands. The other, under the direction of Lieutenant George H. Kerr, prepared ten Handbooks (one covering the Formosa as a unit, one each for eight administrative subdivisions, and one Economic Supplement, done in cooperation with the Department of Commerce). Contributions were made to other agencies preparing Handbooks concerning Fisheries and Agriculture in Formosa. Materials were assembled for a Handbook on the aboriginal people of Formosa, but this was not completed before the military decision to bypass Formosa was made, and the intensive Formosa research and training program was abandoned.

In 1946 one set of Formosa materials was transferred from the Navy Department (Washington) through the Department of State to the American Consulate in Taipei. The Smithsonian set is reportedly at the Library of Congress. Two sets of Formosa materials used at Columbia in preparing the Navy Handbooks series are now in the Hoover Institution together with duplicate sets of material on Micronesia, the Ryukyus, and other areas.

Scope and Content of Collection

The survey file has been divided into island groups as follows:

I. Bonun and Izu Islands

II. Carolines

Eastern Carolines

East Central Carolines

Western Carolines

West Central Carolines

III. Hokkaido

IV. Kuriles

V. Marianas

VI. Marshalls

VII. Micronesia

VIII. Nauru

IX. Ryukyus

X. Formosa (Taiwan)

Bibliography Section, Formosa (Taiwan)

Geographical Section, Formosa (Taiwan)

Topical Section, Formosa (Taiwan)

Burma, Siam and Indonesia

The group is indicated in the upper right hand corner of the card. The cards for most island groups are coded by numbers by country following the numeric codes in the Outline of Cultural Materials: A working Manual Prepared for Emergency use by the Cross-Cultural Survey and the Strategic Index of the Americas, Volume II, Yale Anthropological Studies. A copy is available at the Hoover Institution.

In the upper left hand corner of each card appear three or four numbers (i.e. 1453) which are always underscored or checked by pencil. This is the survey number. The first two numerals (i.e. 14) indicate the major classification. Each major classification is then subdivided into minor classed by the third numeral, (i.e. 5). The minor classes may then be subdivided into sub-minor classes, indicated by the forth numeral (i.e. 3) 1453 would then be filed as class 14, minor group 5, sub-minor group 3. A sub-minor group is not always given.

Above the survey number is a source citation to the book number, author's name, and page number. Cards were filed by survey number, and within each survey number by book. For filing purposes, the author's name is ignored.

In the O.N.I./Cross Cultural Survey Files is a Data File Guide. This document contains an explanation of the subject matter of each major classification and its corresponding sub-divisions.

Island groups I-VII are explained in the Yale University Index. Group IX, the Ryukyus, uses the same basic system as Groups I through VIII except that the fourth numeral, for sub-minor groups, is not used in the survey number.

Group X, Formosa (Taiwan) is based on a different classification system due to its complexity and size. The original Index and Outline was devised for a body of materials concerning primitive societies. It served its purpose well in supporting research and publication on Micronesia, and was used in preparing the Civil Affairs Handbook for the Ryukyus. It was inadequate for filing data descriptive of the complex social and economic organization of contemporary Formosa.

The Formosa files at Columbia University were thereby recast. One set was organized under geographic headings, with topical subdivisions subordinate to the geographic divisions. A duplicate set was organized under topical headings, with geographic subdivisions wherever this could be done appropriately.

A substantial collection of photographs and photo-negatives is interfiled at appropriate places throughout these sets.

One set of Formosa materials at the Hoover Institution is set up under geographic headings, with topical subdivisions; the other is arranged under topical headings with geographic subdivision. Two set of materials for each of the other areas continue to be arranged according to the numerical Index of the original Cross Cultural Survey processing.

Note: In the course of repeated transfers between 1944 and 1955 the files were seriously disarranged. Persons using the files are requested to call attention to misfiled items.

Formosa (Taiwan) Data File Guide

The arrangement of the Formosa data files at the Hoover Institute does not follow the numerical index system prepared at New Haven by the Cross Cultural Survey staff. The original Index and Outline was devised for a body of materials concerning primitive societies. It served its purpose well in supporting research and publication on Micronesia, and was used in preparing the Civil Affairs Handbook for the Ryukyus. It was inadequate for filing data descriptive of the complex social and economic organization of contemporary Formosa.

The present Index Guide represents the arrangement of materials within the Topical File.

Note: In the course of repeated transfers between 1944 and 1955 the files were seriously disarranged. Persons using the files are requested to call attention to misfiled items.

More detailed information on Codes is available at the Hoover Institution

Formosa/Taiwan Data Set Codes

1100. Geography
1200. Maps and Mapping
1300. Natural Resources
1400. History
1500. Who's Who
2000. Population, Customs, and Characteristics
2100. Population, Customs, and Characteristics
2200. Languages, Dialects, Signs, Gestures
2300. Living Conditions, Relief and Welfare
2400. Health and Sanitation
2500. Education
2600. Religion
2700. Press
2800. Propaganda and Censorship
2900. Societies and Associations
3000. Colonial Policy and Foreign Relations
3100. Taiwan Government - General
3200. Provincial Government
3300. Local Government
3400. Civil Rights and Political Movements
3500. Property and Contract
3600. Law
3700. Police and Law Enforcement
3800. Courts and Judiciary
4000. Economics: General
4100. Agriculture
4200. Fishing and Marine Products
4300. Forest Products
4400. Mining and Metallurgy
4500. Manufacture and Industry
4600. Motive Power and Utilities
4700. Transportation
4800. Railroad Transportation
4900. Land Transportation (other than Railroad)
5000. Water Transportation
5100. Air Transportation (civil and military)
5200. Communications
5300. Labor
5400. Trade and Commerce
5500. Finance
5600. War and National Defense
5700. Civil Affairs: Data and Problems

Ryukyu Islands Data File Guide

Simplified Data File Guide based on the Outline of Cultural Materials: A Working Manual Prepared for Emergency Use by the Cross-Cultural Survey and the Strategic Index of the Americas , Yale University, circa 1943. More detailed information on Codes is available at the Hoover Institution.

Ryukyu Islands Data Codes

10. Basic Data
11. History
12. Local and Regional Culture
13. Language
14. Communications
15. Resources
16. Technology and Manufactures
17. Capital
18. Housing and Community Organization
19. Food
20. Drink, Narcotics, and Stimulants
21. Dress and Adornment
22. Living Conditions and Routine
23. Labor Supply and Organization
24. Divisions of Labor and Specialization
25. Trade and Marketing
26. Finance - including Insurance
27. Transportation - including Warehousing
28. Population Movements, Travel
29. Recreation
30. Aesthetics - Art and Literature
31. Numbers and Measures
32. Education - Lore and Learning
33. Attitudes toward Nature
34. Religion
35. Ethics
36. Communal Attitudes
37. Social Structure
38. Family Organization
39. Kinship System
40. Social Organization
41. Government
42. Law and Social Control
43. Ingroup Conflict
44. War and Peace
45. Human Organism
46. Sex
47. Reproduction
48. Infancy
49. Childhood
50. Youth
51. Marriage
52. Adulthood
53. Old Age
54. Sickness
55. Death

Arrangement

Arranged by country following the numeric codes in the Outline of Cultural Materials: A working Manual Prepared for Emergency use by the Cross-Cultural Survey and the Strategic Index of the Americas, Volume II, Yale Anthropological Studies

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States

Military government

Ethnology -- East Asia

Ethnology -- Oceania

box 1

I. Bonun and Izu Islands

II. Carolines

Eastern Carolines

box 2

Eastern Carolines

box 3

Eastern Carolines

box 4

Eastern Carolines

East Central Carolines

box 4

East Central Carolines

box 5

East Central Carolines

box 6

East Central Carolines

Western Carolines

box 7

Western Carolines

box 8

Western Carolines

box 9

Western Carolines

West Central Carolines

box 9

West Central Carolines

box 10

West Central Carolines

box 11

West Central Carolines

box 12

West Central Carolines

box 12

III. Hokkaido

box 13

IV. Kuriles

V. Marianas

box 13

V. Marianas

box 14

V. Marianas

box 15

V. Marianas

box 16

V. Marianas

VI. Marshalls

box 16

VI. Marshalls

box 17

VI. Marshalls

box 18

VI. Marshalls

VII. Micronesia

box 18

VII. Micronesia

box 19

VII. Micronesia

box 20

VII. Micronesia

VIII. Nauru

box 20

VIII. Nauru

box 21

VIII. Nauru

IX. Ryukyus

General note

See Ryukyu Islands Data File Guide for more information on the contents

box 21

IX. Ryukyus

box 22

IX. Ryukyus

box 23

IX. Ryukyus

X. Formosa (Taiwan)

General note

See Formosa/Taiwan Data File Guide for more information on the contents

box 23

Bibliography Section, Formosa (Taiwan)

box 24

Bibliography Section, Formosa (Taiwan)

box 24