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Arnold Leonard and T. Scarlett Epstein Papers
MSS 0022
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Title: Arnold Leonard and T. Scarlett Epstein Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0022
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
11.4 Linear feet
(25 archives boxes, 1 flat box, 1 card file box, 15 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1949-1995
Abstract: Papers of anthropologists Arnold Leonard and Trude Scarlett Epstein. The accession processed in 1985 contains field notes
and produce market studies compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961, relating to the Tolai people from the Island of
New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The accessions processed in 1993 includes correspondence, field notes, research materials,
writings, and maps. The Arnold Epstein portion of the collection includes field notes made in Zambia during the 1950s and
1960s that focus on government, communities, unions and laws; notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern
Rhodesia (1953-1954); and information on the 1968 election process of the Tolai people on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The Trude
Epstein portion of the collection focuses on economic conditions and market trends of the Tolai people in the 1950s and 1960s.
The accessions processed in 1999 are solely representative of A.L. Epstein and include correspondence, writings, talks and
seminar presentations, field notes on Tolai marriage, and biographical materials.
Creator:
Epstein, A. L. (Arnold Leonard)
Creator:
Epstein, T. Scarlett (Trude Scarlett)
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of anthropologists Arnold Leonard and Trude Scarlett Epstein. The accession processed in 1985 contains field notes
and produce market studies compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961, relating to the Tolai people from the Island of
New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The accessions processed in 1993 includes correspondence, field notes, research materials,
writings, and maps. The Arnold Epstein portion of the collection includes field notes made in Zambia during the 1950s and
1960s that focus on government, communities, unions and laws; notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern
Rhodesia (1953-1954); and information on the 1968 election process of the Tolai people on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The Trude
Epstein portion of the collection focuses on economic conditions and market trends of the Tolai people in the 1950s and 1960s.
The accessions processed in 1999 are solely representative of A.L. Epstein and include correspondence, writings, talks and
seminar presentations, field notes on Tolai marriage, and biographical materials.
Accession Processed in 1985
Primarily field notes and other data compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961. The notes cover a wide variety of topics
regarding the Tolai people of Matupit, an island in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. Topics include beliefs
and customs, marriage and kinship, economy and business, and governmental structures.
Arranged in two series: 1) FIELD NOTES, and 2) PRODUCE MARKET STUDIES
Accessions Processed in 1993
Correspondence, field notes, research materials, writings, and maps. Material dates from 1949-1981, with the bulk dating from
the 1950s and 1960s. The A.L. Epstein portion of the collection is a rich source of unique materials that describe the political
and social structure of peoples in Zambia during the 1950s and 1960s, with a focus on government, community, unions, and law.
It also includes notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern Rhodesia (1953-1954), and information on
the 1968 election process on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The T.S. Epstein portion of the papers also provides information on
the political and social structure of the Tolai people from the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s and
1960s, with particular emphasis on economic conditions and trends in this region.
Arranged in nine series: 3) CORRESPONDENCE 4) A.L. EPSTEIN FIELD NOTES, 5) A.L. EPSTEIN RESEARCH MATERIALS, 6) A.L. EPSTEIN
WRITINGS, 7) T.S. EPSTEIN FIELD NOTES, 8) T.S. EPSTEIN ANALYTICAL STUDIES AND SURVEYS, 9) T.S. EPSTEIN WRITINGS, 10) WRITINGS
BY OTHERS, and 11) MAPS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
Accessions Processed in 1999
The accessions processed in 1999 relate almost exclusively to A.L. Epstein and represent research and scholarship conducted
from 1985-1995 on cultures in Papua New Guinea and Africa. Includes notes, correspondence and reviews associated with Epstein's
journal articles and books; correspondence with family members, friends and colleagues; talks and seminar presentations on
research in Northern Rhodesia and southern Africa; a single field notebook on Tolai marriage (1986); miscellaneous materials,
and audio recordings.
Arranged in six series: 12) CORRESPONDENCE, 13) WRITINGS, 14) TALKS AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS, 15) FIELD NOTES, 16) MISCELLANEOUS
MATERIALS, and 17) AUDIO RECORDINGS.
Arnold Leonard (Bill) Epstein, anthropologist, professor and writer, was born in Liverpool, England, on September 13, 1924.
He served in the Royal Navy during the war. In 1944, he received a law degree from Queen's University in Belfast, Northern
Ireland, and a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Manchester in 1955. His post-doctoral research (1950-1956)
at the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Lansaka, Northern Rhodesia, involved the study of African native tribal law.
After returning to England, Epstein worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester (1957-1958) where met
his future wife, Trude Scarlett Trent. Together they undertook a study of Tolai culture on the island of New Britain, Papua
New Guinea. They first went to Rapitok, then to Matupit, where Epstein studied the legal, political and social structure of
the Tolai people. T.S. Epstein continued her own research on the economic affairs of the Gazelle Peninsula. They returned
to England in 1960 and Epstein was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester in
1961, where he remained until 1966. He received a fellowship from the Australian National University in Canberra and taught
there from 1966-1972, serving as the Head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology from 1970-1972.
In 1972, Epstein was appointed professor of social anthropology at the School of African and Asian Studies at the University
of Sussex. In 1974, he received a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
In 1981, Epstein spent a year at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies in Wessenaar.
Trude Scarlett Epstein, anthropologist, economist and writer, was born on July 13, 1922. She studied economic development
and social change in the Mysore villages of southern India (1954-1956, 1970). She also conducted research on economic structures
of the Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain, Papua New Guinea, during 1959-1960 and 1969-1970.
In 1959, T.S. Epstein was appointed Senior Fellow in the Department of Economics at the Institute of Development Studies,
Australian National University. She remained there until 1972 when she was later appointed professor at the Institute of Development
Studies, University of Sussex in Brighton, England.
Acquired, 1984-1999.
The typescript of "Melanesian Masquerade: The Male Cult among the Tolai of the Gazelle Peninsula" located in Box 26 is restricted
until 2018. The audio recordings in Series 17, Box 27 are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced in
advance.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Arnold Leonard and T. Scarlett Epstein Papers, MSS 22. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aronoff, Michael -- Correspondence
Colson, Elizabeth, 1917- -- Correspondence
Devereux, George, 1908-1985 -- Correspondence
Epstein, A. L. (Arnold Leonard) -- Archives
Epstein, T. Scarlett (Trude Scarlett) -- Archives
Firth, Raymond, 1901-2002 -- Correspondence
Mitchell, Clyde -- Correspondence
Tuzin, Donald F. -- Correspondence
Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Matupi Island
Markets -- Papua New Guinea
Matupit Island (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs
Oceania
Produce trade -- Papua New Guinea
Tolai (Melanesian People)