Overview
The papers include personal and professional correspondence; Briggs' manuscripts on North Africa, Tuareg kinship and weapons, and peoples of the Sahara; research notes; photographs; watercolors; and ink drawings. A series of "miscellaneous" folders contains the notes of Carleton Coon, physical anthropology notes and materials relating to the 3rd Pan African Congress on Prehistory, 1955.
Dates
- Creation: 1930-1975 (inclusive)
Conditions Governing Access
Restrictions on access: none
Conditions Governing Use
Restrictions on use: none
Extent
3.3 linear (8 boxes)The Lloyd Cabot Briggs papers include professional and personal correspondence; Briggs' manuscripts on North Africa, Tuareg kinship and weapons, and peoples of the Sahara; research notes; photographs; watercolors; and ink drawings. A series of "miscellaneous" folders contains the notes of Carleton Coon (possibly relating to The Races of Europe, 1939), physical anthropology notes (including reference to "Disharmony in Negro"), and materials relating to the 3rd Pan African Congress on Prehistory, 1955.
In the same accession, there are related ethnographic objects from the Tuareg people of Algeria, including tents and tent poles, mats, saddles, lock boxes, amulets, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and embroidered velvet wedding dress. Supporting documentation in the accession file for objects includes field correspondence, objects lists, an article by Briggs, and photographs of the artifacts.
Biographical Sketch
Lloyd Cabot Briggs was an anthropologist who specialized in the prehistory of northwest Africa, but was also interested in the ethnology of Saharan peoples, especially the Tuareg. LLoyd Cabot Briggs was the son of Lloyd Vernon Briggs and Mary Tilotson Cabot Briggs. His father was a prominent Boston psychiatrist. A graduate of Harvard (B.A. 1931, M.A. 1935, Ph.D. 1952), Briggs was a Research Fellow in North African Anthropology at the Peabody Museum from 1952 until his death in 1975. He was also affiliated with the Museum through the American School for Prehistoric Research, of which he was an active member from the late 1940s until his death. From 1967 on, Briggs served as the chairman of the anthropology department at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, and from 1970 he was a technical consultant to the Laboratory of Applied Anthropology, University of Paris. Briggs left his ethnographic collection, working library, and professional papers to the Peabody Museum. Briggs' publications include: Living Races of the Sahara Desert (1958), Tribes of the Sahara (1960), Archaeologicial Investigations near Tipasa, Algeria (1963), and No More for Ever (1964), with N. L. Guede. He was honored by France with the Ordre du Merite, Saharien (1960) for his African studies.
Sources:
- Doucette, Scott, Lloyd Cabot Briggs, 1909-1975,http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/briggs_lloyd.html
- Anthropology News, Issue 7. September 1975. p. 4.
Physical Location
Peabody Museum Archives
Immediate Source of Acquisition
975-32
These papers were donated by the Estate of Lloyd Cabot Briggs in 1975.
General note
Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.
Processed by:
Preliminary inventory by Victoria Swerdlow, 1987; completion of processing by Brooke Norton, Boston Univesity Class of 2011; 2010; edited by Patricia H. Kervick, Associate Archivist; 2010.
- Title
- Briggs, Lloyd Cabot (1909-1975) Papers, 1930-1975, inclusive: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Peabody Museum Archives
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- pea00057
Repository Details
Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository
Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.