Roland B. Dixon lecture notes and class materials
Overview
Roland Burrage Dixon (1875-1934) was a professor of anthropology at Harvard University. At the Harvard Peabody Museum, Dixon organized one of the most comprehensive and functional anthropological libraries in the world and also developed Harvard into a leading center for the training of anthropologists. The lecture notes, bibliographies, reading lists, outlines, and other records in this collection document Roland B. Dixon's teaching activities at Harvard University in the 1920s.
Dates
- Creation: [circa 1920s]
Creator
- Dixon, Roland Burrage, 1875-1934 (Person)
Researcher Access
Open for research.
Extent
.50 cubic feet (1 document box)The lecture notes, bibliographies, reading lists, outlines, and other records in this collection document Roland B. Dixon's teaching activities at Harvard University in the 1920s. The records reveal Dixon as a theorist and scholar; illustrate his classroom teaching methods and instruction; and offer a glimpse into the teaching of anthropology, American archaeology, and ethnography at Harvard. Of interest are Dixon's lecture notes that center on indigenous peoples' cultural lives in North and South America, Asia, and the Oceania area, including Australia. These notes provide insight into Dixon's research methodology and critical thinking skills to formulate ideas on the organization and interpretation of anthropological facts.
Biographical note on Roland Burrage Dixon
Roland Burrage Dixon (1875-1934) was a professor of anthropology at Harvard University. At the Harvard Peabody Museum, Dixon organized one of the most comprehensive and functional anthropological libraries in the world and also developed Harvard into a leading center for the training of anthropologists.
Dixon spent his entire teaching career at Harvard, starting as an assistant in anthropology (1897) and eventually rising to professor (1915). In 1904, Dixon became Librarian of the Peabody Museum, in 1909 Secretary, and 1912 Curator of Ethnology. In 1918, after World War I, Dixon was appointed an ethnologist for the American Peace Commission to Negotiate Peace. Dixon's ethnological research focused on the interrelationship between culture and the natural environment. Dixon's fieldwork began among the indigenous peoples of British Columbia, Alaska, and California. Later, he spent time in New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, and Fuji. Dixon's work also included ethnographic research in the Himalayas, Assam and Upper Burma, the Malay Peninsula and Java, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Acquisition Information
- Received from the Harvard University Peabody Museum, 1995 May 19; Accession 13082.
Processing Information
This finding aid was created in April 2021 by Dominic P. Grandinetti.
Information for this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories, reference sources, and container management data. The collection was not re-examined.
Dates and titles supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.
Alma ID
99155397213203941
Creator
- Dixon, Roland Burrage, 1875-1934 (Person)
- Title
- Dixon, Roland Burrage, 1875-1934. Roland B. Dixon lecture notes and class materials, [circa 1920s]: an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua33021
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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