William N. Smith papers
Photograph of William N. Smith in Tiburón Island, 1946-1950 Mexico (MS 316, Box 31).
Collection area: Borderlands
Collection dates: 1829-1975 bulk (bulk 1944-1970)
This collection is divided into seven series: Biographical Information, General Correspondence, Writings and Publisher Correspondence, Field Notebooks and Logs, Research Files, Audio-Visual Media, and Supplemental Material. The first series consists of William Neil Smith's resumes, educational records, personal calendar records and biographical clippings, plus lists of materials collected during his studies. The second series is Smith's correspondence with archaeologists, colleagues, officials, publishers and friends regarding his studies of the Seri Indians.
The third series is divided into two sub-series. The first sub-series contains published and unpublished articles about the Seri by William Neil Smith. The second sub-series contains published and unpublished articles by other authors which were collected by Smith.
The fourth series consists of William Neil Smith's personal notebooks and field logs. These contain notes on each visit to Seri Country including itineraries, purchases, mileage logs and names of contacts.
The fifth series, Research Files, is divided into four sub-series. The first sub-series, "Census and Genealogy," consists of Smith's detailed records of the Seri population, including names, dates of birth, marriage and death, and kinship. Smith's filing system of index cards using various color coding has been preserved. The second sub-series is the Sea Turtle Figurine Study, which includes drafts of a manuscript about the study, photographs and sketches of the figurines, Smith's classification system, and related correspondence. The third sub-series consists of documentation and notes regarding Smith's Seri film projects, including correspondence with Walt Disney Studios. The fourth sub-series consists of subject files dealing with various aspects of Seri culture and outside contacts with the Seri. There are also miscellaneous records of Smith's associations with various societies, schools and museums.
The sixth series is audio-visual materials and is divided into four sub-series: photographs and negatives, color slides, motion picture film, and sound recordings. All of these materials were produced by Smith during his visits with the Seri Indians. Additional photographs can be found in the series, Research Files. Films in box 34 have been placed in cold storage due to fragile condition.
The last series is supplemental material consisting of posters advertising his lectures, display cards and sketches.
William Neil "Bill" Smith, Jr. was born May 5, 1920, at New York City (Broad Street Hospital, Manhattan), New York, the son of William Neil Smith, an architect, and Florence E. Derby. After his father died in 1934, Bill and his mother moved to Arizona. He attended high school at the Southern Arizona School (Sabino Canyon) in Tucson, 1934-1936 and the Palo Verde Ranch School in Mesa, 1937-1938. He attended the University of Arizona from 1939-42 and 1946-48, studying under Byron Cummings(Kinishba Ruins-Fort Apache Reservation-University of Arizona Summer School, Department of Archaeology) and Edward Spicer. He worked in the summer of 1937 at the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School held at the Kinishba Ruins on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. He graduated in May 1948 with an A.B. in Anthropology. He took graduate course work in 1950. He also served briefly in the Army in 1944-45.
From 1945-1967, Smith made many extended ethnographical field trips to Sonora, Mexico, to study the Seri Indians at Desemboque and Tiburon Island. His research included lifestyle, customs, language, genealogy, kinship, and cultural changes due to the influence of outsiders. He assisted the Seris by bringing much needed medicines and supplies to them. On four occasions, he brought groups of Seris to the United States to experience different cultures. He sought to educate people in the United States and Mexico about Seri culture and the problem of cultural change affecting the Seris through numerous lectures, publications, and film projects.
After concluding his studies in Sonora, Smith during three trips to Asia (1971-1972, 1975-1982, 1985-1993) carried out anthropological research in Australia, Bali, Thailand, and the Maldive Islands where he completed a research paper for the Republic of Maldives Department of Education on Islamic Youth, Development from Birth to 20 Years in 1992. He also contributed four detailed manuscripts to the Australian Department of Aboriginal Affairs - Alice Springs, Northern Territory covering research and participant observer studies of tribal problems in the Northern Territories (1988-1991) and lectures. Since his return from third trip to Asia and Australia, Smith has lectured on Islamic culture and worked on various articles related to Southwestern and Sonoran archaelogical data from his earlier unpublished notes.
A collection guide explains what's in a collection. New to using our collections? Learn how to use a collection guide.
Collection guideThe collection has materials you can access online.
Access this collection
Visit us in person to access materials from this collection. Our materials are one-of-a-kind and require special care, so they can’t be checked out or taken home.
How to cite
Learn how to cite and use materials from Special Collections in your research.