Professional correspondence, notes, and manuscripts of Elsie Clews Parsons relating to research in folklore and anthropology. Subcollection I includes much of the most significant material relating to Parsons's fieldwork among the Indians of the American Southwest (Acoma, Hopi, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Pecos, Picuris, Taos, Tewa, Zuni), Mexico (Mitla), and the West Indies.

Parsons I is organized essentially as received, with no coherent, overall arrangement, but with good topical arrangement at a more refined level. The correspondence relating to Parsons's research on Indians is indexed in Freeman and Smith's Guide to Manuscripts Relating to the American Indian....

The Parsons II Papers (Ms. Coll. 29) is comprised of 26.25 linear feet of personal and professional correspondence, early childhood material, miscellaneous geneaological, autobiographical, and other manuscripts, financial records, and photographs. acquired in 1985. A rich assemblage, Parsons II differs from the previous Parsons accession in documenting a larger scope of Parsons' life, and in particular, it includes a wealth of family and personal material and a greater representation of her interests outside of anthropology and folklore.

Parsons II The more personal, family material includes correspondence between Parsons and her children, and more extensively (1898-1925) with her husband Herbert (1869-1925), many written while Parsons was conducting research in field. Many other anthropologists are represented in the correspondence, the most notable being the large number of letters (ca. 1915-1930s) from Alfred L. Kroeber, whose letters discuss personal matters, the state of anthropology at Berkeley and elsewhere, and colleagues and mutual friends.

The collection also includes an interesting family genealogy, "Record of Family Faculties" (a printed form-book devised by Francis Galton) which includes photographs of Parsons and others, with a detailed description of herself, and Parsons's financial records, which provide detailed documentation of Parsons's self-financed field research during the 1920s and 1930s.

contains incoming and outgoing manuscript and typescript letters, postcards and telegrams generated during Parsons' career. Series I is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's name and then chronologically within each file. Chronologically, the correspondence is evenly distributed. Colleague's manuscript articles and short papers are included in this series under the author's name. Unidentified correspondence has been filed as "Unidentified" and is arranged chronologically.

Correspondence relates to Parsons' interests in sociology, anthropology, and professional and political organizations. In ambiguous cases of professional vs. personal relationships, the correspondence has been filed in this series. Correspondents include: Franz Boas, Randolph S. Bourne, Clarence Day, Jr., P.E. Goddard, Francis Hackett, A.L. Kroeber, C. Grant La Farge, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Gladys A. Reichard, and Morris Titiev.

includes letters from family members, childhood friends, domestic help, and people with whom Parsons had primarily social relations. There is extensive correspondence with her husband, Herbert, and her son, John, both of which contain interesting information on herfield work in the Southwest and in Mexico. Series II is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically within each file.

contains Parsons' addresses, lectures, and manuscripts. Notes or drafts that can be identified have been placed in this series. Unidentifiable notes or drafts have been placed in Series IV as "Miscellaneous." Correspondence with publishers, critiques from colleagues, and printed reviews have been placed in this series by manuscript title. Arrangement is alphabetical by type of material (e.g. Address, Manuscript), and within each type alphabetical by title. There is a bibliographic card file kept by Parsons from 1914 to 1920, listing articles sent to publishers with notes made on rejections and acceptances. Some items are from Parsons' graduate coursework at Columbia University. Subjects include all of Parsons' interests: anthropology of the Southwest, sociology, feminism, pacifism, and folklore, in addition to a few fictional works. Unpublished manuscripts include: "In the Southwest," "The Imaginary Mistress," "Journal of a Feminist," and "Journal of a Pacifist."

contains primarily notes on Indians of the Southwest, especially the Hopi and the Zuni, and Mexico. The Mexican material includes two handwritten manuscripts of "La Conquista," which relates the historical events between Montezuma and Cortez. The undated "Conquista" manuscript contains elaborate pen-and-ink drawings. There is also a large section of notes on Arabic and Sudanese folklore, as well as that of Nova Scotia, the Cape Verde Islands, and several other island communities. In addition, there is a smaller section of notes on the folklore of African-American communities. This series also includes the stenographer's notebooks kept by Parsons' secretary, Anne Nagle, from the years 1929-1935?. All of Nagle's notebooks are taken in Gregg shorthand, and contain correspondence, notes and tales. Notebooks and notes are arranged alphabetically by subject, and then chronologically within each subject. Unidentified notes appear in this series under "Miscellaneous." The bulk dates for the notebooks are from 1915 to 1932.

primarily contains papers of Elsie Clews Parsons' husband. This series is narrow in its focus; it contains personal correspondence with their children and other relatives, and includes material on his work with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe in 1918. The bulk of the material in this series dates from 1916 to 1920. Herbert's correspondence with Elsie appears in Series II. N.B. The bulk of Herbert Parsons' papers are deposited in the Columbia University Libraries.

contains research conducted by Hare for his biography, A Woman's Quest for Science: Portrait of Anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, 1985). This series includes background information, copies of Parsons' publications, and correspondence between Hare and Parsons' colleagues and repositories that hold letters from Parsons. Photocopies of Parsons' letters collected by Hare are filed in this series under the recipients' names. There are interesting reminiscences of Parsons by Ralph L. Beals and Arthur Huff Fauset.

As this material was gathered from various institutional and people, some correspondence and supporting material which appears in this series carries restrictions on duplication. All restrictions are noted on the folder.

contains newspaper clippings, concert programs, museum pamphlets, postcards, miscellaneous items, and a few artifacts from Parsons' possessions. There is a beautiful portfolio which originally contained a large portion of photographs and ephemera. Of interest in this series are the clippings on the Bursum Bill regarding Indian rights. The poems to Elsie and Herbert Parsons, and "Marriage Customs and Taboos Among the Early Heterodites" are amusing. Other ephemera may be found in Ser. VIII, [Scrapbook] which includes photographs as well as commencement programs, correspondence, and passenger lists from various trips.

holds prints, negatives, plates, and albums of family, friends, and homes. Of note are the negatives of Elsie and Herbert's 1905 trip with William Howard Taft to the Philippines, and two mini-albums by Gladys A. Reichard with photographs of Parsons, Boas, and Margaret Mead among others. With the exception of Mexico, there are very few photographs of Parsons' field trips and subjects of study. There is a large series of photographs, and negatives, of John and Lissa Parsons from 1908. There are also a small group of photographs of Elsie Clews as a young girl. Of particular note in this series is the "Record of Family Faculties" which includes photographs of and biographical information on the Parsons and Clews families. The series is arranged alphabetically by subject, and then chronologically. Unidentified subjects were filed under "Unidentified."

primarily contains accounts with banks and stock brokers (mostly dating after Herbert's death in 1925) and domestic bills and receipts (1906-1928). The bills and receipts are arranged by type of alphabetical order by type of material (e.g. Accounts), and then in alphabetical order by folder title, and then in chronological order.

contains correspondence and account information related to the settlement of Parsons' estate. The principal executors were John Parsons and Elsie Parsons Kennedy, though Herbert and McIlvaine conducted some estate business. The series is organized alphabetically by type of material (e.g., Accounts), and then in alphabetical order by folder title, and then in chronological order. The bulk dates for the material in this series are from 1942 to 1945.