Inventory of the Weston La Barre Papers, 1930-1996
Weston La Barre (1911-1996) was an
anthropology professor at Duke University from 1946 to 1977. Prior to coming to Duke, La Barre
worked in military intelligence in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The Weston La Barre Papers
include correspondence, publications, lectures, committee materials, teaching materials,
photographs, audio recordings, scrapbooks and other materials. La Barre's professional interests
included cultural anthropology, religion, psychodelic drugs such as peyote, and psychology. Major
correspondents include George Devereux, Allen Ginsberg, Alexander Morin, Richard Evans Schultes,
and Howard Stein.
- Title
- Weston La Barre Papers, 1930-1996.
- Creator
-
La Barre, Weston, 1911-
- Extent
- 31 Linear Feet, , 30,000 Items
- Repository
- University Archives, Duke University
- Location
- For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult University Archives, Duke University.
- Language
- English.
The Weston La Barre Papers include correspondence, publications, lectures, committee
materials, teaching materials, photographs, audio recordings, scrapbooks and other materials
related to the personal life and professional career of anthropologist Weston La Barre. The
collection is arranged into 8 series. The first series,
Personal, contains materials related to La Barre's family, friends,
education, and Navy career during World War II. The next series,
Correspondence, contains extensive chronological files of letters to
and from La Barre's colleagues and friends. Several correspondents were filed by name, including
George Devereux, Allen Ginsberg, Alexander Morin, Richard Evans Schultes, and Howard Stein. The
following series,
Publications, includes articles and books that La Barre wrote during
his long career. It also includes drafts, editing notes, correspondence, and other materials
related to the writings. Next,
Lectures and Addresses includes the text of many speeches La Barre
made across the country, as well as materials related to the conferences and events at which La
Barre spoke.
La Barre's participation in conferences, committees, editing projects, and research is
documented in the
Professional Activities series. The
Duke University series contains teaching materials like tests,
quizzes, and syllabi. It also contains administrative information from the Department of
Anthropology, and a scrapbook and memoir by La Barre recalling the controversy over a possible
Nixon Presidential Library at Duke. The next series,
Audio Recordings, contains a small selection of speeches and music
on anthropological subjects. Finally, the
Scrapbooks series contains a number of scrapbooks documenting La
Barre's travels in the Navy, on anthropological and research voyages, and for vacation. There are
also a large number of scrapbooks in which La Barre appeared to collect clippings of
anthropological or psychological interest.
For several of the series (including Correspondence, Publications, Lectures and Addresses,
Professional Activities, and Duke University), La Barre annotated the folders with comments about
the events, people, and places described within the documents. Because these folders were
physically deteriorating, the comments have been photocopied and placed in the front of the
corresponding file. La Barre also occasionally annotated individual items, apparently years after
the documents were originally created.
Access Restrictions
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing
from the office of origin and the University Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five
years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the University
Archivist.
Records, such as search committee files or others pertaining to employment where
individuals are identified, are closed for 70 years.
In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke
University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of
personally identifiable information from education records.
Materials such as private legal and financial records, counseling records, student and
faculty records and information, classified information, job candidate information, letters of
recommendation, employment records, certain congressional papers, and medical records may all be
protected by law or by third party privacy rights. Living individuals have a legally enforceable
right to privacy, and release of personally identifiable information contained in archival
collections may give rise to liability (e.g., for defamation of character or invasion of
privacy).
Audio recordings require a listening copy; contact University Archives for more
information.
In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.
Use Restrictions
Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other
copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated
by United States copyright law.
The Personal series contains an assortment of materials related to La Barre's family,
education, his Navy experience during World War II, job searches, and tributes. Materials are
organized alphabetically.
Family, 1958-1981, undated
Box 1
Maurine La Barre, 1938-1970
Box 1
Paper, "Kalevala, National Epic of Finland," 1932
Box 1
Papers from Princeton, 1930-1932
Box 1
Papers from Yale, 1933-1937
Box 1
Senior Thesis, Princeton, 1933
Box 1
Family Clippings and Documents
Box 1
Freedom of Information files, 1985-1986
Box 1
Navy Papers, 1943-1955 (3 folders)
Box 1
Passport, circa 1930-1940
Box 1
Weston La Barre Baby Book
Box 1
Notes and Correspondence, 1984-1988
Box 1
Vita and Bibliography, List of Friends and Acquaintances
Box 1
The Correspondence series contains mainly professional correspondence during and after
La Barre's career at Duke. Because La Barre developed close friendships with fellow researchers and
other professionals, much of the material contains personal as well as professional information.
The materials are organized primarily by date in chronological order, but La Barre also collected
the correspondence of certain correspondents separately, and this correspondence follows the yearly
correspondence. It is arranged alphabetically by last name. Among these correspondents are George
Devereux; Allen Ginsberg, the beat poet; Alexander Morin; Richard Evans Schultes; and Howard
Stein.
At some point, La Barre re-read his correspondence and annotated the folders and, in
some cases, individual letters with his summaries and comments on their contents. It is unclear
exactly when these annotations were made. Because the folder annotations contained much information
but were physically deteriorating, photocopies of LaBarre's folder comments have been made and
inserted in the front of the corresponding folders.
Please note: there are two folders of personal correspondence in the Personal series.
These letters are to and from family members, and were filed separately from the bulk of La Barre's
correspondence.
October 1970-December 1970
Box 4
October 1971-December 1971
Box 4
November 1972-December 1972
Box 4
September 1973-December 1973
Box 4
October 1975-December 1975
Box 4
October 1976-December 1976
Box 5
September 1977-December 1977
Box 5
Banks, E. Pendleton, 1952-1971
Box 6
Beidelman, T. O., 1964-1965
Box 6
Bernheim, Molly, 1972-1980
Box 6
Buettner-Janusch, John, 1965-1972
Box 6
Cheek, Frances, 1947-1979
Box 6
Crocker, Chris, 1965-1966
Box 6
Ginsberg, Allen, 1964-1977
Box 6
Grottanelli, Count Vinigi, 1965-1980
Box 6
Janeway, Elizabeth, 1970-1976
Box 6
Menninger, Karl 1939-1940
Box 6
Montagu, Ashley, 1946-1980
Box 6
post Human Animal, 1956-1959
Box 7
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1957-1961
Box 7
Stoller, Robert, 1969-1980
Box 7
Wasson, Robert Gordon, 1950-1980
Box 7
The Publications series contains many of the articles, reviews, and books that La
Barre wrote during his long career. In addition to the final, published versions, La Barre often
kept early drafts, correspondence with publishers, edited manuscripts, and notes. The series begins
with a list of publications compiled in 1992, and follows with three folders of book reviews and
other short publications. The Publications series is then divided into two main subseries: Articles
and Books. La Barre published frequently throughout his career. His articles were published in
scholarly publications as well as the popular press. La Barre frequently kept notes, drafts,
editorial comments, correspondence, and these have been retained. Articles are arranged in
chronological order. The second subseries, Books, is arranged in alphabetical order because many of
La Barre's books were revised and reprinted over a period of years. The Books subseries contains
published editions in addition to drafts, edited manuscripts, and correspondence. In most of the
published editions, La Barre meticulously recorded positive reviews and compliments about the books
given to him by colleagues.
At some point, La Barre re-read his papers and annotated some folders and, in some
cases, individual items with his summaries and comments on their contents. It is unclear exactly
when these annotations were made. Because the folder annotations contained much information but
were physically deteriorating, photocopies of LaBarre's folder comments have been made and inserted
in the front of the corresponding folders.
List of Publications, 1992
Box 7
Book Reviews, Letters to the Editor, Short Communications, 1938-1969
Box 7
Book Reviews, Letters to the Editor, Short Communications, 1970-1980
Box 7
Articles are arranged in chronological order.
In Defense of Alexander Hall: Architecture and Women, January 1931
Box 7
Native American Beers, 1938
Box 7
Psychopathology of Drinking Songs, 1939
Box 7
War and Paranoia, 1939-1940
Box 7
Cultist Drug Addiction, 1941
Box 7
The Uru of Rio Desaguadero, 1941
Box 7
Folk Medicine and Folk Science, 1942
Box 7
Reply to Richard Schultes's 'The Appeal of Peyote,' January 1942
Box 7
Administrative History of Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet, 1945
Box 7
Some Observations on Character Structure in the Orient: the Japanese, 1945
Box 7
Social Cynosure and Social Structure, 1946
Box 7
Some Observations on Character Structure in the Orient: the Chinese, 1946
Box 7
The Cultural Basis of Emotions and Gestures, 1947
Box 7
Kiowa Folk Sciences, 1947
Box 7
Potato Taxonomy Among the Aymara Indians of Bolivia, 1947
Box 7
Primitive Psychology in Native American Cultures: Peyotism and Confession, 1947
Box 7
Some Observations on Character Structure in the Orient: III. India, 1947 (2 folders)
Box 7
The Aymara Indians of the Lake Titicaca Plateau, Bolivia, 1948
Box 8
Cultural Factors in Social Case Work, 1948
Box 8
Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures, 1948
Box 8
Folklore and Psychology, 1948
Box 8
Apperception of Attitudes, 1949
Box 8
Child Care and World Peace, 1949
Box 8
Demands Made Upon the Child by Present Day Culture, 1949
Box 8
Some Observations on Character Structure in the Orient: The Indians, circa 1949
Box 8
Wanted: A Pattern for Modern Man, 1949
Box 8
The Family: Its Functions and Future, 1950
Box 8
Pediatrics, Paranoia, and Peace, 1950
Box 8
Toward World Citizenship, 1950
Box 8
Appraising Today's Pressures on Family Living, 1951
Box 8
Aymara Biologicals and Other Medicines, 1951
Box 8
The Family: Fundamentals vs. Filigree, 1951
Box 8
Pediatrics, Paranoia and Peace, 1951
Box 8
Statement on Peyote, 1951
Box 8
Cynosures (points de mire) et structures sociales, 1953
Box 8
Letter to Editor of American Journal of Sociology, 1953
Box 8
Mobilizing a Man to Do a Job, 1954
Box 8
Strange Patterns of Marriage, 1954
Box 8
Aging as the Anthropologist Sees It, 1955-1957
Box 8
Obscenity: An Anthropological Appraisal, 1955
Box 8
The Relativity of Obscenity, 1955, 1979
Box 8
Response to Letter to Editor of American Anthropologist, 1955
Box 8
Self Respect and Mental Maturity, 1955
Box 8
Professor Widjojo Goes to a Koktel Parti, 1956
Box 8
Racism and Human Biology, 1956
Box 8
Autobiography of a Kiowa Indian, 1957
Box 8
Freud and Anthropology, 1957
Box 8
Mescalism and Peyotism, 1957
Box 8
The Social Worker in Cultural Change, 1957
Box 8
The Influence of Freud on Anthropology, 1958 (2 folders)
Box 8
L'Influence de Freud sur l'ethnographie, 1958
Box 8
The Patient and His Families, 1958
Box 8
Religions, Rorschachs and Tranquilizers, 1958
Box 8
Adolescence: Lesson in History, 1959
Box 8
Architecture, Anthropology, and Style, 1959
Box 8
Arguments from Anthropology, 1959
Box 8
How Adolescent Are Parents? 1959
Box 8
Materia Medica of the Aymara, 1959
Box 8
Religion, Rorschachs, and Tranquilizers, 1959-1960
Box 8
Chapel Hill Psychiatry Textbook, 1960
Box 8
Neurotic Defense Mechanisms in Supernatural Religion, 1960
Box 8
Relation Between Parents and Children, 1960
Box 8
Twenty Years of Peyote Studies, 1960
Box 9
Universal Biological Features of the Family, 1960
Box 9
What Linguists Tell Anthropologists, 1960
Box 9
Art and Mythology: the Present State of the Problem, 1961
Box 9
Biosocial Unity of the Family, 1961
Box 9
People are Different, 1961
Box 9
Psychoanalysis in Anthropology, 1961
Box 9
The Well-Disciplined Parent, 1961
Box 9
Architecture, Anthropology, and City Planning, 1962
Box 9
Les relations entre les parents et les enfants, 1962
Box 9
Paralanguage, Kinesics, and Cultural Anthropology, 1962
Box 9
Some Observations on Character in the Orient: The Japanese, 1962
Box 9
Transference Cures in Religious Cults and Social Groups, 1962
Box 9
Encyclopedia Britannica articles 1963
Box 9
Comments on Hockett and Ascher, 1964
Box 9
Confession as Cathartic Therapy in American Indian Tribes, 1964
Box 9
The Language of Emotion and Gesture, 1964
Box 9
The Narcotic Complex of the New World, 1964
Box 9
Paralinguistics, Kinesics, and Cultural Anthropology, 1964
Box 9
The Snake Handling Cult of the American Southeast, 1964
Box 9
UNESCO Dictionary articles, 1964
Box 9
Aymara Folklore and Folk Temperament, 1965
Box 9
'The Worm in the Honeysuckle': A Case Study of a Child's Hysterical Blindness, 1965
Box 9
The Aymara: History and Worldview, 1966
Box 9
Die Kulturelle Grundlage von Emotionen und Gesten, 1966
Box 9
The Dream, the Charisma, and the Culture-Hero, 1966
Box 9
The Lessons of Anthropology for Urban Design, 1966
Box 9
Some Comments Concerning Hockett and Ascher's The Human Revolution, 1966
Box 9
Le reve, le charisme et le herosculturel, 1967
Box 9
Preface to Devereux's From Anxiety to Method in the Behavioral Sciences, 1967
Box 9
The Trouble with Young People Nowadays Is . . ., 1967
Box 9
Article on Ethnopsychology, 1968-1971
Box 9
Comments on Hall's Proxemics, 1968
Box 9
Normal Adolescence: Its Dynamics and Impact, 1968
Box 9
Personality from a Psychoanalytic Viewpoint, 1968
Box 9
Adolescence, the Crucible of Change, 1969
Box 9
Movements religieux d'acculturation en Amerique du Nord, 1969
Box 9
The Triple Crisis: Adolescence, Early Marriage, and Parenthood, 1969
Box 9
Drug Anthology, circa 1970-1971
Box 9
Drug Anthology correspondence circa 1970-1971
Box 9
Old and New World Narcotics: A Statistical Question and an Ethnological Reply, 1970
Box 9
Review of Wasson's Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, 1970
Box 9
Anthropological Perspectives on Sexuality, 1971
Box 9
Authority, Culture Change and the Courts, 1971-1972
Box 9
I Narcotici Del Nuevo Mondo Autoctano, 1971
Box 9
Introduction to Anthropology Today, 1971
Box 9
Materials for a History of Studies of Crisis Cults: A Bibliographic Essay, 1971
Box 9
North American Peoples and Cultures 1971
Box 9
Review of Watson's Proxemic Behavior, 1971
Box 9
Hallucinogens and the Shamanic Origins of Religion, 1972
Box 9
Non-domesticated plants: uses in medicine and ritual, 1972
Box 10
The Development of Mind in Man in Primitive Cultures and Society, 1973
Box 10
Life Cycle and Initiation Rites, 1973
Box 10
Biology and Language article, 1974
Box 10
Comments on de Rios's The Influence of Psychotropic Flora and Fauna on Maya Religion, 1974
Box 10
Anthropological Perspectives on Hallucination and Hallucinogens, 1975
Box 10
Foreward to Stein and Hill's The Ethnic Imperative: A Study of the White Ethnic Movement, 1977
Box 10
Letter to the Editor of the Journal of Psychedielic Drugs, 1977
Box 10
Review of Rubin's Cannabis and Culture, 1977
Box 10
Freudian Biology, Magic, and Religion, 1978
Box 10
Hysteria and Psychopathy, 1978
Box 10
Letter to Editor of Journal of Psychohistory, 1978
Box 10
The Making of Psychological Anthropology, 1978
Box 10
Psychoanalysis and the Biology of Religion, 1978
Box 10
Closed Eyes While Kissing, 1979
Box 10
Devereux Festschrift, 1979
Box 10
Foreward to Spiro's Gender and Culture: Kibbutz Women Revisited, 1979
Box 10
Peyotl and Mescaline, 1979
Box 10
Psychedelics Galore, 1979
Box 10
Shamanic Origins of Religion and Medicine, 1979
Box 10
Comments on Ferro Luzzi's The Female Lingam, 1980
Box 10
Countertransference and the Beatniks, 1980
Box 10
Letter to the Editor of Southern Anthropologist, 1980
Box 10
Preface to Devereux's De L'Augoisse A La Methode, 1980
Box 10
Three Contributions to the Delinquency of Science and Literature, 1980
Box 10
'Tribe-Oriented' Anthropologists Missing the Larger Point? 1980
Box 10
Two Etymons and a Query, 1982-1984
Box 10
Ethnobotony in American Anthropology, 1983-1987
Box 10
Charley Charcoal: the Autobiogrpahy of a Kiowa Indian correspondence, 1985-1986
Box 10
A Job on Blow, circa 1985
Box 10
Mozart's 'Magic Flute' as a Parable of Normal Adolescence, 1985
Box 10
George Devereux: In Memoriam, 1987
Box 10
Neoteny and Religion, circa 1987
Box 10
Old and New World Hallucinogens, 1988
Box 10
Importance of Ethnobotany in American Anthropology, 1992
Box 10
Lecturer's Reply to Discussants (La Barre's reply to Schlesinger), undated
Box 10
Books are arranged in alphabetical order because many of La Barre's books were
revised and reprinted over a period of years.
The Aymara Indians of the Lake Titicaca Plateau, Bolivia, American Anthropological Association, 1948
Box 10
First edition, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1980
Box 10
Notes and Correspondence, 1975-1980
Box 10
Correspondence, 1979-1984
Box 10
First edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970
Box 10
Chapter 7, Death in the Old Stone Age
Box 10
Chapter 8, The Seat of Life
Box 10
Chapter 9, The Immortal One
Box 10
Chapter 14, The Beast God
Box 10
Chapter 15, The Totemic Gods
Box 10
Chapter 16, The Dying God
Box 11
Chapter 17, The Battle of the Gods
Box 11
Chapter 18, The Murdered God
Box 11
Eighteenth Century Rationalism
Box 11
Nineteenth Century Romanticism
Box 11
Twentieth Century Secular Religions
Box 11
Correspondence and Corrections, 1970-1972
Box 11
Waveland Paperback edition correspondence, 1989-1990
Box 11
First edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954
Box 11
French edition, Paris: Payot, 1956
Box 11
The Fallen Ape (Version 1 of The Human Animal), 1950
Box 11
Family and Symbol: A Psychoanalytic Theory of Anthropology (Version 2 of The Human Animal), 1951
Box 11
The Human Animal: A Naturalistic Study of Man (Version 3 of The Human Animal), 1952 (2 folders)
Box 11
Correspondence, 1954-1963 (3 folders)
Box 11
L'Animal Humain (French edition) correspondence, 1956
Box 12
The Human Animal (Italian edition) correspondence, 1979
Box 12
Correspondence, circa 1990-1992
Box 12
Permissions and Legal Matters, 1953-1972
Box 12
First edition, New York: Columbia University Press, 1984
Box 12
Correspondence, 1982-1985 (2 folders)
Box 12
First edition, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1938
Box 12
Second edition, enlarged, The Shoe String Press, Inc., 1970
Box 12
Fifth edition, enlarged, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989
Box 12
Spanish edition, El Culto Del Peyote, Mexico: Premia Editora, 1980
Box 12
Correspondence, 1936-1956
Box 12
Correspondence, circa 1949-1962
Box 12
Notes and Correspondence, circa 1979
Box 12
Oklahoma edition, notes and edits, circa 1988
Box 12
Xerox of Oklahoma edition and notes, circa 1988
Box 12
Oklahoma edition, notes and correspondence, 1987-1988
Box 12
Survey of Peyote Studies, 1963-1973
Box 12
Spanish edition, correspondence, 1970-1979
Box 12
Preface to 5th edition, 1989
Box 12
First edition, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991
Box 12
Edited manuscript (2 folders)
Box 13
De Vos Lectures in Psychoanalytic Anthropology xerox, undated
Box 13
Correspondence, 1989-1992 (2 folders
Box 13
First edition, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1962
Box 13
Paperback reissue, Waveland Press, Inc., 1992
Box 13
Manuscript, 1957 and undated (6 folders)
Box 13
Corrected carbon, fifth version, Minnesota (2 folders)
Box 13
Correspondence with rejecting publishers, 1956-1959
Box 13
Notes, correspondence, photos, circa 1948-1973
Box 13
Notes and correspondence, 1957-1961
Box 13
Editorial correspondence, 1959-1963, 1991
Box 13
Documents regarding Colonel Hartman Bunn (Robinson Everett), 1961
Box 13
Correspondence, circa 1991
Box 13
The Lectures and Addresses series begins with a "List of Major Lectures" and a
collection of 1960s-era programs and clippings. The bulk of the series, however, contains the text
of La Barre's speeches, as well as correspondence and other materials related to the speech. The
Lectures and Addresses series is arranged chronologically by the date each speech was given.
Occasionally, La Barre gave the same speech over a number of years. In that case, folders are filed
by their earliest date, but the date range of the folder contents are provided.
At some point, La Barre re-read his papers and annotated some folders and, in some
cases, individual items with his summaries and comments on their contents. It is unclear exactly
when these annotations were made. Because the folder annotations contained much information but
were physically deteriorating, photocopies of LaBarre's folder comments have been made and inserted
in the front of the corresponding folders.
List of Major Lectures, 1946-1984, undated (2 folders)
Box 13
Programs and Clippings, circa 1960-1969
Box 13
Erotization of Body Parts in Various Cultures, Yale Anthropology Club, circa 1936-1937
Box 13
Alcoholism and the Psychopathology of Drinking Songs, Evening Staff Meeting, Menninger Clinic, circa 1938-1939
Box 13
Education and Democracy, Institute for Social Caseworkers, University of Wisconsin, August 1947
Box 13
Religion and Psychiatry, Topeka, circa 1939
Box 13
Some Observations on Japanese Character Structure, circa 1943
Box 13
Man as Animal Speeches, circa 1948
Box 13
A Comparative Look at Marriage, 13th Annual Groves Conference on Conservation of Marriage and the Family, April 24, 1950-April 26, 1950
Box 14
An Anthropologist Looks at the Family, Atlanta, Georgia, February 9, 1951
Box 14
How Cultural Patterns Influence People, Tampa, Florida, May 8, 1952
Box 14
Predicaments of Modern Men, Chattanooga, March 18, 1953
Box 14
Family in American Life, Kalamazoo, April 6, 1954
Box 14
Human Ecology Lectures: Human Biology and Human Culture, UNC Medical School, 1955
Box 14
Human Biology and Human Nature, Purdue, February 8, 1955
Box 14
Why Parents Don't Understand Their Children, Cornelian Corner lecture, Detroit, November 4, 1955
Box 14
Changing Attitudes toward Older People in Ancient and Primitive Societies, February 7, 1956
Box 14
Croatan and Robeson Indians, circa 1956-1957
Box 14
Religion and Mental Health, Detroit, March 14, 1957
Box 14
Social Work as a Factor in Producing Change, National Conference for Social Welfare, Philadelphia, May 20, 1957
Box 14
Washington-Baltimore Institute Speech, October 25, 1957
Box 14
Dartmouth Medical School, 1957
Box 14
A Naturalistic Approach to the Study of Religion, American Anthropological Association, Chicago, 1957
Box 14
And They Shall Take Up Serpents, Roheim Lecture, New York, December 4, 1958
Box 14
Cultural Methods of Dealing with Anxiety, Kalamazoo, circa 1958
Box 14
Indianapolis, March 26, 1959-March 27, 1959
Box 14
Time, Culture, and Style, New Orleans, June 21, 1959
Box 14
Adolescence and Anthropology, Child Study Association of America, 1959
Box 14
Pittsburgh Institute, 1959
Box 14
Method in Culture and Personality Studies, Lansing, Michigan, November 2, 1959-November 3, 1959
Box 14
The Changing Fabric of American Life, Texas Social Welfare Association, Houston, Texas, November 15, 1959
Box 14
Pittsburgh speeches, 1960
Box 14
Los Angeles-San Francisco, March 30, 1960-April 6, 1960
Box 14
Self Respect and Mental Maturation, Virginia Council on Social Welfare, Roanoke, April 27, 1961
Box 14
Parent-Children Relationships, Family and Child Service, Erie, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1961
Box 14
Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, May 7, 1961-May 12, 1961
Box 14
A General Theory of Deculturation and Mass Autism, American Anthropological Association, Philadelphia, November 16, 1961
Box 14
School of Social Work, William and Mary College, Richmond, Virginia, December 1961-January 1962
Box 14
Architecture, Anthropology, and City Planning, Institute of Government, February 2, 1962
Box 14
The Family: Foundation of Social Forms, Associated Family and Child Service Agency, Winston-Salem, March 12, 1962
Box 14
Indianapolis trip, May 1962
Box 14
Gainesville, Florida, October 9, 1963-October 12, 1963
Box 14
Bucknell University, November 4, 1963
Box 14
National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, Washington, DC, April 23, 1964
Box 14
Culture, Charisma, and Culture Hero, Seventh InternationalCongress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Moscow, August 3, 1964-August 10, 1964
Box 14
The Pronoun God and the Soul as Hot Air, Indiana Lecture, November 8, 1964
Box 14
National Science Foundation lectures, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, Kalamazoo, April 1, 1965-April 2, 1965
Box 14
The Search for Pattern, Michigan State and Upjohn, East Lansing, Michigan, June 5, 1965
Box 14
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, April 1966
Box 14
Columbus, OH, November 19, 1967-November 22, 1967
Box 14
Florence Crittendon Association of America, Wilmington, Delaware, October 10, 1968
Box 14
The Snake-Handling Sect of the Southeast, Kalamazoo, January 11, 1969
Box 14
Family in American Life, Kalamazoo, April 6, 1954
Box 14
American College of Psychiatry, New Orleans, January 30, 1969-February 2, 1969
Box 14
Hoffmann-La Roche Lecture, Nova Scotia, June 25, 1969-June 27, 1969
Box 14
Dallas, September 11, 1969
Box 14
How and Why History Happens, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, March 18, 1970
Box 14
Albuquerque-Los Angeles-San Francisco-Philadelphia-New York-Madison-Washington, April 3, 1970-April 14, 1970
Box 14
Authority, Culture, Change, and the Courts, Fifth Circuit Court,, Hollywood, Florida, May 26, 1970-May 29, 1970
Box 14
Piedmont Universities, December 6, 1971-December 8, 1971
Box 14
Simmel-Fenichel Lectures, Los Angeles, November 15, 1973-November 16, 1973
Box 14
Earlham College, February 21, 1974
Box 14
West Carolina University, April 24, 1975
Box 14
Bemrose-La Barre program Ideas, Toronto, Canada, November 1975
Box 14
Psychoanalysis and the Biology of Religion, American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, 1976
Box 14
The Nature of Human Nature: An Anthropological Interpretation, Lynchburg College Senior Symposium, February 8, 1977
Box 14
Changing Attitudes in Primitive and Ancient Societies, Cumberland County Senior Roundtable, Fayetteville, NC, September 15, 1977
Box 14
The Human Animal Revisited with Some Remarks on Snakehandling, Earlham College, November 2, 1977
Box 14
De Vos Lectures, Berkeley, California, 1986
Box 14
De Vos Lectures, Correspondence, March 20, 1986-March 27, 1986
Box 14
Human Biology and the Supernatural, circa 1986
Box 14
La Barre had many interests in the field of anthropology and psychology, and was
involved in committee and conference work throughout his career. This series contains four
subseries: Committees, Conferences, Landmarks in Anthropology, and Research. The Committees and
Conferences subseries are arranged alphabetically. The Landmarks in Anthropology subseries contains
records from La Barre's editorship of the Landmarks in Anthropology series, which reprinted
important anthropologial writings. The Research subseries has some information on grants and
fellowships that La Barre received, as well as two folders of photographs which date from the
mid-to-late 1930s and early 1940s. All of La Barre's field notes were donated to the Smithsonian
Institution's National Anthropological Collection before La Barre donated the rest of his materials
to Duke University.
At some point, La Barre re-read his papers and annotated some folders and, in some
cases, individual items with his summaries and comments on their contents. It is unclear exactly
when these annotations were made. Because the folder annotations contained much information but
were physically deteriorating, photocopies of LaBarre's folder comments have been made and inserted
in the front of the corresponding folders.
American Orthopsychiatric Association Committee on the Problems of Minority Groups, 1960-1961
Box 14
Editorial Advisory Board of Law and Contemporary Problems, 1958-1959
Box 14
Geriatrics Research, 1954-1956
Box 14
"Adolescence and Authority" Report, 1966-1972
Box 14
"Adolescence and Authority" Report, undated
Box 14
Committee on Adolescence, 1960-1962
Box 15
Committee on Adolescence, 1962-1969, undated
Box 15
National Institutes of Mental Health, 1958
Box 15
American Psychoanalytic Association, 1977
Box 15
Hallucinogens in Native American Shamanism and Modern Life, 1978, undated
Box 15
Meeting of the Study Group on Normal Humans of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 1970
Box 15
San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society, March 1978
Box 15
Smithsonian Drug Conference, 1972
Box 15
Social Security Administration Meeting, 1960
Box 15
Yale Conference on Bolivia, 1942
Box 15
Young Presidents' Organization, 1972
Box 15
Guggenheim Fellowship, 1946-1947
Box 15
Kiowa Indians field trip photographs, June 1935-August 1935
Box 15
Guggenheim Fellowship, 1946-1947
Box 15
National Science Foundation grants, 1962-1966
Box 15
Rockefeller Foundation grant, 1982
Box 15
The Duke University series contains materials related to La Barre's teaching career,
participation in the faculty and administration of the Anthropology Department, and his interest in
the Nixon Presidential Library controversy. The Teaching subseries contains quizzes, exams,
syllabi, and other documents that La Barre used in teaching anthropology courses at Duke. It also
contains information about him becoming a James B. Duke Professor, and a retirement letter he sent
to all of his former students, as well as their replies. The Anthropology Department subseries
contains information about staff meetings, department courses, and general administrative
information. The Nixon Controversy subseries includes a scrapbook of clippings gathered during the
debate over whether to place Nixon's Presidential Library at Duke. It also contains a memoir of
personal recollections of that time written by La Barre.
At some point, La Barre re-read his papers and annotated some folders and, in some
cases, individual items with his summaries and comments on their contents. It is unclear exactly
when these annotations were made. Because the folder annotations contained much information but
were physically deteriorating, photocopies of LaBarre's folder comments have been made and inserted
in the front of the corresponding folders.
Anthropology Final Exams--Study Copies (2 folders)
Box 15
Archeology, Prehistory, and Paleontology
Box 15
Examinations, study guides, and other materials
Box 15
Human Biology and Physical Anthropology
Box 15
James B. Duke Professorship, 1969-1970
Box 15
Marriage and the Family Quizzes
Box 15
Peoples of the World - Miscellany
Box 15
Quizzes in General Anthropology
Box 16
Retirement letter to former students, 1976-1978
Box 16
Selected Examinations and Quizzes in Anthropology
Box 16
General Files, 1971-1975, undated
Box 16
Brochures, circa 1960-1979
Box 16
Visiting Lecturers' Announcements circa 1967-1976
Box 16
Newspaper History of the Proposal to Bring the Nixon Library Papers to Duke University
Box 21
The Audio Recordings series is a small collection of what appear to be homemade
recordings of music and lectures about anthropological topics. All of the recordings were made on
1/4 inch audio tape on 7 inch reels, and appear to be the master copies. Listening copies must be
made prior to use; please contact University Archives for more information.
Folk Music and Psychiatry (Drs. Spradlin and Mallory); Reverse: Labarre on Folktales and Limericks
Box 16
S.F. State: Human Biology
Box 16
Worm in the Honeysuckle, 1961
Box 16
The Scrapbooks series includes a variety of scrapbooks created by LaBarre. Some of the
scrapbooks were collections of clippings saved by La Barre due to their anthropological or
psychological interest. Some of the scrapbooks, including the "Ceylon," "Navy," and "China-India"
volumes date from La Barre's service in World War II, and contain a number of original photographs.
Other scrapbooks seem to be travel diaries, and include handwritten notes, ticket stubs,
photographs, clippings, and other materials collected on his journies. La Barre also collected
reviews and advertisements about his own books, and these materials were also pasted into
scrapbooks. For this series, those books that had a title or obvious theme have been identified as
such; those books that appeared to be a mix of subjects are classified as "Untitled."
Navy-era diary and notes, circa 1942-1945
Box 17
Europe travel diaries (3)
Box 17
"Psychiatry Notebook" (containing clippings)
Box 17
Italy and Greece travel scrapbook
Box 17
Greece, Israel, and Western Europe travel scrapbook
Box 17
"'Anthropologists,' collected by La Barre" scrapbook (containing clippings)
Box 17
"Weston La Barre" scrapbook (containing clippings and reprints by and about La Barre)
Box 17
"Weston's European Trips"
Box 18
"Ceylon" scrapbook (containing clippings, photographs, and souvenirs)
Box 18
"Navy" scrapbook (containing clippings, photographs, and souvenirs)
Box 18
"China-India" scrapbook (containing clippings, photographs, and souvenirs)
Box 18
"Collections Made by Weston La Barre" scrapbook (inventory of artifacts and artwork)
Box 18
Human Animal/They Shall Take Up Serpents
Box 18
They Shall Take Up Serpents
Box 19
Weston La Barre was born on December 13, 1911, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Until about the
age of 30, La Barre sometimes went by the names "I. Weston LaBarrer" and "Raoul La Barre" before
using "Weston La Barre" exclusively. La Barre attended Princeton University and graduated with an
A.B. degree in 1933. He then attended Yale University and received his Ph.D. degree in 1937. La
Barre conducted a number of anthropological field trips beginning in 1935, when he studied Kiowa
Indians. He conducted research on peyote in 1936, which grew into his dissertation and later his
book,
The Peyote Cult. In 1937, La Barre traveled to Bolivia to
research the Aymara.
La Barre began teaching in 1939 at Rutgers University, the same year he married Maurine
Boie, a social worker. After World War II broke out, the La Barres moved to Utah to work for the
War Relocation Authority. After a short period, Weston La Barre joined the Navy and was trained a
parachutist. He was assigned to parachute into an area of Laos because of his previous study of
Southeast Asian ethnography. However, due to changes caused by the newly created Office of
Strategic Services, La Barre spent several months each in Calcutta, Kunming, and Chungking before
being moved to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for nine months. He then returned to the United States
and worked with the Atlantic Fleet before commissioned out of the naval reserve in 1946.
In that same year, La Barre was offered a teaching position at Duke University, a position
he held until 1977. During his Duke career, La Barre taught many anthropology courses on culture,
religion, psychiatry, and symbolism. He was known as a popular, if difficult, professor. He
co-currently taught in the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
from 1956 to 1959, and was a visiting clinical professor of psychiatry at UNC from 1959 to 1969. In
addition to his teaching duties, La Barre lectured at hundreds of universities and conferences and
published numerous articles. He also published several books during his Duke career, including
The Aymara Indians of the Lake Titicaca Plateau (1948),
The Human Animal (1954),
Materia Medica of the Aymara Indians (1959),
They Shall Take Up Serpents: Psychology of the Southern Snake-Handling Cult (1966),
The Ghost Dance: Origins of Religion (1970). In 1970, he
became a James B. Duke Professor of Anthropology.
La Barre retired in 1977, but continued to publish articles and books. Books published
after La Barre's retirement include
Culture in Context (1980),
Muelos: A Stone Age Superstition About Sexuality (1985),
Shadow of Childhood: Neotony and the Biology of Religion
(1991), and
Jonathan (1993, published under the name Jonathan
Crocker).
La Barre's wife passed away in 1991. They had three children: John, David, and An. Weston
La Barre passed away on March 13, 1996 in Chapel Hill. He was 84 years old.
- Anthropology.
- Anthropology, Cultural.
- Anthropology--Religious aspects.
- Anthropology--Research.
- Devereux, George, 1908-
- Duke University. Dept. of Anthropology.
- Duke University--Faculty.
- Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-
- La Barre, Weston, 1911-
- Morin, Alexander J., 1920-
- Photographs.
- Psychology.
- Psychology and religion.
- Psychotropic drugs.
- Schultes, Richard Evans.
- Scrapbooks.
- Sound recordings.
- Stein, Howard F.
- United States. Navy.
- World War, 1939-1945--Military intelligence--United
States.
- Papers of Raoul Weston La Barre (
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian
Institution
)
[Identification of item], Weston La Barre Papers, University Archives, Duke
University.
The Weston La Barre Papers was received by the University Archives as a gift in 1981,
1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1997.
Processed by Valerie Gillispie
Completed January 15, 2005
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, February 4, 2005
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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