© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
Series IX contains restricted financial, medical, student, and interview subject material. Materials in Box 124 are restricted for 50 years from date of record creation. Boxes 125-127 are restricted for 80 years from date of record creation. Portions of Series VII, Audiovisual are currently restricted due to the condition of the material or the need for special equipment. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Schneider, David M. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
David M. Schneider was born on November 11, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, where he received a B.S. in 1940 and an M.A. in 1941. He received his PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard in 1949, based on fieldwork on the Micronesian island of Yap.
After graduate school, Schneider first taught at the University of California, Berkeley before accepting a position at the University of Chicago in 1960. While at the University of Chicago, he taught in the Department of Anthropology, serving as its chair between 1963 and 1966, and in the Committee on Human Development. He retired from the University of Chicago in 1986, and worked in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz until his death on October 30,1995.
While at Chicago, Schneider was director of the Kinship Project, which was a study funded by the National Science Foundation that explored the way middle-class families in the United States and the United Kingdom respond to their kinship relations. A number of publications grew out of his work with this project which argued that kinship relations needed to be understood as cultural and social phenomena. Perhaps Schneider's most famous publication was American Kinship: A Cultural Account (1968).
David M. Schneider (1918-1995), anthropologist. The collection contains correspondence, teaching materials, research materials and field notes, research and grant proposals, manuscripts, reprints and clippings, and personal files. Correspondents included Clifford Geertz, Claude Levi-Strauss, Margaret Mead, Talcott Parsons and Marshall Sahlins. This collection contains material from the period 1918 - 1994.
The collection has been organized into nine series: Series I, Correspondence; Series II, Teaching Materials; Series III, Research Materials; Series IV, Manuscripts; Series V, Other Writings; Series VI, Personal Papers; Series VII, Audiovisual Materials; Series VIII, Oversized Materials; and Series IX, Restricted Materials. Further description of each series has been provided at the start of each series. Series IX contains restricted financial, medical, student, and interview subject material. Materials in Box 124 are restricted for 50 years from date of record creation. Boxes 125-127 are restricted for 80 years from date of record creation.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
Series I contains correspondence from the period 1941 - 1995. It has been arranged alphabetically by correspondent. The individual subject files are the same as they were at time of donation. Due to the large amount of unsorted correspondence, no attempt was made to integrate the general alphabetical series with individual subject files. A number of documents did not indicate the full name of the correspondent, and have been filed according to whatever identification was extant, be that first name, last name or abbreviation. Researchers looking for particular correspondents would be advised to look for an individual file, as well as in all possible entries in the alphabetical files for each person as no cross-referencing or integration was done at time of processing. Researchers should also note that additional correspondence can be found throughout the other series, when that correspondence was attached to particular research materials, manuscripts or reprints.
Series II contains syllabi, reading lists, course notes and lecture notes from the period 1948 - 1995. It has been organized chronologically.
Series III contains field notes, research notes, survey data, correspondence and research and grant proposals from the period 1947 - 1992. Based on subject matter, the materials have been arranged into 4 subseries: Subseries 1, Yap Materials; Subseries 2, Kinship Materials; Subseries 3, Other research materials; Subseries 4, Research and Grant Proposals. Researchers should note that a number of coded genealogical sheets from Subseries 2 are in Oversized Series VIII, and are not described in the inventory for this series.
Series IV contains manuscripts from the period 1918 - 1991. It has been divided into 3 subseries: Subseries 1, Yap Manuscripts; Subseries 2, Kinship Manuscripts; Subseries 3, Other Manuscripts. Within each subseries the materials have been divided into manuscripts written by David Schneider and manuscripts written by others. The manuscripts written by Schneider, arranged in chronological order, begin each subseries and are followed by the manuscripts written by others, which are arranged alphabetically by author.
Series V contains reprints, pamphlets, clippings and other writings from the period 1953 - 1994. Based on subject matter, the material has been divided into 3 subseries: Subseries 1, Other Writings on Yap; Subseries 2, Other Writings on Kinship; Subseries 3, Other Writings. Within each subseries the materials have been divided into documents written by David Schneider and documents written by others. The documents written by Schneider, arranged in chronological order, begin each subseries and are followed by the documents written by others, which are arranged alphabetically by author.
Series VI contains David Schneider's personal papers, such as his educational and military records and personal writings, from the period 1932 - 1994. The material has been arranged chronologically.
Series VII contains audiovisual material from the period 1947 - 1973. Parts of the Audiovisual Series is currently restricted due to the condition of the material or the need for special equipment.