Saul H. Riesenberg papers
Scope and Contents
These papers consist of predominantly original material created or collected by Saul H. Riesenberg that date from 1946 to 1991, reflecting his focus on the cultural anthropology of the Pacific Islands, particularly Micronesia and the cultural process and historical analysis. They include photocopies of materials spanning the 19th century through the 20th century. In addition, these papers include original correspondence; field notes and sketches from Ponape and Puluwat; printed and hand-drawn maps, charts and tables; photographs; miscellaneous materials; research materials and notes; manuscripts, reprints and reviews of publications.
Dates
- Creation: 1946-1991, undated
Conditions Governing Access
These papers are open to access for research.
Biographical / Historical
Noted anthropologist, Saul Herbert Riesenberg was born on August 28, 1911 in Newark, New Jersey. He attended the University of California - Los Angeles, graduating in 1932 with a Bachelor's Degree. In 1942 Riesenberg married Mildred Rand. During World War II, Riesenberg was a United States Air Force Captain and served as a flight control officer in England at the time of the Normandy invasion. Riesenberg received a Ph.D. (anthropology) at the University of California - Berkeley in 1950.
Riesenberg received numerous grants to further his research on Micronesia, which became a United States Trust Territory in post World War II Pacific, including a research grant from the Pacific Science Board National Research Council, which allowed fieldwork on Ponape, 1947-1948. It was part of the first American anthropological studies of Micronesia.
From 1949 to 1957, Riesenberg taught at the University of Hawaiʻi, rising from Instructor to Associate Professor of Anthropology. During this period, he also served as the Staff Anthropologist to the High Commissioner, U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1957, he moved to the Smithsonian and became the first curator of Pacific ethnology. He then served as Chairman of the Office of Anthropology from 1967 to 1973 and was Senior ethnologist until his retirement in 1979.
Riesenberg was a respected anthropologist and authored many journal articles, as well as major publications, The Native Polity of Ponape (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1968), A Residence of Eleven Years in New Holland and the Caroline Islands (by James F. O'Connell, edited by Saul H. Riesenberg, University Press of Hawaiʻi, 1972), and The Book of Luelen: Luelen Bernart (Co-edited with J. L. Fischer and M. G. Whiting, University Press of Hawaiʻi, 1977). His research focused on the cultural anthropology ofthe Pacific Islands, particularly Micronesia and the cultural process and historical analysis.
Riesenberg died on May 21, 1994, at the age of 82. He had three children.
Extent
10 Linear Feet
Language
English
Other Finding Aids
ArchivesSpace inventory is incomplete. A complete inventory is available in the Hawaiian and Pacific Collection reading room.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These papers were donated to the Library in 1996 by Mildred Riesenberg.
Processing Information
The papers are on the whole original material created or collected by/with Riesenberg and part of a larger donation (The books and journals donated by Mildred Riesenberg were utilized for the Pacific Collection and are not part of the archival materials that make up the Riesenberg Papers). The relevant materials were separated and rehoused in archival folders and record boxes. The staff continued the same numbering system in order to maintain the original box numbers, which were not chronological and had gaps as it was no longer part of a larger donation. However, as the papers were arranged into series for better access for researchers and rehoused in document boxes, the original numbering and order were changed, but the original groupings (individual correspondence, misc. correspondence, topics, publications) were maintained. Frequently when removing metal fasteners, finding omissions in weeding, or limiting the number of sheets of paper per folder, the staff discovered that correcting the problems required splitting the contents into two folders or two boxes. The numbering of the papers is continuous throughout the five series, as is the folder numbering, from 1 to 298. The Saul H. Riesenberg Papers have been arranged into five major series: Micronesian Bibliography; Field Work; Correspondence; Topics; and Works. The papers are currently housed in one card file box and 23 archival boxes, covering 10 linear feet.
In the CORRESPONDENCE series the staff indicated the time frame of the materials very explicitly on the folder and the detailed inventory. By and large the folder label reflects only the person in whose file the correspondence was collected, though there may be attached letters between people other than that individual and Riesenberg. When the staff discovered correspondence of an individual with a folder in the INDIVIDUAL CORRESPONDENCE subseries in the MISC. CORRESPONDENCE sub-series, then the relevant material was transferred from the latter to the former. Other files were created in the INDIVIDUAL sub-series if the exchange numbered at least five times or if it was an exceptional individual. The files are not separated into incoming and outgoing correspondence; hence outgoing correspondence usually consists of carbon copies while incoming correspondence are originals.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Libraries Repository