http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6779q5t8 No online items Derek Freeman Papers Mandeville Special Collections Library Mandeville Special Collections Library The UCSD Libraries 9500 Gilman Drive University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0175 Phone: (858) 534-2533 Fax: (858) 534-5950 URL: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/ Copyright 2005 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Derek Freeman Papers MSS 0522 1 Descriptive Summary Creator: Freeman, Derek Title: Derek Freeman Papers, Date (inclusive): 1940 - 2001 Extent: 70.10 linear feet(171 archives boxes, 17 card file boxes, and 5 oversize folders) Abstract: Papers of Australian anthropologist Derek Freeman. The collection documents the research and publication career of a prominent Australian anthropologist; his correspondence with Australian, British and American colleagues; and, the scholarly debates that he sparked with his critical analysis of Margaret Mead's research in Samoa. Freeman was trained in the tradition of British social anthropology, but sought a synthesis of human biology and cultural anthropology throughout most of his career. The collection at present represents better this later turn in Freeman's thinking. Freeman performed three major field studies, two (1940-1943 and 1966-1968) in Western Samoa and one in an Iban village in Borneo (1949-1951). The collection contains only scant documentation of the Iban study, but contains all of Freeman's research materials and notes from his Samoan studies. In addition to manuscript drafts of Freeman's articles and books, the collection includes his comprehensive files of popular press and academic discussion of his books MARGARET MEAD AND SAMOA (1983) and THE FATEFUL HOAXING OF MARGARET MEAD (1999), and the documentary film, play, and papers this controversy sparked. The papers also contain abundant general topical notes, files from Freeman's documentation of the Daniel Nicholl's murder case, and photographs of people and places in Samoa. Repository: University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library. La Jolla, California 92093-0175 Collection number: MSS 0522 Language of Material: Collection materials in English Access Collection is open for research. Acquisition Information Not Available Preferred Citation Derek Freeman Papers, MSS 0522. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Biography John Derek Freeman was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on August 16, 1916. He earned a B.A. (1939) from Victoria University, a M.Phil. (1948) from University of London, and a Ph.D. (1953) from Cambridge University. He was a professor at Australian National University, then emeritus professor and research fellow at the University's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. After completing the B.A., Freeman became a teacher of languages in Western Samoa in 1940. During his stay until 1943, he made frequent trips to Sa'anapu. His Master's thesis entitled THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF A SAMOAN VILLAGE COMMUNITY (1948) was based on his research at Sa'anapu. Between 1949-1951, Freeman did fieldwork among the Iban of Borneo, which led to his Ph.D. thesis, and later to a monograph entitled REPORT ON THE IBAN (1955). While teaching at University of Otago, then as an assistant professor (1955) and as a reader (1957) at Australian National University, Freeman wrote several Samoan papers. He won the Curl Prize for his essay "The Concept of the Kindred" (1960), based on his fieldwork on the Iban (Borneo). In the sixties, Freeman began to explore a synthesis of biology and cultural anthropology. His paper entitled "Social Anthropology and the Scientific Study of Human Behavior" (1965) exemplifies this period. Between 1966 and 1968, Freeman performed fieldwork in Sa'anapu for a second time. He collected a massive amount of material on political and kinship systems, emotional response, child-rearing, and social life, based on texts, interviews, psychological tests, and observation. Between 1968 and 1971, Freeman wrote several papers contrasting Margaret Mead's claims in COMING OF AGE IN SAMOA (1926) and his own observations, culminating in a book manuscript entitled "Culture and Human Nature in the Samoan Islands" (1971). In 1982, Freeman published MARGARET MEAD AND SAMOA (1983), a revised version of "Culture and Human Nature." The book was immediately controversial and popular in the media and academic circles, and enjoyed enough success to be republished by Penguin as MARGARET MEAD AND THE HERETIC (1996). Derek Freeman Papers MSS 0522 2 The Mead-Freeman controversy revolved around Freeman's argument that certain statements by Margaret Mead on Samoa were factually inaccurate, hence the paradigmatic assumptions of cultural anthropology were flawed. The book garnered widespread attention because of the great stature of Mead in the public imagination, and her association with liberal ideology. Many American anthropologists defended Mead's reputation in the press. The debates inspired a documentary film by Frank Heimans entitled MARGARET MEAD AND SAMOA (1988) about Mead, and a play by David Williamson entitled HERETIC (1996) about Freeman. In 1992, Freeman did research in the Margaret Mead Papers at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. This work led him to a detailed reconstruction of Mead's field stay in Samoa and her sources of information. The presentation of this, as well as his study of the Franz Boas Papers led to the publication of THE FATEFUL HOAXING OF MARGARET MEAD (1999). Freeman died in Canberra on July 6, 2001. Scope and Content of Collection Accessions Processed in 2002 The Derek Freeman Papers document Freeman's research and publication career, especially his fieldwork in Samoa and the publication and subsequent controversy associated with his book MARGARET MEAD AND SAMOA (1983). Materials include personal and professional correspondence, subject files, general notes, extensive research notes and field notebooks from Samoa, manuscript drafts of Freeman's writings, drafts of the writings of others, and miscellaneous materials. The Mead-Freeman Controversy materials include reviews, journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, and Freeman's responses; documentation of Freeman's participation related projects; research materials on Mead; and notes. The collection contains little documentation of Freeman's Iban study. The collection has been arranged to separate as best as possible two major foci of Freeman's career: his Samoan studies and research on Margaret Mead. These, however, are very much intertwined, and separating the materials relating to the Mead-Freeman controversy creates an arbitrary chronological break around 1983. The researcher should be aware of connections between the two foci. The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) SUBJECT FILES, 3) SAMOA RESEARCH MATERIALS, 4) GENERAL NOTES, 5) WRITINGS BY FREEMAN, 6) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 7) THE MEAD-FREEMAN CONTROVERSY, and 8) MISCELLANY. SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE The CORRESPONDENCE series contains Freeman's files of personal and professional correspondence, arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Noteworthy correspondents include Ireanus Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Konrad Lorenz, Margaret Mead, Karl Popper, and Samoan writer Albert Wendt. Freeman corresponded with many prominent anthropologists including Raymond Firth, Meyer Fortes, Robin Fox, Max Gluckman, Ashley Montagu, David Schneider, and Sherwood L. Washburn. He also corresponded with the following anthropologists specializing in the Pacific: Kenelm Burridge, Ronald Crocombe, Ward Goodenough, Gilbert Herdt, Roger Keesing, Peter Lawrence, Robert Levy, Douglas Oliver, H. D. Skinner, Sharon Tiffany, Donald Tuzin and Annette Weiner. SERIES 2: SUBJECT FILES The SUBJECT FILES, arranged alphabetically, contain Freeman's files for subjects of general interest. Materials include magazine and newspaper clippings, photocopies and handwritten notes. SERIES 3: SAMOAN RESEARCH MATERIALS The SAMOAN RESEARCH MATERIALS series is arranged in six subseries: A) Fieldnotes, B) Index to Samoa Notes, C) Samoa Notes, D) Historical Notes, E) Research Notes, F) Samoa Bibliography. The series contains all of Freeman's records of first-hand observation and research into Samoan life. The vast majority represent his two field trips, however, this series also contains Freeman's notes on his research into Samoan history. A) The Fieldnotes subseries contains typescript summaries from ring binders of his field observations from 1940 to 1943, as well as a bound notebook of genealogies in pencil. Also included are notepads with handwritten notes, arranged chronologically or by subject, from his 1966-1967 fieldwork in Sa'anapu. B) The Index to Samoa Notes subseries contains subject terms, arranged alphabetically, that reference dated entries in the Samoa Notes subseries. C) The Samoa Notes subseries contains loose leaf subject notes with cross-references on Freeman's Samoan observations, originally stored in plastic three-ring binders, and arranged alphabetically by subject. D) The Historical Notes contain Freeman's typed notes, arranged chronologically, on the history of Samoa based in part on his extensive research at the archives of the London Missionary Society. E) Research Notes subseries contains data records of various types, arranged alphabetically, ranging from Freeman's Samoan research to copies of primary sources, drawings, geneaology charts, and