Biographical / Historical
Noel Morss was born in Boston on December 25, 1904, to Ethel Read Morss and Everett Morss. He prepared for college at the Groton School and graduated from Harvard in 1926 with a B.A. in economics. Morss went on to receive a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1929 and to practice professionally as an attorney. His interest in anthropology and archaeology was bolstered by his Chestnut Hill neighbors Dr. Hugh O'Neill Hencken and his wife Thalassa Cruso, and by summers later spent leading Peabody Museum archaeological expeditions to Arizona and Utah in 1925, 1927, 1928, and 1929. According to J . O. Brew, Morss was "the scholar who defined the Fremont Culture of eastern Utah." His publications on Fremont figurines were highly regarded by his anthropology colleagues. Although Morss did not pursue this interest professionally, his work was of such caliber that he was appointed Chairman on the Visiting Committee, Harvard University Department of Anthropology and Peabody Museum, in 1954; and was PM Research Fellow in Prehistory of the American Southwest 1955-60.
Morss also served as Secretary and Treasurer of the American School for Prehistoric Research (ASPR) under Director and founder Dr. George Grant MacCurdy, and was a founding member of the Council on Old World Archaeology (COWA). Morss' long tenure in ASPR spanned his role as an early trustee from 1926 to 1953, to becoming an "ASPR member in the museum" from 1954 onwards (when the ASPR then became a part of the Department of Anthropology in accordance with its founder's will), while serving as secretary and treasurer from 1954 to 1980. Morss died on April 24, 1981.
Sources:
- Brew, John Otis."Noel Morss, 1904-1981." American Antiquity 47 (2) 1982, p. 344-45.
- Cirriculum vita. Noel Morss Papers. Box 4.5
- Morss, Christopher. Personal communication,December 29, 1998.
Arrangement
The Noel Morss Papers are organized in two main records series, I. Professional Organization Records, and II. Professional Papers. Series I contains the records of two professional organizations of which Morss was an active member: the American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) and the Council on Old World Archaeology (COWA). Series II contains Morss' own professional papers which he organized into two categories: I. Archaeology and II. Peabody Museum. Each subseries of Series II includes correspondence, memoranda, photographs, and reprints. Series, subseries and folder titles reflect Morss' own.
Physical Location
Archives
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Noel Morss Papers were donated to the Peabody Museum Archives by Noel's son, Christopher Morss, in November 1998.
General note
Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.
Processing Information
Sarah R. Demb, January 1999
Correspondent Index
- Aikens, C. Melvin : 4.2
- Anati, Emmanuel : 5.2
- Angel, J. Lawrence : 2.1-2.3
- Appa, Anthony M. : 2.3
- ?, Austin (Peabody Museum) : 1.5
- Bartlett, Katharine (Museum of Northern Arizona) : 4.4
- Baxter, J.H. : 4.3
- Beardsley, Richard K. : 2.2-2.3
- Boggs, Stephen T. (American Anthropological Association) : 2.2
- Boissevain, Ethel (Hunter College, CUNY) : 5.1
- Braidwood, Robert : 2.1-2.2
- Brew, John Otis : 2.1, 4.2-4.6, 5.1
- Brimhall, Dean R. : 4.2
- Broman, Vivian L. : 4.6, 5.1
- Brown, Donald Freeman : 2.2-2.3
- Brown, Estelle : 2.2
- Burgh, Robert F. : 4.4, 4.6
- Burleson, Ruth : 1.4
- Byers, Douglas S. : 4.6
- Cammann, Schuyler V. R. : 2.1-2.3
- Carlin, Alice : 2.3
- Christeman, Ross T. (Brigham Young University) : 4.6
- Colton, Harold Sellers (Museum of Northern Arizona) : 4.3-4.5
- Compton, Carl Benton : 2.2, 4.2, 4.4-4.6, 5.1
- Coolidge, John (Fogg Museum of Art) : 4.4
- Danson, Edward Bridge : 5.1, 5.3
- Davin, A.T. : 2.2
- DeLaet, S.J. : 2.1
- Dick, Herbert William (University of Colorado Museum) : 4.4
- Dorr, Goldthwaite Higginson : 1.
- Dyson, Robert Harris Jr. : 2.2
- Edwards, Walter Meayers (National Geographic Magazine) : 4.2
- Ehrich, Robert William : 2.3
- Ekholm, Gordon Frederick (American Musum of Natural History) : 4.4
- Euler, Robert C. (Prescott College) : 4.2
- Fay, George E. : 4.6
- Ferguson, Charles W. Jr. (University of Arizona) : 4.5
- Field, Henry : 1.3, 1.5
- Forbes, Alexander C. : 6.6
- Fremont Symposium : 5.7
- French, Katherine L : 6.6
- Ford, Franklin Lewis : 4.2
- Frazier, Rosalind H. : 5.1, 6.6
- Graphic Services, Inc. : 1.3
- Gandier, Mrs. J. : 2.3
- Gebhard, Paul Henry : 4.6
- Gifford, James C. : 5.1
- Gillin, John Philip : 4.3
- Goff, Charles Weer (M.D.) : 5.1
- Golson, Jack : 2.3
- Grant, Campbell : 4.2
- Grauger, Walter (The Explorers Club) : 4.3
- Griswold, Ann : 2.2
- Gunnerson, James Howard : 4.6, 5.1
- Guthe, Car lEugene (Society for American Archaeology) : 4.3
- Hachey, Joseph L. Jr. (Commonwealth of Massachusetts) : 2.3
- Hargrave, Lyndon Lane (Museum of Northern Arizona) : 4.3
- Haworth, Leland J. : 2.3
- Hencken, Hugh O'Neill : 1.3-1.5, 2.2, 4.2, 4.4, 4.6
- Higgens, Howard (Emerson College) : 4.3
- Hosmer, Henry L. (Goodwin, Procter & Hoar) : 2.1
- Howe, Bruce : 2.1-2.2
- Howells, W. W. (William White) : 1.3
- Jennings, Jesse David (University of Utah) : 4.5-4.6, 5.1
- Johnson, Jotham : 2.1-2.2
- Jones, Lois B. : 1.3
- Judd, Neil Merton (Smithsonian Institution) : 4.2, 4.4, 4.6
- Kidder, Alfred Vincent : 4.3-4.5, 5.1
- Klayman, Judith : 2.3
- Krader, Lawrence : 2.2
- Kramer, Carol : 2.3
- Lamberg-Karlovsky, Carl C. : 1.3-1.5, 6.6
- Levin, Muriel : 2.1
- Levy, G.R : 4.6
- Macaulay, William : 4.3
- Lindsay, Alexander Johnston Jr. : 5.1
- MacCurdy, Janet : 1.4, 4.6
- Mather, Philip R. : 4.6
- Martin, Paul S. (Paul Schultz) : 4.4
- Martinez, Alfred A. (Harvard Club of New York) : 2.1
- Marston, Otis : 5.1
- Mason, Benjamin L. : 6.6
- Mason, John Alden : 4.3
- Matson, Frederick R. (Frederick Rognald) : 2.2-2.3
- McGregor, John C. (John Charles) : 4.6
- Meighan, Clement Woodward : 4.6
- Miles, George Carpenter : 2.2
- Millard, Alfred : 2.2
- Mogey, John M. (Boston University) : 2.3
- Morris, Earl Halstead : 4.4, 4.6
- Morss, Noel : 1.3-1.5, 2.1-2.4, 4.4-4.6
- Moser, Robert F. (Boston University) : 2.3
- Mulford, Clarence : 4.3
- Oakley, Kenneth Page (British Museum) : 1.3
- Oliver, Geneve Howard : 4.4-4.6
- O'Neil, William A. : 1.4
- Phillips, Gail : 2.2
- Phillips, Philip : 4.4
- Raye, Edward W. (First National Bank of Boston) : 2.2
- Roberts, Marjorie S. : 1.3-1.4
- Rodeck, Hugo G. (University of Colorado Museum) : 4.5
- Rouse, Irving : 2.1-2.2
- Rowlett, Elsebet Sander-Jorgensen : 5.1
- Salter, L.J. : 5.1
- Schulman, Edmund : 4.5
- Schwartz, Douglas Wright : 4.6
- Scott, Donald C. : 2.2, 4.2-4.3
- Scott, Louise : 4.2
- Shannon, James A. : 2.3
- Sharrock, Floyd W. : 5.1
- Sjöqvist, Erik : 2.1-2.2
- Sletcha, Robert F. : 2.3
- Smith, Watson : 4.4-4.5
- Sprang, Richard : 4.2
- Steward, Julian Haynes : 4.3
- Stoddard, Natalie B. : 4.5
- Straus, William L. Jr. (Am. Assoc. of Physicians) : 2.1
- Sturgis, Somers H. (Somers Hayes) : 4.6
- Tatum, P.N. : 4.3
- Taylor, Dee Calderwood : 5.1
- Thomas, Iris : 4.4
- Tozzer, AlfredM. (Alfred Marston) : 4.3
- Tye, Donald G. (Commonwealth of Massachusetts) : 2.3
- Ward, Gordon B. (National Science Foundation) : 2.3
- Ward, Lauriston : 2.1
- Weltfish, Gene : 4.3
- Whiting, Helen W. : 5.1
- Willey, Gordon Randolph : 4.5
- William, Joan : 4.2
- Williams, Stephen : 1.4, 6.6
- Wilson, Ida G. (Museum of Northern Arizona) : 4.3
- Wirth, Conrad Louis (U.S. Dept. of the Interior) : 4.3
- Woodbury, Richard B. (Richard Benjamin) : 5.1
- Wormington, H.M. (Hannah Marie) : 4.2, 4.6
Genre / Form
- Bibliographies
- Correspondence
- Deeds
- Field notes
- Figurines.
- Manuscripts for publication
- Minutes (administrative records)
- Photographs
Geographic
- Carbon County (Utah)
- Chaco Canyon (N.M.) -- Maps
- Chelly, Canyon de (Ariz.) -- Maps
- Dixie National Forest (Utah) -- Maps
- Fishlake National Forest (Utah) -- Maps
- Navajo County (Ariz.) -- Maps
- Seattle (Wash.)
Topical
Creator
- Morss, Noel (Person)
Subject
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Organization)
- American School of Prehistoric Research (Organization)
- Council for Old World Archaeology (Organization)
- Fremont Symposium (1970) (Organization)
- Title
- Noel Morss Papers, A Finding Aid
- Author
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- pea00007
Repository Details
Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository
Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.