Lorna and Laurence Marshall expeditionary notebooks and diaries Digital
Scope and Content Note
This collection of notebooks and journals written respectively by Lorna Jean McLean Marshall and Laurence Kennedy Marshall cover seven of the Marshall Family’s eight journeys to Namibia, Botswana, Angola, and South Africa to research the lifeways of African hunter-gatherers, primarily the G/ui and Ju/’hoansi. Of note are Laurence Marshall's "record books" including: expenditures; travel planning information (packing lists, distance, and mileage); film and photographic technical specifications; and contact information for various associates. In addition, there are detailed diaries from 1951 and from 1952-53 by Lorna Marshall and ones from 1956 and 1957-58 by Laurence Marshall. Also included are a financial plan for Harvard’s Film Study Center and a copy of the Harvard Crimson containing a review of their son John Marshall's film, The Hunters, about the Ju/'hoansi (item 2003.36.1.22).
Dates
- Creation: 1928
- Creation: 1951-1968
Creator
- Marshall, Lorna (1898-2002) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Access is unrestricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Due to a donor restriction, reproductions of this material cannot be deposited in another archive. To request permission to include text from archival collections in a publication, please fill out the Media and Permission Request Form.
Extent
1.6 linear feetBiographical Sketch
Lorna Jean McLean Marshall (1898-2002) was an anthropologist, known for her ethnographic studies of the Ju/’hoansi, !Kung language speaking hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari in north-eastern Namibia. She authored the books The !Kung of Nyae Nyae (1976) and Nyae Nyae !Kung: Beliefs and Rites (1999), as well as several articles and films. She was born in Morenci, Arizona territory, married Laurence Kennedy Marshall (1889-1980) in 1926 and had two children: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (1931-) and John Kennedy Marshall (1932-2005). Lorna was a teacher at Mount Holyoke College before her marriage and received a BA in English Literature from UC Berkeley in 1921, and an MA in English from Radcliffe College in 1928.
Laurence Kennedy Marshall (1889-1980) was a pioneer in the electronics industry who co-founded what was to become the Raytheon Company in 1922. He was born in Medford, Massachusetts and received a degree in civil engineering from Tufts University (1911). He married Lorna Jean McLean (1898-2002) in 1926 and had two children: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (1931-) and John Kennedy Marshall (1932-2005). After retiring from Raytheon in 1950, Laurence had a second career, leading his family on eight anthropological expeditions into what is now Namibia, Botswana, and Angola.
Sources
- Barbash, Ilisa. Where the Roads All End: Photography and Anthropology in the Kalahari. Peabody Museum Press, 2016.
- New York Times obituary for Lorna Marshall, July30, 2002, p.17, accessed through Lexis-Nexis database.
- New York Times obituary for Laurence Marshall, Nov 8, 1980, p.28, accessed through Proquestdatabase.
Arrangement
- Series I: Lorna Marshall Diaries andNotes 1951, 1952-1953, 1955
- Series II: Laurence K. MarshallRecord Books 1928, 1951-1952, 1955, 1956-1957, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1968
- Series III: Laurence K. Marshall Laboratory Notebooks 1950,1956-1957, 1959
Physical Location
Peabody Museum Archives
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These papers are a gift of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, 2003
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.
Processed by:
Beth Bayley, Simmons College intern; edited by India Spartz, Senior Archivist, October 2004
Genre / Form
Topical
- Ethnographic films -- History
- Ethnological expeditions -- Africa -- History -- 20th century
- Ethnology -- Angola
- Ethnology -- Namibia
- Ethnology -- South Africa
- Ethnology--Botswana
- G/wi (African people)
- Hunting and gathering societies
- Ju/'hoan language
- Ju/'hoansi (African people)
- Photography
- San (African people)
- Visual anthropology -- Africa
Creator
- Marshall, Lorna (1898-2002) (Person)
- Marshall, Laurence (1898-1980) (Person)
- Title
- Marshall, Lorna and Laurence expeditionary notebooks and journals, 1928, 1951-1968 : A Finding Aid
- Author
- Peabody Museum Archives
- Date
- October 2004
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- pea00036
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.