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COLLECTION Identifier: 969-42

William Campbell Root papers

Overview

The collection is comprised of Root's scientific papers and reprints pertaining to metallurgy and archaeology. The papers contain notebooks, manuscripts, photographs, metal samples and files of technical data.

Dates

  • Creation: 1932-1969 (inclusive)

Conditions Governing Access

Restrictions on access: none

Conditions Governing Use

Restrictions on use: none

Extent

8 linear feet

Biographical / Historical

William Campbell Root was born October 26, 1903 in Grass Valley, California. A chemistry professor at Bowdoin College, he researched pre-Columbian metallurgy in Mesoamerica, North America and South America.

Root obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1932. His dissertation was on the volume of salts in aqueous solution, Quinhydrone electrode, and deviation of certain gases from Boyle's Law. As a graduate student Root became involved in the analysis of metal artifacts, apparently starting with artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice at Chichen Itza in 1927.

After graduating from Harvard, Root started teaching chemistry at Bowdoin College in 1932 and was the Charles Weston Pickard Professor from 1952 to 1969. During his career, he performed almost 2000 analyses on archaeological artifacts. His publications include appendices in Lothrop’s field reports for Coclé, Panama and Veraguas, Panama. In 1949 he published “The metallurgy of the southern coast of Peru” in American Antiquity. He also contributed an article to the Volume 5 of the Handbook of South American Indians.

Root won the James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry from the American Chemistry Society in 1968. He died June 13, 1969 in Brunswick, Maine.

Sources:

Guide to the William Campbell Root papers, 1921-1973. George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine. Accessed 3/27/2020 from https://library.bowdoin.edu/arch/mss/m157.shtml

Johnson, F. 1970. William Campbell Root, 1904–1969. American Antiquity 35(3), 363-364. doi:10.1017/S0002731600094439

Physical Location

Peabody Museum Archives

Immediate Source of Acquisition

#996-42

These papers were a bequest of William Campbell Root and were received from Mrs. William C. Root. September 5, 1969.

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:

Victoria Swerdlow and Elizabeth Sandager 1994-95; edited by Patricia H. Kervick, Associate Archivist; November 2010

Title
Root, William Campbell Papers, 1932-1969 inclusive : A Finding Aid
Author
Peabody Museum Archives
Language of description
und
EAD ID
pea00063

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.

Contact:
11 Divinity Ave.
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02128 USA