Women in Federal Archeology

("Women in Federal Archeology" is an excerpt from Kathleen D. Browning's article, "Implementing the Antiquities Act: A Survey of Archeological Permits 1906-1935," Studies in Archeology and Ethnography 2, Archeology and Ethnography Program, National Center for Cultural Resources, National Park Service, 2003.)

The archeology of the early twentieth century was largely a male enterprise, although the spouses of famous archeologists often actively participated or contributed to their husbands’ research. Women like Ann Axtell Morris, Mary Russell Colton, and Rosemary Nusbaum contributed to or supplemented their husband’s fieldwork between the wars (Babcock and Parezo 1988; Eliot 1995; R. Nusbaum 1980), but only a few women applied to receive permits to conduct their own directed research projects. Less than ten Antiquities Act permits were issued to female applicants by the Department of the Interior between 1907 and 1935. Female pioneers who were approved for permits during the Department of Interior’s early involvement with antiquities excavations included Frederica de Laguna, Katharine Bartlett, Winifred Gladwin, Florence Hawley Ellis, Louise Parcher, and Dorothy Keur.

Frederica de Laguna was the first woman to be granted an Antiquities Act permit from the Department of the Interior. Twenty-four years after the Antiquities Act passed, in July 1930, de Laguna received her first permit to conduct extensive field reconnaissance “in the Seward peninsula of Alaska, in the vicinity of the coast” (Interior 1930). On behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, Frederica de Laguna returned to Alaska four more times between 1930 and 1935 under Department of Interior permits. She was able to use her research to complete her doctoral thesis on Upper Paleolithic and Eskimo art. In 1933, she received the first Ph.D. in archeology granted to a woman by the Anthropology Department of Columbia University; her thesis may be the earliest completed by a female archeologist in the United States (Levine 1994:12).

De Laguna's excavation notes and reports that were deposited in the NARA II facility, along with her permit data, show she maintained precise collections data and drafted maps of discovered sites and areas surveyed. Her exploits in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, Alaska (de Laguna 1934, 1936, 1956; McClellen 1988) allowed de Laguna the opportunity to collaborate with a male colleague and fellow Antiquities Act permit recipient, Kaj Birket-Smith, a representative from the Danish National Museum. The pair had initially planned a joint expedition, but Birket-Smith’s ill health forced him to stay behind while de Laguna began initial fieldwork. Later they co-authored several articles on their combined work in Arctic archeology (Birket-Smith and de Laguna 1938).

Florence Hawley, an instructor at the University of Arizona, joined de Laguna in the Antiquities Act permit application process in 1931. Able to combine her field excavation knowledge with statistical and scientific specialization, Hawley ensured herself a place within American archeology. While teaching in Arizona, Florence Hawley directed a major excavation on an undeveloped portion of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation under an Antiquities Act permit (Interior 1931). She had previous experience working on National Park Service land, having excavated and performed collections work at Chetro Ketl in Chaco Canyon beginning in the 1929 (Babcock and Parezo 1988:124-129; Claassen 1994:13-14) that led to her Ph.D. in 1934. Hawley then used material from a site within the boundaries of one of the first declared national monuments to conduct pioneer dendrochronological analysis (Levine 1994:14). A specimen of architectural timber collected from Chetro Ketl at Chaco Canyon was dated by Hawley in 1931(Douglass 1934:197). She also was able to collaborate with an established male colleague working for the Carnegie Institution of Washington. While studying at the University of Arizona under A. E. Douglass, Hawley’s tree ring dates aided in the construction of a meaningful chronology of tree ring dates back to about A. D. 200 (Douglass 1934:197).

Dorothy Keur (Babcock and Parezo 1988:142-145; Levine 1994:15-16) was the last female archeologist to apply for Departmental permission to conduct an archeological investigation of ruins a public land during this period. However, her 1935 permit application file compiled by the Department of the Interior does not contain a copy of the actual permit allowing Keur permission to conduct her archeological investigation in Alcove Canyon, located near the Round Rock Trading Post, Arizona (Keur 1935a). She and her husband, a Dutch biologist, proposed to take extensive photographs of the area and collect surface material to help them plan for a future investigation. Work was to be completed for and the collection deposited at the Bronx Branch of Hunter College, New York City (Keur 1935b).

Despite the fact she had submitted two copies of the recently adopted standardized application form (see Figure 2a), specific information as to whether the project ever received approval (although there is a permit issued to her non-archeologist husband, John) was not evident. What is clear from Dorothy Keur's application file is that its approval was recommended by the Smithsonian Institution (Abbot 1935) and also by the Departmental Consulting Archeologist, Jesse Nusbaum, in early June 1935 (Nusbaum 1935d). The Keurs planned to travel to the Laboratory of Anthropology in late May 1935 and asked that approval, if granted, be sent to them in the Southwest, care of Nusbaum. Whether or not this particular project was launched, Dorothy Keur later completed extensive archeological work in the late 1930s and early 1940s at Big Bead Mesa, northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico (Keur 1941). Big Bead Mesa is now protected by the Bureau of Land Management (James 1988).

The research efforts of these pioneering women reflect the growing intellectual independence of American women in the early twentieth century. Previously, women became involved with archeology through philanthropic efforts, provided support for legislation through existing professional clubs and organizations, and assisted their spouses in the field and laboratory. However, the Antiquities Act permits allowed female archeologists the opportunity to explore the cultural and architectural wonders of America. The permits issued to female applicants in the 1930s reveal a diversity of interests and various accomplishments. De Laguna conducted the majority of her work in Alaska outside the typical southwestern perimeters, while Hawley combined necessary field skills with then uncommon statistical mastery and specialized scientific analysis. Their work and other attempts made in the 1930s established a place for women in archeological research and represent the pioneer roles played by women directly involved in the Department of the Interior’s archeology program.