Anthropologists’ Articulations with the National Security State
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Published:April 2016
Cold War Anthropologists at the CIA: Careers Confirmed and Suspected
Most of the anthropologists who worked for the CIA during the 1950s had worked for the Office of Strategic Services or engaged in intelligence work at other agencies during the Second World War. During the 1950s, several anthropologists worked as analysts within the CIA, while others undertook field operations abroad. Frank Bessac joined the CIA and later traveled overland from China to Tibet with CIA agent Douglas Mackiernan in 1950. The CIA careers of anthropologists Donald Wilber, Michael Coe, and others are described.
References
AAAP Papers of the American Anthropological Association. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
EBW Eric B. Wolf Papers. Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
ECW Eugene C. Worman Research Material on William H. Bartlett. Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art.
EG Esther Goldfrank Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
GET George Edward Taylor Papers. University of Washington Library Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives.
GWU-NSA George Washington University, National Security Archives.
HPSSS Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System digital collection: Interviews and Manuals, 1950–1953. Harvard University, Russian Research Center. H. C. Fung Library. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~fun00001.
HW Harold G. Wolf Papers. Cornell Medical School.
HWA Harold Weisberg Archive. Beneficial-Hodson Library, Hood College. Frederick, Maryland.
ISA Papers of the Institute of Social Anthropology. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
JLA John Lawrence Angel Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
JRH Joseph Ralston Hayden Papers, 1854–1975. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
KM Telephone Interview with Kris Millegan, son of Lloyd and Eudora Millegan. September 28, 2010.
LSM Lloyd S. Millegan File held by Viking Fund on Millegan’s 1950 predoctoral fellowship application. Funded September 8, 1950. Wenner-Gren Foundation, New York.
MHP Papers of Marvin Harris. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
MJ Melville Jacobs Papers. University of Washington Library Manuscripts, Special Collections, Seattle, Washington.
MM Margaret Mead Papers. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
NARA National Archives, and Records Administration.
RB Ralph Beals Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
RBP Robert Blum Papers. MS 87. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.
RK Raymond Kennedy Papers. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.
SORO Special Operations Research Office Archival Records. American University.
ST Sol Tax Papers. University of Chicago, Special Collections.
AA American Anthropologist
AAAFN American Anthropological Association Fellow Newsletter (January 1960–June 1968)
AN Anthropology Newsletter (September 1974–May 1999)
BAAA Bulletin of the American Anthropological Association (April 1953–December 1959)
NAAA Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association (June 1968–June 1974)
NBAAA News Bulletin of the American Anthropological Association (April 1947–January 1953)
How CIA Funding Fronts Shaped Anthropological Research
The structure and function of CIA funding fronts are examined, and several dozen CIA funding fronts from the 1950s and 1960s are identified. These fronts allowed the CIA to outsource research to unwitting scholars, including anthropologists, who gathered information and produced analysis of interest to the CIA. The Asia Foundation, a CIA asset from the early 1950s until 1967, gained access to lists of Asian anthropologists by offering to subsidize AAA membership dues for Asian anthropologists.
References
AAAP Papers of the American Anthropological Association. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
EBW Eric B. Wolf Papers. Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
ECW Eugene C. Worman Research Material on William H. Bartlett. Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art.
EG Esther Goldfrank Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
GET George Edward Taylor Papers. University of Washington Library Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives.
GWU-NSA George Washington University, National Security Archives.
HPSSS Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System digital collection: Interviews and Manuals, 1950–1953. Harvard University, Russian Research Center. H. C. Fung Library. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~fun00001.
HW Harold G. Wolf Papers. Cornell Medical School.
HWA Harold Weisberg Archive. Beneficial-Hodson Library, Hood College. Frederick, Maryland.
ISA Papers of the Institute of Social Anthropology. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
JLA John Lawrence Angel Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
JRH Joseph Ralston Hayden Papers, 1854–1975. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.
KM Telephone Interview with Kris Millegan, son of Lloyd and Eudora Millegan. September 28, 2010.
LSM Lloyd S. Millegan File held by Viking Fund on Millegan’s 1950 predoctoral fellowship application. Funded September 8, 1950. Wenner-Gren Foundation, New York.
MHP Papers of Marvin Harris. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
MJ Melville Jacobs Papers. University of Washington Library Manuscripts, Special Collections, Seattle, Washington.
MM Margaret Mead Papers. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
NARA National Archives, and Records Administration.
RB Ralph Beals Papers. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
RBP Robert Blum Papers. MS 87. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.
RK Raymond Kennedy Papers. Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.
SORO Special Operations Research Office Archival Records. American University.
ST Sol Tax Papers. University of Chicago, Special Collections.
AA American Anthropologist
AAAFN American Anthropological Association Fellow Newsletter (January 1960–June 1968)
AN Anthropology Newsletter (September 1974–May 1999)
BAAA Bulletin of the American Anthropological Association (April 1953–December 1959)
NAAA Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association (June 1968–June 1974)
NBAAA News Bulletin of the American Anthropological Association (April 1947–January 1953)