Arnold Leonard (Bill) Epstein, anthropologist, professor and writer, was born in Liverpool, England, on September 13, 1924. He served in the Royal Navy during the war. In 1944, he received a law degree from Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Manchester in 1955. His post-doctoral research (1950-1956) at the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Lansaka, Northern Rhodesia, involved the study of African native tribal law.
After returning to England, Epstein worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester (1957-1958) where met his future wife, Trude Scarlett Trent. Together they undertook a study of Tolai culture on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. They first went to Rapitok, then to Matupit, where Epstein studied the legal, political and social structure of the Tolai people. T.S. Epstein continued her own research on the economic affairs of the Gazelle Peninsula. They returned to England in 1960 and Epstein was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester in 1961, where he remained until 1966. He received a fellowship from the Australian National University in Canberra and taught there from 1966-1972, serving as the Head of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology from 1970-1972.
In 1972, Epstein was appointed professor of social anthropology at the School of African and Asian Studies at the University of Sussex. In 1974, he received a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. In 1981, Epstein spent a year at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies in Wessenaar.
Trude Scarlett Epstein, anthropologist, economist and writer, was born on July 13, 1922. She studied economic development and social change in the Mysore villages of southern India (1954-1956, 1970). She also conducted research on economic structures of the Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain, Papua New Guinea, during 1959-1960 and 1969-1970.
In 1959, T.S. Epstein was appointed Senior Fellow in the Department of Economics at the Institute of Development Studies, Australian National University. She remained there until 1972 when she was later appointed professor at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex in Brighton, England.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
The typescript of "Melanesian Masquerade: The Male Cult among the Tolai of the Gazelle Peninsula" located in Box 26 is restricted until 2018. The audio recordings in Series 17, Box 27 are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced in advance
Dates Covered
1949-1995
Language
English
Locations Discussed
East Africa
Oceania
Zambia
Papua New Guinea
Note
Papers of anthropologists Arnold Leonard and Trude Scarlett Epstein. The accession processed in 1985 contains field notes and produce market studies compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961, relating to the Tolai people from the Island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The accessions processed in 1993 includes correspondence, field notes, research materials, writings, and maps. The Arnold Epstein portion of the collection includes field notes made in Zambia during the 1950s and 1960s that focus on government, communities, unions and laws, notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern Rhodesia (1953-1954), and information on the 1968 election process of the Tolai people on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The Trude Epstein portion of the collection focuses on economic conditions and market trends of the Tolai people in the 1950s and 1960s. The accessions processed in 1999 are solely representative of A.L. Epstein and include correspondence, writings, talks and seminar presentations, field notes on Tolai marriage, and biographical materials.
Accession Processed in 1985
Primarily field notes and other data compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961. The notes cover a wide variety of topics regarding the Tolai people of Matupit, an island in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. Topics include beliefs and customs, marriage and kinship, economy and business, and governmental structures.
Arranged in two series: 1) FIELD NOTES, and 2) PRODUCE MARKET STUDIES
Accessions Processed in 1993
Correspondence, field notes, research materials, writings, and maps. Material dates from 1949-1981, with the bulk dating from the 1950s and 1960s. The A.L. Epstein portion of the collection is a rich source of unique materials that describe the political and social structure of peoples in Zambia during the 1950s and 1960s, with a focus on government, community, unions, and law. It also includes notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern Rhodesia (1953-1954), and information on the 1968 election process on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The T.S. Epstein portion of the papers also provides information on the political and social structure of the Tolai people from the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea in the 1950s and 1960s, with particular emphasis on economic conditions and trends in this region.
Arranged in nine series: 3) CORRESPONDENCE 4) A.L. EPSTEIN FIELD NOTES, 5) A.L. EPSTEIN RESEARCH MATERIALS, 6) A.L. EPSTEIN WRITINGS, 7) T.S. EPSTEIN FIELD NOTES, 8) T.S. EPSTEIN ANALYTICAL STUDIES AND SURVEYS, 9) T.S. EPSTEIN WRITINGS, 10) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, and 11) MAPS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
Accessions Processed in 1999
The accessions processed in 1999 relate almost exclusively to A.L. Epstein and represent research and scholarship
conducted from 1985-1995 on cultures in Papua New Guinea and Africa. Includes notes, correspondence and reviews
associated with Epstein's journal articles and books, correspondence with family members, friends and colleagues, talks and seminar presentations on research in Northern Rhodesia and southern Africa, a single field notebook on Tolai marriage (1986), miscellaneous materials, and audio recordings.
Arranged in six series: 12) CORRESPONDENCE, 13) WRITINGS, 14) TALKS AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS, 15) FIELD NOTES, 16) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, and 17) AUDIO RECORDINGS.
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