Papers of Edwin Aubrey Cook (1932-1984), American anthropologist, professor, and specialist in Manga culture in Papua New Guinea. Cook devoted his career to anthropological work, focusing on kinship and social structure of the Manga tribe in Papua New Guinea. The bulk of the collection is comprised of manuscripts, reprints and audio recordings relating largely to Cook and Susan Pflanz-Cook's anthropological studies of native New Guinea society.
Edwin Cook Papers, 1944 - 1990 (bulk 1964-1973) (MSS 187)
Restrictions: Original sound recordings and negatives are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may
be available for researchers.
Extent: 19 Linear feet (32 archives boxes, 15 card file boxes, 1 flat box, 1 map case folder)
Edwin Aubrey Cook, American anthropologist, was born in 1932. He attended the University of Arizona, where his interest in anthropology was stimulated by the guidance of Professor Edward H. Spicer. After graduating with high distinction and honors in 1959, Cook went on to graduate study at Yale University and was further influenced by Professors Floyd G. Lounsbury, Harold W. Scheffler, and Leopold J. Pospisil. While working with Pospisil, Cook developed an interest in New Guinea. Cook conducted field work in the Jimi River District of the Western Highlands District (now Province) of Papua New Guinea from 1961 through 1963, with support from the National Institutes of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Cook's dissertation, Manga Social Organization, was presented in 1967.
Cook made a total of four visits to the Manga tribe, with his final visit being completed in the summer of 1981. His research interests encompassed many aspects of the Manga tribe's transition into the modern world, from first contact in 1956 to the problems of post-independence. He was particularly interested in problems of social structure and kinship. His interest in this area is reflected in the book, Blood and Semen: Kinship Systems of Highland New Guinea (1980), which he coedited with Denise O'Brien.
Cook taught anthropology at the University of Hawaii (1966-68), the University of California at Davis (1968-70), Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (1971-78), and at Florida State University (1978-1984). He was an active member of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania, as well as serving as the book review and articles editor in social/cultural anthropology for American Anthropologist from 1974 through 1978.
Cook died in Tallahassee, Florida, on April 24, 1984. He was married to anthropologist Susan Pflanz-Cook.
Papers of Edwin Aubrey Cook (1932-1984), American anthropologist, professor, and specialist in Manga culture in Papua New Guinea. Cook devoted his career to anthropological work, focusing on kinship and social structure of the Manga tribe in Papua New Guinea. The bulk of the collection is comprised of manuscripts, reprints and audio recordings relating largely to Cook and Susan Pflanz-Cook's anthropological studies of native New Guinea society. The collection is arranged in two major accessions.
Accession Processed in 1995
Anthropological investigations in Papua New Guinea, including manuscripts, reprints, publications, photographs, genealogy charts, notecards, data punch cards, maps, and sound recordings created between 1944 and 1984.
Arranged in five series: 1) SUBJECT FILES, 2) WRITINGS, 3) SOUND RECORDINGS, 4) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 5) WRITINGS OF OTHERS.
Accession Processed in 2006
Edwin Cook's research from Papua New Guinea during the trips he made in 1961-1963 and 1971-1972 (with Pflanz-Cook); some materials from his 1950s graduate work; and his last trip to Papua New Guinea in 1981 (also with Pflanz-Cook). The materials include daily notebooks, typed notecards, slides and prints, and manuscripts.
Arranged in eight series: 6) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 7) CORRESPONDENCE, 8) FIELD NOTES, 9) WRITINGS, 10) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 11) SUBJECT FILES, 12) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 13) SUSAN PFLANZ-COOK MATERIALS.