A New Virtual Finding Aid for the Virginia Drew Watson Papers

Virginia Drew Watson (1918-2007) was an archaeologist and cultural anthropologist who was best known for her work in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where she worked both with her husband, James B. Watson, and with J. David Cole. She made two trips to Papua New Guinea with her husband, the first (1954-1955) to study the socio-cultural aspects of the Tairora and Agarabi groups, and the second (1963-1964) to complete the archaeological work of their student, J. David Cole¹, who was unable to complete it due to illness. The result of this second trip was the completion of her dissertation, "Agarabi Female Roles and Family Structure, a study of socio-cultural change" (1965); the publication of Prehistory of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea (1977), in which Watson analyzed tools excavated by Cole at 76 different archaeological sites; and the publication of Anyan’s Story: A New Guinea Woman in Two Worlds (1997), in which Watson showed the changes in Tairora culture resulting from contact with the West through the life experience of Anyan. 

Watson, Virginia Drew, and J. David Cole. Prehistory of the Highlands of New Guinea. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977. And Watson, Virginia Drew. Anyan’s Story: A New Guinea Woman in Two Worlds. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997. The Virginia Drew Watson papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Watson also did field work in Brazil, with the Cayua Indians of Mato Grosso (1943), and in Colorado, with  the Anglo-Spanish community in Del Norte (1949-1950). She worked in the Cultural Relations Department of the American Consulate General in Sao Paulo, Brazil, (1944-1945) and lectured at a variety of universities and museums (the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; the University of Oklahoma, Norman; Washington University in St. Louis; Seattle University; and the University of Washington, Seattle). While she was teaching at Washington State University, she made a study of the Wulfing plates, which had been donated to the university by John Max Wulfing.

Three images from Watson, Virginia Drew. The Wulfing Plates: Products of Prehistoric Americans. St. Louis: Washington University Press, 1950. The Virginia Drew Watson papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Insitution.

These 8 copper plates were created by the Mississippian culture and discovered in Missouri in 1906. Watson’s study of these plates resulted in the publication of The Wulfing Plates: Products of Prehistoric Americans (1950). The plates had previously not been studied extensively, though they had been on exhibit in the St. Louis Art Museum, and her work brought them to the attention of other anthropologists.²

 

The finding aid for Watson’s papers has recently been published on SOVA through the funding of the Smithsonian Collections Information (CIS) pool for fiscal year 2019. The finding aid for James B. Watson’s papers is also available on SOVA. 

 

Katherine Christensen
Contract Archivist
National Anthropological Archives

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¹For more on the work of J. David Cole in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, see this mini-exhibit at the Burke Museum: https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/archaeology-mini-exhibit-uncovering-pacific-pasts. Objects from this expedition are included in the Uncovering Pacific Pasts website created by the University of Sydney: https://heuristplus.sydney.edu.au/h5-alpha/?db=CBAP_Uncovering_Pacific_Pasts&website&id=1137.

²Robb, Matthew H. “Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Spotlight Series March 2010.” St. Louis Art Museum. Accessed June 8, 2020, https://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/files/spotlightMar10_2.pdf. The Smithsonian Institution has similar plates in its collections, which you can see here: https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhanthropology_8319024.