Warren L. d'Azevedo Collection
Scope and Contents
The Warren d'Azevedo Collection primarily contains student papers and reports submitted for anthropology courses taught by d'Azevedo which focus on minority groups, especially Afro-Americans and Indians of North America. Some student reports were completed at institutions prior to d'Azevedo's appointment at the University of Nevada, 1963.
Also included are publications by d'Azevedo prior to coming to Nevada; materials collected from other institutions on similar subjects; duplicate racist materials from the Contemporary Issues Collection, University of Nevada [a collection of alternative publications, it was transferred to California State University, Fullerton, 1980.]; course bibliographies with lecture notes, and original and copies of published material dealing with topics taught.
Dates
- 1954-1983
Creator
- D'Azevedo, Warren L. (Creator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials used on-site advance notice suggested. Access to parts of collection may be restricted under provision of state or federal law.
Biographical Note
Dr. Warren Leonard d'Azevedo (1920-2014), was born in Oakland, California, and received a bachelor's degree in Anthropology at UC Berkeley in 1942 after first attending Modesto Junior College and Fresno State University. He served in World War II in the Merchant Marines, and later worked on the Oakland docks. Pursuing an experience-based interest in labor issues, he began a graduate degree in anthropology at Berkeley in 1951. He did field work with the Wašiw people in Nevada.
In 1953, d'Azevedo and his family moved to Illinois, where he studied with noted Africanist Melville J. Herskovits. A few years later, they moved to Liberia for his doctoral field work, where d'Azevedo began his lifelong relationship with the Gola people.
After receiving his Ph.D. in 1960, d'Azevedo taught at Berkeley, the University of Utah, and the University of Pittsburgh, before the University of Nevada invited him to found an anthropology program in 1963. Originally combined with psychology and sociology under the auspices of the Desert Research Institute, anthropology was established as an independent department in 1967. Under his leadership, the department became an internationally-recognized hub for the Great Basin and other international areas.
His service work included the University Human Relations Action Council, which worked with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, advising in the formation of UNR Black Student Union, and support for Race Relations Center of Reno, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Nevada Intertribal Council.
Dr. d'Azevedo retired from the University in 1988, though he kept working on his data analyses until shortly before his death in 2014. His bibliography is extensive and even includes some fiction and poetry.
Extent
3.75 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Warren L. d'Azevedo joined the faculty of the University of Nevada in 1963. The anthropology department was initiated under joint sponsorship with the Desert Research Institute. Originally combined with the psychology department and the sociology department, it became separate in 1963, but still received a joint position with the Desert Research Institute. This collection consists primarily of student papers and reports submitted for anthropology courses that focus on minority groups, especially Afro-Americans and Indians of North America. Also included are publications by d'Azevedo prior to coming to Nevada, materials collected from other institutions on similar subjects, course bibliographies with lecture notes, and published material dealing with topics taught.
Arrangement
Records are arranged as follows:
Box 1
D'Azevedo's publications; miscellaneous talks and reports from other institutions; Contemporary Issues material on racism; print and copies of materials dealing with miscegenation; and information on Liberia. 1954-1976.
Box 2
Anthropology 370, The Negro in the New World, 1965-1973.
Anthropology 370, Afro-American Peoples and Cultures, 1973-1977.
Reports by Minority Students and Minority Student Organizations.
Sociology student papers (Ethnic Studies), 1970-1971.
Box 3
Anthropology 205, Ethnic Groups in Contemporary Societies, 1971.
Various Anthropology papers, 1959-1971, arranged by date.
Box 4
Reports and papers relating to Indians of North America.
Reports and papers completed at the University of Utah, 1956-1962.
Various anthropology papers, arranged by course number, 1964-1983.
Anthropology 360, Indians of the Great Basin, 1964.
Anthropology 360, Indians of the Great Basin, 1978.
Anthropology 905, Ecological Approaches to Prehistory, 1975.
Anthropology 950, Regional Studies in Anthropology, 1976.
Various reports and papers concerned with Indians of North America.
Student papers are arranged by course number and year; author and title are listed.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Special Collections Department in 1998.
Creator
- D'Azevedo, Warren L. (Creator, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Collection of Warren L. d'Azevedo
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Betty Glass
- Date
- August 2008
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Nevada, Reno. University Archives Repository
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
1664 N. Virginia St.
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno NV 89557-0322 USA
775-682-5665
775-682-5724 (Fax)
specoll@unr.edu