The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University is pleased to have completed a 3-year project to make over 32,000 photos and over 20,000 records of the Marshall Family Archives digitally available to all.
The collection of photographic and written records, created by the Laurence K. and Lorna J. Marshall family, documents how Indigenous peoples of the Kalahari Desert region—primarily the Ju/’hoansi, G/ui, and Naro—lived prior to extended contact with the Western world. Over the course of the Marshall Family Expeditions from 1950–1961, the Ju/’hoansi followed by the Marshalls transitioned from being independent, seasonally migrant hunter-gatherers to living on a reserve and participating in a cash and welfare economy. This collection offers an in-depth view of the process and immediate effects of cultural change that was unprecedented in anthropology. It is one of the most important archives of hunter-gatherers and includes historical images of other African peoples including Herero, Himba, and Ovambo.
Ethical Stewardship in Action
The implementation of this project coincided with the museum’s expanding commitment to ethical stewardship. Although each image in the collection had been described in the original 1950s and 1960s photographic logbooks, including ethnographic information, people’s names, and activities, Peabody staff initiated consultations with Indigenous and other scholars to implement reparative descriptive terminology in our databases. Reparative description is the active practice of employing language to accurately describe the people and history of a collection without perpetuating harm while retaining information for researchers. As a consequence, public-facing image descriptions were written to forefront Indigenous experience and subjectivity, to include Indigenous names and terms when possible and to replace problematic ones. At the same time, we preserved the original descriptions for researchers interested in historical anthropology. In making this collection more widely available for community engagement and feedback, we anticipate making further changes in our databases in the future.
Outreach
In digitizing the Marshall Family Archives, the museum strives to share these important historical documents and photographs as widely as possible, especially with the communities with whom the Marshalls worked. The museum supported the exhibition Bringing Back the Archive that opened September 29, 2023 at the !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre in South Africa, which includes contemporary elements from members of the Tsumkwe Ju/’hoan community with whom the Marshalls primarily worked. In addition, the museum has contributed photographs to projects initiated by the Museums Association of Namibia: a mobile exhibition and catalog Stand Together and a Museum of Namibian Fashion website and pocket guide. The museum will continue to build on these partnerships and establish new ones.
Funding
This project was made possible by Harvard University and generous funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), (grant number MA-245387-OMS-20). The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. It advances, supports, and empowers America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Its vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow on Facebook and Twitter.
Related Blog Posts
Storytelling in Archival Contexts August 31, 2023
The Marshall IMLS Grant and Resources for Reparative Description August 7, 2023
Rewriting the Past: The Problem of Historic Language in Museum Collections August 8, 2022