Records, Archeological Documents, Photographs, Cartographic Materials, circa 1945-1969

Subject

• Huscher, Harold A. 1908-1992
• Miller, Carl F

Notes

• The files of the central office and field offices include correspondence, memoranda of telephone conversations, reports, information files, housekeeping files, subject files, a few field notebooks, and photographic material. The site files consist mainly of photographs and completed forms for data collected in the field and the laboratory. The files of Harold Huscher and Carl Miller, separated because of continued work in analyzing the data they contain, include correspondence, notes, archeological forms, and photographs. Huscher's material largely concerns work along the Chattahoochee River. Miller's files concern work in Virginia and North Carolina. Much of the material regarding sites is controlled by the system for designating sites developed by the Smithsonian. This consists of a three-part code that includes a number to indicate the state, an alphabetical abbreviation to indicate county, and a number for each site within a county.
• The creation of the River Basin Surveys (RBS) grew out of preliminary work by the Committee for the Recovery of Archeological Remains, an ad hoc group of anthropologists. The Committee's concern was the preservation of archeological evidence threatened by public works programs, especially the construction of dams and reservoirs, that were carried out after World War II. The result of the Committee's work was a cooperative arrangement among the Smithsonian, the National Park Service, the Corps of Engineers, many universities, and other public and private organizations to exchange information and finance and carry out salvage archeological work throughout the United States. The RBS was organized in 1947 to carry out the Smithsonian's part of the program. It was particularly active in field work in the Missouri Basin, the West Coast, Texas, and the southeastern states. Through most of its existence, the RBS was an autonomous unit of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Headquarters were in Washington, D.C., and there was a major field office in Lincoln, Nebraska. There were also field offices for relatively short periods of time in Austin, Texas, and Eugene, Oregon. When the Bureau was disbanded in 1965, the RBS became a unit of the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology (Department of Anthropology since 1968). In 1966, the headquarters were moved to Lincoln; in 1968, the RBS was placed administratively under the Director of the National Museum of Natural History. In 1969, the RBS was transferred to the National Park Service, but provision was made for the deposit of its records and manuscripts in the Smithsonian.
• (1) Draft registers for Washington and Lincoln office files; (2) list of site files by Smithsonian designation.
• For a history of the creating unit, refer to "Forms part of" above.

Organization

(1) Records of the Washington, D.C., office, 1945-1966; (2) records of the Lincoln, Nebraska, office, 1945-1969; (3) records of the Eugene, Oregon, office, 1947-1951; (4) records of the Austin, Texas, office, 1947-1952; (5) Harold Huscher's files, circa 1958-1966; (6) Carl Miller's files, circa 1949-1965; (7) research and publications files, circa 1948-1952; (8) site files, 1945-1969; (9) photographic documents, circa 1945-1969; (10) cartographic documents, undated

Repository Loc.

National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Suitland, Maryland

Date

• 1945
• 1945-1969
• circa 1945-1969

Restrictions & Rights

These records are located in the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives

Topic

Form/Genre

• Maps
• Collection descriptions
• Photographs
• Field notes

Local number

SIA RUNAA006

Physical description

120 linear meters

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