Papers of Australian anthropologist Derek Freeman. The collection documents the research and publication career of the prominent Australian anthropologist; his correspondence with Australian, British and American colleagues; and, the scholarly debates that he sparked with his critical analysis of Margaret Mead's research in Samoa. In addition to manuscript drafts of Freeman's articles and books, the collection includes his comprehensive files of popular press and academic discussion of his books Margaret Mead and Samoa (1983) and The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead (1999), and the documentary film, play, and papers this controversy sparked. The papers also contain abundant general topical notes, files from Freeman's documentation of the Daniel Nicholl's murder case, and photographs of people and places in Samoa.
Derek Freeman Papers, 1940-2001 (MSS 522)
Extent: 70 Linear feet (171 archives boxes, 17 card file boxes, and 5 oversize folders)
John Derek Freeman was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on August 16, 1916. He earned a B.A. (1939) from Victoria University, a M.Phil. (1948) from University of London, and a Ph.D. (1953) from Cambridge University. He was a professor at Australian National University, then emeritus professor and research fellow at the University's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.
After completing the B.A., Freeman became a teacher of languages in Western Samoa in 1940. During his stay until 1943, he made frequent trips to Sa'anapu. His Master's thesis entitled The Social Structure of a Samoan Village Community (1948) was based on his research at Sa'anapu.
Between 1949-1951, Freeman did fieldwork among the Iban of Borneo, which led to his Ph.D. thesis, and later to a monograph entitled Report on the Iban (1955).
While teaching at University of Otago, then as an assistant professor (1955) and as a reader (1957) at Australian National University, Freeman wrote several Samoan papers. He won the Curl Prize for his essay "The Concept of the Kindred" (1960), based on his fieldwork on the Iban (Borneo).
In the sixties, Freeman began to explore a synthesis of biology and cultural anthropology. His paper entitled "Social Anthropology and the Scientific Study of Human Behavior" (1965) exemplifies this period. Between 1966 and 1968, Freeman performed fieldwork in Sa'anapu for a second time. He collected a massive amount of material on political and kinship systems, emotional response, child-rearing, and social life, based on texts, interviews, psychological tests, and observation.
Between 1968 and 1971, Freeman wrote several papers contrasting Margaret Mead's claims in Coming of Age in Samoa (1926) and his own observations, culminating in a book manuscript entitled "Culture and Human Nature in the Samoan Islands" (1971). In 1982, Freeman published Margaret Mead and Samoa (1983), a revised version of "Culture and Human Nature." The book was immediately controversial and popular in the media and academic circles, and enjoyed enough success to be republished by Penguin as Margaret Mead and the Heretic (1996).
The Mead-Freeman controversy revolved around Freeman's argument that certain statements by Margaret Mead on Samoa were factually inaccurate, hence the paradigmatic assumptions of cultural anthropology were flawed. The book garnered widespread attention because of the great stature of Mead in the public imagination, and her association with liberal ideology. Many American anthropologists defended Mead's reputation in the press. The debates inspired a documentary film by Frank Heimans entitled Margaret Mead and Samoa (1988) about Mead, and a play by David Williamson entitled Heretic (1996) about Freeman.
In 1992, Freeman did research in the Margaret Mead Papers at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. This work led him to a detailed reconstruction of Mead's field stay in Samoa and her sources of information. The presentation of this, as well as his study of the Franz Boas Papers led to the publication of The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead (1999).
Freeman died in Canberra on July 6, 2001.
Accessions Processed in 2002
The Derek Freeman Papers document Freeman's research and publication career, especially his fieldwork in Samoa and the publication and subsequent controversy associated with his book Margaret Mead and Samoa (1983). Materials include personal and professional correspondence, subject files, general notes, extensive research notes and field notebooks from Samoa, manuscript drafts of Freeman's writings, drafts of the writings of others, and miscellaneous materials. The Mead-Freeman Controversy materials include reviews, journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, and Freeman's responses; documentation of Freeman's participation related projects; research materials on Mead; and notes. The collection contains little documentation of Freeman's Iban study.
The collection has been arranged to separate as best as possible two major foci of Freeman's career: his Samoan studies and research on Margaret Mead. These, however, are very much intertwined, and separating the materials relating to the Mead-Freeman controversy creates an arbitrary chronological break around 1983. The researcher should be aware of connections between the two foci.
The papers are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) SUBJECT FILES, 3) SAMOA RESEARCH MATERIALS, 4) GENERAL NOTES, 5) WRITINGS BY FREEMAN, 6) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 7) THE MEAD-FREEMAN CONTROVERSY, and 8) MISCELLANY.
The collection has been arranged to separate as best as possible two major foci of Freeman's career: Samoan studies and research on Margaret Mead. These, however, are very much intertwined, and separating the materials relating to the Mead-Freeman controversy creates a highly arbitrary chronological break around 1983.
A researcher would be advised to be aware of connections between materials in the CONTROVERSY series and elsewhere. CORRESPONDENCE should be a very valuable place for researchers to investigate Freeman's ideas, since in his letters, Freeman was able to engage friends and colleagues on all of the issues that interested him.
Accessions Processed in 2003
The accessions processed in 2003 contain additional notebooks and fieldnotes from Freeman's first field study in Samoa; manuscript drafts for The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead (1999); recent correspondence files; research files on Samoa; drafts of miscellaneous early writings; photographs of Samoan people and places; materials related to Freeman's tenure at Australian National University, and files on the Daniel Nicholls murder case that Freeman followed in the early 1960s.
The papers are arranged in twelve series: 9) CORRESPONDENCE, 10) SAMOAN RESEARCH MATERIALS, 11) NOTES, 12) RESEARCH MATERIALS, 13) WRITINGS AND REVIEWS BY FREEMAN, 14) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 15) THE DANIEL NICHOLLS CASE, 16) MAPS, 17) PHOTOGRAPHS, 18) AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, 19) MISCELLANY, and 20) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
Accession Processed in 2006
The accession processed in 2006 contains materials relating to the principal areas of Freeman's research, Samoa, the South Pacific, and Margaret Mead. It includes correspondence, writings by others, and notes and researcch materials from Freeman's files. Also present are academic materials dating from the period of Freeman's doctoral work at Cambridge and teaching in New Zealand and Australia (1951-1957), and materials relating to subjects of general interest.
The accession is arranged in seven series: 21) CORRESPONDENCE, 22) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 23) NOTES, 24) SAMOAN RESEARCH, 25) ACADEMIC MATERIALS, 26) SUBJECT FILES, and 27) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
This collection has additional unprocessed materials not described in this finding aid. See the UC San Diego Library catalog record to view the acquisition dates and extent of unprocessed additions.