Guide to the Robert F. Heizer papers
1949-1956
Collection number: HMC-0136.
Creator: Heizer, Robert F.
Title: Robert F. Heizer papers.
Dates: 1949-1956.
Volume of collection: 0.4 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Materials in this collection are in English.
Collection summary: Papers of an anthropologist.
Biographical note:
Robert F. Heizer was born in Colorado in 1915. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley and received his B.A. degree in 1936, followed by his Ph.D. in anthropology in 1941. He taught at the University of Oregon from 1940-1941, and at the University of California at Los Angeles from 1945-1946. In 1946, he began teaching at the University of California at Berkeley, where he remained until his retirement in 1976. In addition to teaching, Heizer was very active in archaeological and anthropological investigation, doing fieldwork in Alaska with Dr. Ales Hrdlicka (1934-1935) and at numerous other sites in the Western states and Mexico, as well as in Peru, Egypt, and Guatemala. He also wrote and published extensively on the results of his research, writing over 400 papers and reports, and 29 books (authored, co-authored, or edited). A member of a number of archaeological and anthropological societies, Heizer also organized and directed the University of California Archaeological Survey, from 1948 to 1960, and was coordinator of its successor, the Archaeological Research Facility, from 1960 until his retirement. For his work in archaeology and anthropology, Heizer received numerous honors including an honorary Doctor of Science degree (University of Nevada, 1965), two Guggenheim Fellowships (1963, 1973), a year as a Fellow in the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1972-1973), and an award for “Distinguished Scholarly Contributions” from the Southwestern Anthropological Association (1976). He died in 1979.
Collection description:
The collection consists of correspondence, notes, photographs, drafts of manuscripts, and a published article from Dr. Heizer’s study of Koniag Eskimo artifacts of Kodiak Island.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by subject.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Access restrictions: Because the collection contains potentially culturally and personally sensitive information, prior to access all researchers must sign an archives-provided form agreeing to abide by the American Anthropological Association’s Code of Ethics in using this collection http://ethics.americananthro.org/category/statement/. Please contact an archivist for further information.
Rights note: Archives does not hold copyright to materials in this collection.
Preferred citation: Robert F. Heizer papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The collection was donated to Archives by Linda Yarborough in 1981.
Processing information: This collection was described prior to 1985. The guide to the collection was converted to current standard by Veronica Denison in 2015.
Container list:
| Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1 | Correspondence | 1946-1956 |
| 2 | “Incised Slate figures” Kodiak article, notes, and four photographs | 1952 |
| 3 | “Pottery from the Southern Eskimo Region”: Draft with drawings and two photographs | undated |
| 4 | Kodiak mortar and fire pit: Notes and three photographs | 1932 June |
| 5 | Kodiak Pottery: Notes and three negatives | undated |
| 6 | Kodiak artifacts: Notes | undated |
| 7-8 | Plates for Article on Uyak Site, Kodiak, Alaska | undated |
| 9 | Harvard University, photographs of artifacts, possibly from Kodiak | undated |
| 10 | Photographs of artifacts and dig site, possibly Kodiak | undated |
| 11 | Tlingit pictures from Seville | undated |