8 Anthropology Newsletter/March 1989

graphic and health characteristics of ar-cheological populations primarily by ref-erence to collections in which skeletalvariation can be compared directly withthe relevant clinical or demographicdata. Forensic studies, concerned withthe identification of recent human re-mains, also rely on data from docu-mented skeletons when estimating age,sex, ethnicity and facial features. Therecords of the collection provide epide-miological data, especially on poor peo-ple of the Washington, DC, area be-tween the 1930s and 1960s. Eighty-threepercent of the collection is AfricanAmerican, 16% Euro-American; threeskeletons are Asian, and one is NativeAmerican. Photographs and anatomicaldrawings accompany many of the rec-ords.

Prior to the Cobb Collection, therewere only two such large skeletal seriesavailable for study in the US: the TerryCollection (1600 individuals, primarilyfrom the 1920s and 1930s) at the Smith-sonian Institution, and the Hamann-Todd Collection (2600 individuals dis-sected between 1912 and 1938) at theCleveland Museum of Natural History.These are easily the most utilized collec-tions in physical anthropology, and eachyear they attract student and professionalresearchers from around the world.

As a graduate student of T WingateTodd (who completed the Haniann-ToddCollection), Cobb realized the scientificvalue and central role such collectionsplay in anthropological research. The ar-duous task of securing such a collectionfor Howard University would span mostof his career. In addition to his manyother accomplishments, the Cobb Col-lection today represents a significant ex-ample of what foresight, patience andfaith in future generations can produce.

It is a pleasure, then, to announce onbehalf of Dr Cobb and the rest of theCobb Collection Curation Project staff,that 987 records as well as the first seriesof 190 skeletons are presently beingmade available for study. For additionalinformation contact Michael L Blakey,PO Box 345, 350 Spelman La, SpelmanC, Atlanta, GA 30314; 404/659-1556.After May 31,1989, he can be contactedat the Dept of Soc and Anth, Howard U,Washington, DC 20059; 202/636-5323.

1989 Annual Meeting

Angela Giliiam, ABA program chairfor the 1989 Annual Meeting, is workingwith George Bond in putting together aninvited session on the social constructionof the past. The session will be cospon-sored by AES. whose program chair isLeith Mullings. Anyone interested in re-ceiving more information on this sessionor other plans for the 1989 meetingshould contact Angela at EvergreenState College, Olympia, WA 98505;206/866-6018 or -5552. As 1 noted in theFebruary column, this session is in-tended to serve as a lead-in for the dis-cussion of the same topic at the WorldArchaeological Congress's 1990 meet-ing in Venezuela.

RemindersHi.

If you have not already done so,please return the form for the updatedABA directory. The form appeared inthe November 1988 Notes from the ABA.If you do not have that issue handy, sim-ply send your vita to Ira Harrison, Deptof Anth, U Tennessee-Knoxville, Knox-viile, TN 37996-0720; 615/974-4408.

For the many of you chafing at the bitto participate more actively in ABA af-fairs, take note: you might volunteer towork as the southern, midwestern orwestern regional representative. Forthis, contact Michael Blakey (addressabove) or Faye Harrison, Dept of Anth,U Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292;502/776-1069. Or, you might considerjoining one of the five standing commit-tees: Publications/Communications, Ar-chives, Recruitment and Training (con-cerned with the enrollment, retentionand graduation of African Americangraduate students), Public Education andMedia, and Anthropology Watch.Again, contact Michael or Faye.

Do not forget that if you have anythingof interest for Notes from the ABA or AN,send it to me at the Anth Dept, City Col-lege, New York, NY 10031; 212/690-6608 or -8163. Items for the next issueof Notes should reach me by February20, as should items for AN. Keep in mindthat AN material will not appear untilroughly six weeks later.

ASSOCIATION FOR FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY

Jane Collins, Contributing Editor

New AAA Unit Formed

In an action that many will feel waslong overdue, 165 women and men cametogether at the Phoenix meeting for anorganizational meeting of the Associa-tion for Feminist Anthropology, Themain purpose of the meeting, which waschaired by Sylvia Forman (U M^s-Am-herst), was to develop a slate of officersand a set of bylaws. After some discus-sion and modification, the followingstatement of the organization's purposewas approved:

The purposes of the Association shall be. (1) to foster development of feminist theoret-ical perspectives in all dimensions of anthro-pology and to encourage integration of fem-inist research from the different subfields of

anthropology; (2) to facilitate communica-tion among feminist anthropologists and be-tween them and feminist scholars in otherfields; (3) to gather and distribute informationon issues related to gender differences and togender-based discrimination to the disciplineand the public; (4) to encourage and illus-trate, through the scholarly pursuits and otherpractices of the Association, as well asthrough the diversity of its officers and mem-bership, an appreciation of the interrelated-ness of gender with race, ethnicity, class andother bases of difference.

The following slate of officers was ap-proved, to serve for one year only:

Chair: Carole Hill (Georgia State) ,Chair-elect: Jane Collins (SUNY-

Binghamton)

Secretary-Treasurer: Michael Burton(UC-lrvine)

At-large member: Naomi Quinn(Duke)

At-large member: Holly Mathews(East Carolina)

At-large member: Louise Lamphere(New Mexico)

At-large member: Joanne Pasarro(grad student rep. Duke)

At-large member: Elizabeth (Albion)At-large member: Meredith Small

(Cornell)

lisa Schuster (CUNY-Hunter) and Col-leen Cohen (Vassar) were elected toserve as a Nominations Committee for

this year's elections. They are currentlysoliciting nominations or volunteers forall of the offices listed above.

Lynn Bolles (Bowdoin) has agreed toserve as Program Chair for the 1989meeting. Any suggestions for topics orsymposia should be directed to her.

The Association officially mergedwith the AAA in January 1989. Newmembers are welcomed, as are yourideas, encouragement and support. Duesare $ 15 for regular members and $8 forstudent/retired/unemployed members.

Please send suggestions for future col-umns to Deborah Rubin, 127 B Escon-dido Village, Stanford, CA 94305; 415/325-6585."

ASSOCIATION FOR POLITICAL AND LEGALANTHROPOLOGY

Cristy S Johnsrud, Contributing Editor

The annual business meeting of theAssociation for Political and Legal An-thropology was held on Thursday, No-vember 17, 1988, at the Sheraton Hotelin Phoenix. President Leo Pospisil(Yale) welcomed President-elect RonaldCohen (Florida), new Board memberJune Starr (SUNY), and interim Boardmember John Comaroff (Chicago).

The past year has been extremely ac-tive with steady growth in APLA mem-bership, and 1989 promises even more.Thus, business meeting discussions cen-tered around plans for the Washington,DC, meeting, the current APLA Indexand membership drive, and a report onliaison with those interested in conflictresolution by Yvonne Illich. FrankStewart of the Institute for Desert Re-search in Israel agreed to act as liaisonbetween the APLA and the Commissionon Folk Law and Legal Pluralism in theNetherlands.

The 1989 annual meeting in Washing-ton, DC, will be an important one for allAPLA members and others involved inrelated research. Rebecca French (Yale)will again head the Program Committee,and members should contact her withsuggestions for panels, workshops andformal sessions. She can be reached at420 Pound Bldg, Harvard Law School,Cambridge, MA 02138; 617/495-4629or -4627. The deadline for submission tothe AAA is April 1, so please contact heras soon as possible if you have not al-

ready done so.The APLA Index will be ready for

purchase early in April. The Index con-tains information about APLA members,their research interests, and current ac-tivities. All APLA members should ob-tain copies of the survey forms and/orsubmit completed forms to Jim McLeod,Anth Dept, Ohio St U, Mansfield, OH44906.

While APLA membership has grownsubstantially during the past year, .̂ ddi-..tlonal members aresought and wel-comed. All anthropologists interested inquestions about power, empowerment,authority, the state and other politicaland legal issues should consider joiningAPLA. Members receive the APLANewsletter&nd a 20% discount on the an-nual volume of Political Anthropology.Any AAA member wishing to join theAPLA may do so by sending the annualdues ($10) to the Membership Dept,AAA, 1703 New Hampshire Av NW,Washington, DC 20009 and designatingtheir wish to join the APLA.

On a final note, Cristy Johnsrud (Flor-ida) was appointed as the new Contrib-uting Editor to AN for the APLA by theBoard of Directors at the Phoenix meet-ing. Please address any news items con-cerning APLA or APLA members toCristy Johnsrud, STAC, One ProgressBlvd, Alachua, FL 32615; 904/462-3913.

COUNCIL ON ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Ronald EMertz, Contributing Editor

Call for Papers: 1989 Meeting

Please review the January and Febru-ary issues of AN for invitations fromCAE committees to participate in ses-sions at the 1989 meeting in Washing-ton. In addition, you might want to co-sponsor a session with another AAA or-ganization, if you do not know who tocontact in one of the other organizations,David Fetterman can provide you withthe names and addresses of all 1989

AAA Program Committee members.Call 415/725-0081 (o) or 415/323-5339(h).

Special Event

The Council on Anthropology and Ed-ucation, NAPA and NASA are inter-ested in cosponsoring a special event atthe 1989 meeting on "Projecting An-thropology to the Public at Large." Thistopic reflects one of the new AAA initi-