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William R. Holland Papers1953-1977

MS 41

Biographical Note

William R. Holland was born in Buffalo, New York in 1928. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Buffalo in 1950. Shortly after completing his undergraduate degree he moved to pursue his Masters at the University of Arizona. In order to earn income as a student, Holland worked as an insurance salesman. On the job he became acquainted with many families and community members in Tucson and learned how to speak Spanish. His Master’s thesis was entitled, Crime and Social Conditions in the United States: A study in correlations. In 1953 Holland received a Masters in Sociology and started to pursue his Ph.D. immediately after. He became dedicated to the study of various communities in Mexico, and Spanish speaking communities in Arizona. In 1956, Holland visited the municipality of Larráinzar in Chiapas, Mexico and decided that this community would be the focus in his dissertation. His dissertation concentrated on the effects of the medical program, Instituto National Indigenista in changing indigenous curing methods, cosmology and belief systems. Holland spent much of his time studying the medicinal practices within the Tzotzil speaking community. In 1962, Holland obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona. In 1963, his dissertation was translated into Spanish and published by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista in the Coleccion de Antropología Social in Mexico. On March 9, 1964, Holland suddenly died of a heart attack while conducting field work in Copan, Honduras; he was only 36 years old.

Scope and Content

This collection contains a total of 5 boxes, 51 folders and 40 magnetic reel to reel tapes. Box 1 contains 5 folders which hold ethnographic surveys, and surveys related to the Mexican-American Mental Health Project. Box 2 contains 8 folders which hold course notes, linguistic materials, photos, documents related to the Mexican American Health Project and other materials. Box 3 contains 23 folders which hold documents related to Dr. Holland’s dissertation on his Tzotzil studies; folders 1 through 21 contain prayer texts. Box 4 contains 13 folders; folders 3 through 12 contain interview texts. The documents in Box 3 and Box 4 are transcribed in Spanish, English or Tzotzil; Tzotzil is a Mayan language used among the indigenous people living in the Larráinzar municipality in Chiapas, Mexico. Box 5 contains 39 five inch magnetic reel to reel tapes and one three inch magnetic reel to reel tape. The transcripts for these recordings are located in Box 3 and Box 4. Not all sound recordings have transcripts and vice versa due to the early death of the researcher. Any materials in this collection dating after March 1964 were added by Edward H. Spicer or Ulrich Köhler.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

The donor placed no restrictions on access. Access to some of the files will be restricted due to their confidential nature and the HIPPA regulation. Access to specific information about the nature and location of archaeological resources may be restricted pursuant to the United States Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA) and Arizona Revised Statues, Title 39-125. ARPA includes a specific exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements for information about the nature and location of archaeological resources (16 U.S. Code 470hh: Confidentiality of information concerning the nature and location of archaeological resources).

Conditions Governing Use

The Arizona State Museum may not own copyright to all parts of this collection. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, Arizona State Museum, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Arizona State Museum received this collection from Ulrich Köhler and it was accepted by Edward H. Spicer. After the death of William R. Holland some of his research papers were placed and held by the Instituto Nacional Indigenista in Mexico where he conducted much of his research. Ulrich Köhler, who was a colleague of Dr. William Holland, dicovered some of his papers while conducting a study in Mexico and he subsequently offered them to Arizona State Museum.

Preferred Citation

MS 41: William R. Holland Papers, Arizona State Museum Library and Archives.

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