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Sallie Pierce-Harris collection, 1918-1994

MS-309

Biographical Note

[Sarah] Sallie Pierce-Harris (3 April 1911 – 2 May 1994) was born in Victor, Colorado to Colwell A. and Mary L. (Rood) Pierce who were born in Rhode Island and Missouri. The family moved to Patagonia, Arizona in 1912 so Pierce-Harris’ father could work as a mining engineer at the Mansfield Mining Encampment.

Pierce-Harris studied archeology at the University of Arizona in Tucson and was an ardent admirer of Gladys Reichard’s work in the field of Native American studies. When Pierce-Harris graduated with her bachelor’s degree in the 1930s she immediately started doing field work at Chaco Canyon. By 1934, she had been working as a civil works administration position at Montezuma Castle classifying artifacts. It was there that she met her first husband, Jim Brewer, a ranger working for the National Park Service [NPS]. They were married that same year and Pierce-Harris became an “Honorary Custodian Without Pay,” which was the title given to NPS wives who were equally as qualified as their husbands to work as park custodians and archeologists. Pierce-Harris and Brewer spent the first few years of their marriage living in tents at 8 different National Monuments around the Colorado Plateau. Eventually they were transferred to Wupatki National Monument where they were allowed to live in the ruins. Pierce-Harris referred to Brewer as a “roving ranger” and wrote about their experiences in multiple diaries.

Pierce-Harris and Brewer became very close with their Navajo neighbors, especially the Peshlakai clan. In 1936, they sponsored an exhibit of Navajo crafts at the Museum of Northern Arizona, which was very well-received. Pierce-Harris remained in touch with many of her Navajo friends for the rest of her life. In 1939, Brewer took over custodianship of Navajo National Monument from the Wetherill family. The couple moved into the Betatakin ruins and were the first people to inhabit cliff dwelling in over 500 years. During this time Pierce-Harris was invited to help start a publication for the wives of NPS rangers and custodians called The Grapevine, in which women wrote about their experiences and difficulties.

When war was declared in 1941, Brewer enlisted in the Navy. The National Park Service lost most of their custodians and rangers to the war and had no choice but to hire women for war service appointments. Pierce-Harris became the first permanent woman ranger in the Southwest Monuments. She worked at Casa Grande for a year and then was transferred to Tumacacari Mission for the next 6 years. When Brewer returned from the war in 1945, he and Pierce-Harris divorced.

In the early 1950s, Pierce-Harris married a longtime colleague and fellow NPS archeologist, Richard Fowler Van Valkenburg[h]. She was his third wife. Van Valkenburg was working as an archeological researcher for the Navajo Land Claims at the time. Though they did not live together for much of their marriage, they corresponded frequently about his research. They divorced later that decade when Van Valkenburg returned to his second wife.

Pierce-Harris eventually left NPS in the late 1950s after 24 years of service and took a position at the Southwest Archeological Center in Globe. She eventually married her third and final husband, William M. Harris, Jr. In 1968, she retired but continued to be active in environmental organizations, including the Audubon Society. She moved to Prescott in 1981 and passed away in 1994 at the age of 83.

Scope and Content

This collection includes personal papers from Pierce-Harris’ early life, including diary entries and poems, as well as diaries written during the early part of her career as an archeologist and as an Honorary Custodian Without Pay after she married her first husband. Also included are her research notes and draft manuscripts of papers written on the archeology, ethnology, and history of the Navajo and the National Monuments at which she worked. There are also records and publications from the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior, information on the Peshlakai family, Pierce-Harris’ Mexican research, and biographical information and interviews. Notable individuals include A.T. Bicknell, the Wetherill Family, John M. Turney, L.L. Hargrave, Watson Smith, Dorothy Peach-Pollack, Peshlakai Etsedi, Dorothy Newkirk Stewart, and Alexa Roberts. Also included are files of strictly correspondence, personal and professional, often including copies of her responses. These letters span from the early to late 20th century and comprise her years with NPS, her relationships with the Navajo people, her relationship with her husband (Van Valkenburg) and his work with the Navajo Land Claim, and letters regarding her and other’s research of the Southwest. There is also a signed letter from Senator John F. Kennedy. There are also photographs and negatives of areas around the Southwest, mostly Navajo country and the Colorado Plateau. Many of the files were taken on a 1941 trip to various National Parks and Monuments. There are also photographic images of the Peshlakai family and the Van Valkenburgs.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished and published manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Related Material

For more information on Richard Van Valkenburg’s work with the Navajo Land Claim see:

For more information on Richard Van Valkenburg's life see:

For more information on Watson Smith please see:

The Doris Duke oral history project at the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, consists of transcripts of interviews. The collection includes a report prepared by Harris on Navajo Oral History at Canyon de Chelly.

Publications by Sallie Pierce-Harris include:

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Sallie Pierce-Harris collection, MS-309 [Box Number]. Museum of Northern Arizona. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

MS-242 was donated by Pierce-Harris in November 1977.

MS-290 was donated by Pierce-Harris in July 1987.

MS-309 was donated by Andrew Christensen in May 1994.

Processing Information

Processed in November of 2010.

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