Catalog history: The Materials replace SCL Jacobsen, the "William H. Jacobsen Papers on Indigenous Languages of North America"
Historical information: William H. Jacobsen (1931-2014) was born on November 15, 1931 in San Diego, CA to Cmdr. William H. Jacobsen, USN ret., and Julie Froatz Jacobsen. He graduated from Point Loma High School, San Diego, in 1949, and went on to graduate from Harvard University in 1953. Jacobsen then pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley where he engaged in fieldwork on Salinan and Washo under the auspices of the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. While at UC Berkeley, he also worked on an early machine language translation project. He received his Doctoral Degree from UC Berkeley in 1964 with a thesis entitled “A Grammar of the Washo Language”, supervised by Mary Haas, which endures as the most complete grammar of Washo published to date. He also worked as an assistant professor of anthropology (1961-1962) and linguistics (1962-1964) at the University of Washington, spending many of his summers in Neah Bay, WA, working with Makah elders to record their language. Most of Jacobsen’s academic career was spent as a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada, Reno where he taught for thirty years (1965-1994). Throughout his academic career Jacobsen was a prolific and versatile scholar, devising writing systems, creating materials for teaching tribal members Washo and Makah, and publishing many papers on linguistic topics. Jacobsen was an active contributor within the Americanist linguistic community not only through his research, which touched upon a diverse array of languages from Hokan to Wakashan and beyond, but also through steady correspondence and collaboration with colleagues and students. In addition to his work on indigenous languages of North America, Jacobsen was well-known for his extensive work on Basque, which he engaged in through his involvement in the Center for Basque Studies at UNR. Altogether, Jacobsen was familiar with all the main Romance languages and Sanskrit in addition to being a specialist in Washo, Makah, Salinan, Nez Perce, Nootkan, and Basque. He served as president of the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas, received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the University of Nevada, and received the Nevada Humanities Award. Jacobsen officially retired from UNR in 1994 but continued to engage with the linguistics community as an emeritus professor. Jacobsen passed away on August 18, 2014 in Reno, NV, at age 82.
Scope and content: These materials document the linguistic work of William H. Jacobsen on various indigenous languages of North America, especially Washo, Makah, and Salinan, as well as on other languages and linguistic topics Jacobsen came into contact with throughout his academic career. The collection includes Jacobsen’s original field notebooks from work on Washo, Makah, and Salinan, as well as smaller aggregates of field notes on Diegueño, Northern Paiute, Kwak’wala, and Cowichan. In addition to original field notes, the collection includes derived research notes; many of these derived materials were organized by Jacobsen into separate folders by topic, and have been catalogued as they were found in order to reflect Jacobsen’s own organization. These research notes encompass work on Washo, Makah and other Southern Wakashan languages, Salinan, Yana and other Hokan languages, other Californian languages, and other topics related to general linguistic theory. A set of finished or near-finished manuscripts and handouts is also included, in many cases constituting completed work derived from Jacobsen’s research notes. Also included are transcriptions of texts and conversations in Washo and Makah, notes from collaborative work with Grace Dangberg on Washo texts, and materials Jacobsen developed in order to teach both Washo and Makah. Original file slips from Jacobsen’s work in organizing lexical material from Washo, Makah, Salinan, comparative Wakashan and Hokan, and Tagalog are also included. In addition to materials from Jacobsen’s original fieldwork and research, the collection includes a wealth of materials that Jacobsen obtained from other researchers. These obtained materials include an extensive collection of original Washo field notebooks originally belonging to Grace Dangberg, Gordon Marsh, Walter Dyk, Phillip Barker and William Shipley, and Brooke Mordy. In addition, the collection includes file slips and derived field notes from various sources. On Washo, these materials include Gordon Marsh’s file slips, research notes from Grace Dangberg and Walter Dyk, and photocopies of various vocabulary lists obtained from the Smithsonian Institution; on Wakashan, this includes a set of file slips from an unknown source; and on Yana, this includes a variety of research notes and a box of file slips obtained from Bruce Nevin, along with various photocopied materials on Yana obtained from museums. Other obtained materials include derived work on Washo texts by Brooke Mordy and on Yahi by T. T. Waterman, a collection of rare, unpublished, or difficult to obtain manuscripts concerning various North American indigenous languages, and published curricular materials on Washo and Makah. Various materials related to Jacobsen’s academic, scholarly, and teaching activities are catalogued as a separate series in the collection, in addition to being scattered throughout Jacobsen’s research notes. Finally, the collection includes a set of sound recordings that were discovered in Jacobsen’s possession but are not otherwise catalogued in earlier CLA collections. These recordings include recordings of Washo, Makah, Bella Coola, Ibo, Abaza, and at least one other unidentified language; some of the recordings were made by Jacobsen with various identified consultants, while others were obtained from colleagues including Brooke Mordy, Laura Fillmore, and Warren d’Azevedo, among possible others.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: William H. Jacobsen. William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America, 2014-21, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2028PGT.
Associated materials: Audio recordings associated with the Materials can be accessed online through the California Language Archive. In particular, audio recordings are located in The William H. Jacobsen, Jr. collection of Antoniaño Salinan sound recordings (LA 69), The William H. Jacobsen, Jr. collection of Washo sound recordings (LA 53), and the William H. Jacobsen, Jr. collection of Makah sound recordings (LA 52).
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing transcriptions of a Washo text entitled “Adventures of Coyote”, told by Washo consultant Bill Cornbread. The notebook refers to two separate recordings of the text, and an attempt to create a composite version. Minimal English glossing. The cover page includes the description, “Copy of Cornbread Texts before Final Correction”.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: Copy of Cornbread Texts before Final Correction, 2014-21.003.006, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23091.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, together with the envelope the notebook was found in. Contains transcribed texts and vocabulary, mostly in Washo with occasional English glossing; its cover reads, “First Original Recording with later corrections, inserts, and vocabulary”.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: First Bill Cornbread Notebook (texts, inserts, vocabulary), 2014-21.003.008, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23093.
Extent: 1 box of fileslips, 11 ¾ in x 5 ¾ in x 4 in
Description: File slips organized into the following categories: abstract and general nouns; animals; artifacts; birds; edible plants; group activities; human beings; inedible plants; medicinal plants; natural phenomena; place names; rocks and soils; trees and bushes; verbs; positionals; numerals; phrases and sentences.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: Washew Vocabulary, 2014-21.004.001, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23127.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing Washo words and phrases with English glosses. The first page lists the names of four Washo consultants: Molly Higgins, Henry Higgins, Fred Sam (all from Loyalton, CA), and John Wager (from Doyle, CA). Most of the pages are left blank.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Gordon Marsh's Washo Notebook], 2014-21.003.002, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23087.
Extent: 1 folder, containing 1 envelope and 3 notebooks
Description: Three notebooks containing Washo vocabulary, with English glossing; also includes an envelope with notes written on it in Washo. Writing on the envelope and one of the notebooks seems to indicate that the vocabulary was obtained from Grace Dangberg. The consultant Sam Dick is also mentioned on the envelope.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Gordon Marsh's Washo Vocabulary Notebooks], 2014-21.003.010, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23095.
Description: Three notebooks containing Washo texts told by consultants Bill Cornbread and Sam Dick, along with an envelope; writing on the envelope seems to indicate that the texts were obtained in some form from Grace Dangberg. The cover page of the first notebook reads, “Book 1, Texts from Bill Cornbread, First Complete Recordings”, and the notebook contains transcriptions of texts that are almost exclusively in Washo. The cover page of the second notebook reads, “Book 2, Texts from Bill Cornbread, Second Complete Recordings”, and the notebook contains more transcriptions of texts, again almost exclusively in Washo. The cover of the third notebook reads, “Revised Texts, 1. Adventures of Coyote”, and the notebook contains a transcription of “Adventures of Coyote”; the first page of this notebook contains the following notes about the text: “recounted by Bill Cornbread; Dresslerville, Nev., March 1944. Revised with Sam Dick; Minden, Nev., March 1947”.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Gordon Marsh’s Washo Text Notebooks], 2014-21.003.012, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23097.
Description: Two notebooks that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing transcriptions of a Washo text entitled, “Weasel and Least-Weasel”. The transcriptions are almost exclusively in Washo. The second notebook is a handwritten copy of the content in the first notebook. Also includes an envelope with Washo notes on it.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [John Walker and Hank Pete Washo Texts], 2014-21.003.011, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23096.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing Washo texts entitled “The Creation” and "Coyote" and accompanying notes about the texts. The cover reads, “Text Corrections with Sam Dick. Creation (of GD), Coyote (of GM)”, with the initials standing for Grace Dangberg (GD) and Gordon Marsh (GM). The content in this notebook relates to the content in 2014-21.003.004.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Text Corrections with Sam Dick: Drafts], 2014-21.003.003, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23088.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh. The cover page reads, “Final Reconstructions, Creation”, and the notebook contains a finalized version of a Washo text entitled “The Creation”. The content in this notebook is related to the content in 2014-21.003.003.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Text Corrections with Sam Dick: Final Versions], 2014-21.003.004, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23089.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing a handwritten version of a Washo text, entitled, “The Adventures of Weasel and Least-weasel”. No English glossing.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Transcription of “The Adventures of Weasel and Least-weasel”], 2014-21.003.005, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23090.
Description: Set of notepads that belonged to Gordon Marsh from work with Washo consultant Bill Cornbread. Contains hand-written texts, translations of texts, vocabulary, and some grammatical notes, including notes made in deciphering minimal pairs. The notes were found together with two envelopes addressed to Gordon Marsh at the C.P.S. Camp #37A.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Translations and Vocabulary from Bill Cornbread], 2014-21.003.007, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23092.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing a color-coded list of mammals found in Western Nevada, with scientific names and classifications in addition to common names.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Vocabulary Lists, Classified by Subject], 2014-21.003.013, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23098.
Description: Notebook that belonged to Gordon Marsh, containing vocabulary and phrases in Washo and English. The cover reads, “Reno, Ed Marā”. Most of the pages are left blank.
Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
Preferred citation: [Washo Elicitation with Ed Marā], 2014-21.003.009, in "William H. Jacobsen Materials on Indigenous Languages of North America", Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/23094.
We acknowledge with respect the Ohlone people on whose traditional, ancestral, and unceded land we work and whose historical relationships with that land continue to this day.