Holmberg, Allan R.

Allan Holmberg was a professor of anthropology at Cornell University from 1948 until his death in 1966. He authored the book Nomads of the Long Bow which was about the Siriono Indians.

The aim of the Cornell-Peru Project was to conduct an experiment in applied anthropology dealing with social and cultural change among the Indian serfs of the Andean hacienda (an agricultural manor) of Vicos, located in the Callejon de Huaylas of Peru. It also was to give training to social scientists in applied field work in anthropology. The Peruvian Indian Institute, a semi-autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Labor and Indian Affairs, collaborated in this project. Cornell University, under Professor Holmberg's direction, leased the Vicos hacienda for a five year period. During that five year period from 1951-1956, the Vicos community changed from one of serfdom under the rule of a "patron," to that of an autonomous, self-governing and economically viable community. After the five year period, Cornell continued as advisor to the Vicos community and to the Peruvian Ministry of Labor and Indian Affairs until 1965. Another division of the collection, the Cross-Cultural Methodology Project, was composed of the records of a group of social scientists at Cornell University who obtained funds from the Carnegie Foundation of New York to carry out a comparative study of social science methods in different areas of the world. A Peruvian phase of this study was carried out by Professor Rose Goldsen at Vicos, Peru in 1952-1953. Dr. Max Ralis was involved with this study in Thailand and India.

The aim of the Cornell Peru Project was to conduct an experiment in applied anthropology dealing with social and cultural change among the Indian serfs of the Andean hacienda (an agricultural manor) of Vicos, located in the Callejon de Huaylas of Peru. It also was to give training to social scientists in applied field work in anthropology. The Peruvian Indian Institute, a semi-autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Labor and Indian Affairs, collaborated in this project. Cornell University, under Professor Holmberg's direction, leased the Vicos hacienda for a five year period. During that five year period from 1951-1956, the Vicos community changed from one of serfdom under the rule of a "patron," to that of an autonomous, self-governing and economically viable community. After the five year period, Cornell continued as advisor to the Vicos community and to the Peruvian Ministry of Labor and Indian Affairs until 1965. Another division of the collection, the Cross-Cultural Methodology Project, was composed of the records of a group of social scientists at Cornell University who obtained funds from the Carnegie Foundation of New York to carry out a comparative study of social science methods in different areas of the world. A Peruvian phase of this study was carried out by Professor Rose Goldsen at Vicos, Peru in 1952-1953. Dr. Max Ralis was involved with this study in Thailand and India.

*Individual studies by graduate students or others supervised wholly or in part by Cornell staff are omitted from this listing but can be found in Cornell Peru Project bibliographies.