Smith, William K. (William Kay), 1920-

Anthropologist, writer, and photographer. Studied extensively the Seri Indians of northwest Sonora, Mexico.

From the description of Papers, 1829-1975 (bulk 1944-1970). (University of Arizona). WorldCat record id: 31769576

William Neil "Bill" Smith, Jr. was born May 5, 1920, at New York City (Broad Street Hospital, Manhattan), New York, the son of William Neil Smith, an architect, and Florence E. Derby. After his father died in 1934, Bill and his mother moved to Arizona. He attended high school at the Southern Arizona School (Sabino Canyon) in Tucson, 1934-1936 and the Palo Verde Ranch School in Mesa, 1937-1938. He attended the University of Arizona from 1939-42 and 1946-48, studying under Byron Cummings(Kinishba Ruins-Fort Apache Reservation-University of Arizona Summer School, Department of Archaeology) and Edward Spicer. He worked in the summer of 1937 at the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School held at the Kinishba Ruins on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. He graduated in May 1948 with an A.B. in Anthropology. He took graduate course work in 1950. He also served briefly in the Army in 1944-45.

From 1945-1967, Smith made many extended ethnographical field trips to Sonora, Mexico, to study the Seri Indians at Desemboque and Tiburon Island. His research included lifestyle, customs, language, genealogy, kinship, and cultural changes due to the influence of outsiders. He assisted the Seris by bringing much needed medicines and supplies to them. On four occasions, he brought groups of Seris to the United States to experience different cultures. He sought to educate people in the United States and Mexico about Seri culture and the problem of cultural change affecting the Seris through numerous lectures, publications, and film projects.

After concluding his studies in Sonora, Smith during three trips to Asia (1971-1972, 1975-1982, 1985-1993) carried out anthropological research in Australia, Bali, Thailand, and the Maldive Islands where he completed a research paper for the Republic of Maldives Department of Education on Islamic Youth, Development from Birth to 20 Years in 1992. He also contributed four detailed manuscripts to the Australian Department of Aboriginal Affairs - Alice Springs, Northern Territory covering research and participant observer studies of tribal problems in the Northern Territories (1988-1991) and lectures. Since his return from third trip to Asia and Australia, Smith has lectured on Islamic culture and worked on various articles related to Southwestern and Sonoran archaelogical data from his earlier unpublished notes.

From the guide to the William N. Smith papers, 1829-1975 (Bulk 1944-1970), (University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections)