Collier, John, 1884-1968

Collier was U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945.

From the description of John Collier papers, 1932-1936, [microform] (Santa Fe Public Library). WorldCat record id: 38520724

Zitkala is the Indian name for Gertrude Bonnin, 1876-1938.

From the guide to the National Council of American Indians records, 1926-1938, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)

John Collier was born on May 4, 1884 in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as editor of the journal of American Indian Life from 1915-1919 and as executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association from 1923-1933. Collier also served as United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933-1945, established the Institute of Ethnic Affairs and served as its president in 1945, and taught sociology and anthropology at City College in New York City (1947) and Knox College in Illinois (1955-1956). He published several major books and articles on the American Indians until his death in Taos, New Mexico, on May 8, 1968.

From the description of John Collier papers, 1910-1987 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702153387

John Collier was born on May 4, 1884 in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as editor of the journal of American Indian Life from 1915-1919 and as executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association from 1923-1933. Collier also served as United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933-1945, established the Institute of Ethnic Affairs and served as its president in 1945, and taught sociology and anthropology at City College in New York City (1947) and Knox College in Illinois (1955-1956). He published several major books and articles on the American Indians until his death in Taos, New Mexico on May 8, 1968.

From the description of John Collier papers, 1910-1987 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122391273

Commissioner, U. S. Dept. of the Interior; later President of the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

From the description of Letters to the Rev. Delos O'Brian [manuscript], 1941-1945. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647995363

John Collier was born on May 4, 1884 in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as editor of the Journal of American Indian Life from 1915-1919 and as executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association from 1923-1933. Collier also served as United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933-1945, established the Institute of Ethnic Affairs and served as its president in 1945, and taught sociology and anthropology at City College in New York City (1947) and Knox College in Illinois (1955-1956). He published several major books and articles on the American Indians until his death in Taos, New Mexico, on May 8, 1968.

• 1884 May 4: Born in Atlanta, Georgia. Son of Charles A. and Susie (Rawson).
• ca. 1898: Conversion to Roman Catholicism from Methodism.
• 1902 - 1905 : Studied at Columbia University and at the Marine Laboratory, Woods Hole.
• 1905: Social worker among immigrants.
• 1906 Oct 20: Married Lucy Wood of Philadelphia. They had three children: Charles Wood, Donald and John, Jr.
• 1906 - 1907 : Studied psychology in Paris at the Collège de France.
• 1908 - 1919 : Civic secretary of the People's Institute, New York; editor of its newspaper, The Civic Journal.
• 1910 - 1914 : Founder and executive officer of the National Board of Censorship. After 1914 the name was changed to National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
• 1913: Published The City Where Crime Is Play. Written with Fred M. Stein, a New York banker and philanthropist.
• 1914: Year spent living "in the North Carolina wilds."
• 1915 - 1919 : Edited American Indian Life (magazine).
• 1915: One of the founders, and director, of the New York Training School for Community Workers, an offshoot of The People's Institute.
• 1919 - 1920 : Director of community organization, state of California.
• 1921 - 1922 : Director of social science training, State Teacher's College, San Francisco; executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association.

• 1923 - 1933 : Executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association.
• 1923: Began a campaign for legislation conveying the exclusive use of the 30,000 acre Blue Lake mountain area to the Taos Pueblo Indians.
• 1927: Instrumental in getting the appointment of a special Senate Indian Investigating Committee to conduct hearings on Indian abuses. Report published in 37 volumes.

• 1933: Appointed United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Initiated the "Indian New Deal." Largely responsible for the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, a program to expand the land base of the tribes.
• 1933: Enlisted the aid of anthropologists in the conduct and policy of the Indian Service.
• 1941: Initiated a program of research into Indian life. Laura Thompson, author of Fijian Frontier, was appointed director of the study of five Indian areas: Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Papago and Sioux.
• 1943 Aug 25: Married Laura Thompson.
• 1945 Jan 19: Resigned as Commissioner of the Indian Service.

• 1945: Active in establishing the Institute of Ethnic Affairs. Elected president.
• 1946 Jan: Drafted, with Abe Fortas, a proposed "Resolution on Non-Self-Governing Peoples" which was passed at a meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations in London and became the basis for United Nations supervision of trusteed and non-self-governing territories.
• 1947: Appointed professor of sociology and anthropology at City College, New York City.
• 1947: Published The Indians of the Americas; American Colonial Record.
• 1949: Published Patterns and Ceremonials of the Indians of the Southwest.
• 1954: Retired from City College.
• 1955 - 1956 : Taught at Knox College (Galesburg, Illinois) under a grant of the John Hay Whitney Foundation.
• 1956: Returned to Taos, New Mexico to live.

• 1957 Jan 27: Married Grace E. Volk
• 1962: Published On the Gleaming Way.
• 1963: Published From Every Zenith (autobiography and memoir).
• 1968 May 8: Died at Taos, New Mexico

From the guide to the John Collier papers, 1910-1987, (Manuscripts and Archives)