Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Joan Van Keuren
- Abstract:
- The Van Keuren Papers consist of 2 linear feet of notes, reports, correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, clippings, research articles, pamphlets and booklets; 1 linear foot of oral history tapes; and 8 linear feet of artifacts, mostly tourist type dolls, but also some more ceremonial masks and rattles.
- Extent:
- 11 linear feet
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and Content:
The Van Keuren Papers consist of 2 linear feet of notes, reports, correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, clippings, research articles, pamphlets and booklets; 1 linear foot of oral history tapes; and 8 linear feet of artifacts, mostly tourist type dolls, but also some more ceremonial masks and rattles.
The one video on a national Native American Powwow ca. 1996 was transferred to the library Instructional Media Collection, since it's a commercially available title and not local history.
The papers and artifacts in this collection were gathered by Joan Van Keuren in association with Del Logan, mostly from 1969 to 1971. Joan began to donate her collection to Special Collections in portions starting in 1993, sending both parcels and detailed descriptions of the contents. The collection was subsequently added to by others (such as Judy Wellman and Nancy Osborne) with similar interests. Some sorting of the files seems to have occurred at this time. The papers were formerly inventoried in 1996 by a student intern Carole Stodgell. The collection sat idle for a time but was checked 1/00 by Ed Vermue who threw out much of the needless duplicates and consolidated the smaller result. In a few instances, Vermue changed the location of documents which seemed to be in odd places. In 3/00 Ed Vermue added copies of a few records on Joan which had been housed in the files of the Public Relations Office, as well as the memoirs written by Alice Ewing.
- Biographical / Historical:
Joan Van Keuren was employed in various administrative positions at SUNY Oswego from 1963? to 1983 when she took disability retirement. Her interest in Native American culture was already an established one when Van Keuren requested a sabbatical leave in 1969-70 to work with an Onondaga Elder Adelphina ("Del") Logan learning Iroquois crafts and culture. Del Logan was a Clan Mother, educator, and activist who had dedicated her life to helping others understand Iroquois culture (more information on Logan can be found in this collection). Logan and Van Keuren became close friends and collaborators, gathering together research and educational material, a lengthy series oral history interviews, and a collection of Iroquois legends. This was the first time that the Onondaga had agreed to allow their legends to be recorded on paper.
Excerpt from May 1996 Guide for Joan Van Keuren - Adelphina Logan Collection: "Joan Van Keuren, the collection donor, graduated from Keuka College and remained active in efforts to expand Native American studies there subsequently via participation in Delta Kappa Gamma. Additionally, she attended Boston University's School of Social Work and received an M.A. from Columbia's Teachers' College. Prior to moving to Oswego, she worked as a social case worker, was an assistant professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State, and worked three years at SUNY at Potsdam, New York. In Oswego she was employed as assistant Dean of Students and Director of Onondaga Hall. Outside of work, she was an officer of national Girl Scouting, and also was involved in thoroughbred dog shows and membership on SUNY Oswego's Committee on Indian Affairs in 1968, and she was invited to speak at Keuka College on her work with Indians in 1969.
Her Native American interests led to request a sabbatical leave, which was granted in 1969-70, to study Onondaga crafts with Adelphena Logan on that reservation. As part of this process, she was immersed in culture and historical studies through the eyes of the Iroquois, lived with, learned from and assisted Del in her educational efforts both on and off the reservation. "Del" and Joan became close friends, and collaborated to create a series of 32 interview/oral-history tapes, educational and craft materials, and a collection of traditional Iroquois legends told to children during the long winters. This material is contained within the collection, along with extensive artifact and research material collected by Joan since then. Del was a clan mother, educator of children, activist and she devoted her life to furthering the understanding of Iroquois culture to all. She was closely involved with the Cayuga Historical Society, the Rochester Museum and Syracuse's Department of Parks and Recreation programs. Both Del and Joan participated in the B.I.A. and New York State committee for Native American awareness correlating with the American bicentennial.
Following this sabbatical leave, Joan returned to SUNY Oswego. A full discussion of this era is given on one of her 1993 "correspondence" tapes (transcribed) in the collection. Lacking her original post, she was placed in the Financial Aids Office and shortly became the Director of Financial Aids. In this capacity she was involved in numerous state committees, and also served as a member of National Testing Services, requiring extensive state travel. In this period, she became increasingly ill, and retired. She relocated to New Mexico with the help of her longtime friend and coworker in the Girl Scouts, Alice Ewing. The move did not improve her health, however, and soon after arriving there she discovered she had multiple sclerosis.
She continued as best as she could in collecting Native American material, however, and numerous items from this time are included in the donations. It was her wish to publish a recollection of her work with Del, and gave consent to SUNY to complete this. This remains an outstanding project, but has not been forgotten. It is hoped that the creation of a Web site will now further this goal. Hopefully this issue will be addressed within the next year. Her health has been declining and it has been with the help of ALice Ewing and her husband that the last shipments have been made and donor forms signed. Future shipments are uncertain. These began in 1993 and the last was received 2/96.
Her sabbatical leave "report" is contained within the collection. This describes in detail the phases of work during the project, including craft and educational work. During this time, Joan assisted and represented Del often, including setting up the NYS State Fair Indian Village, and was Del's aide in the 1970 B.I.A. meeting for reestablishing a national program. She was the only Anglo member of the "National Committee for Indian Awareness", a committee resource advisory group for the Bicentennial in 1976. A photo of Joan with Del was also donated from this work. Over the winter of 1969-1970 she studied with Del the lore and legends of the Iroquois. This was the first time that the traditional Onondagas agreed to having some of their legends written down. Joan assisted Del in educational preparations for the reservation school and also visited other NYS public schools with her. They worked together on a crafts manual, describing how to do the crafts and the history, evolution and place of each within Iroquois life. They also collaborated on the series of interview tapes. Some of these are straight dialogue by Del describing particular topics, and some contain actual recordings of ceremonies with brief narrative interjections. At Del's insistence, they visited all New York reservations and placed of special Iroquois significance to see first-hand.
Following her return to Oswego, Joan participated heavily in the attempt to create a Native American Studies center at Oswego. The initial plans included renovation of a building for that purpose, and periodic pow-wows on the site, in addition to a museum and library section. This was never completed, but from this a Native American Studies minor program was instituted and continues today across multiple disciplines."
- Acquisition information:
- Received from Joan Van Keuren, Chapel Hill, N.C., in a number of installments beginning in 1993-1996.
- Physical / technical requirements:
MS098 Room 6
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Indexed Terms
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
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Collection is open to the public.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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Please contact SUNY Oswego Archives and Special Collections for use restrictions.
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