JAMES F. DOWNS
James Frances Downs (JFD) was born in Pasadena, California, in 1923. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer (3) of the United States Naval Reserve. He received a B.A. in Anthropology/Oriental Languages in 1958, an M.A. in Anthropology in 1960, and his Ph.D. in Anthropology in 1962, all from the University of California, Berkeley. He participated in post doctoral studies in Japanese and Chinese.
Downs taught anthropology at the graduate and undergraduate level at a number of major universities; developed training and educational programs for varying audiences, including Naval personnel and dependents, police officers, student nurses, U.S. government civilian personnel, Peace Corps volunteers, and corporate employees involved in international business activities (especially with Japan); and wrote at least eight books and over sixty articles for both academic and popular audiences.
Downs' thesis and dissertation were based on his studies of the Washo and Navajo Indians. Both were published:
Two Worlds of the Washo: An Indian Tribe in California and Nevada. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966.
The Navajo. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972.
Throughout his long career, Downs focused on inter-cultural issues and in particular, Japanese-U.S. relations. His academic writings reflect that expertise. He also wrote extensively for periodicals such as Japan Times, Agriculture Today, The NewYork Times, Daily Racing Form, Jockey News, Chronicle of the Horse, and California Thoroughbred. At the time of his death, Downs was researching the history of the horse in Japanese culture and had begun several novels and autobiographical articles.
Dr. Downs traveled, conducted research, and lived in Japan periodically from 1945 to 1992. In January 1992 he moved to Tokyo permanently to manage his international consulting firm, International Bridge, Inc. He was married to Shizuko Downs. James Downs died in Tokyo on June 11, 1999. For more biographical information about Downs, consult his extensive resumes in Series I of this collection.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The James F. Downs papers were donated to the Special Collections Department by his widow, Shizuko Downs, in October, 1999. The collection consists of 1.5 cubic feet of material dating from 1859-1999; the majority of the collection is dated from 1951-1999. There are no restrictions on use of the collection.
The bulk of the collection consists of Downs' published and unpublished writings, including articles written for both scholarly and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers; books and novels; and autobiographical short stories. His earliest paper is dated 1951; the latest 1994. There are also articles which are undated. Topics include many aspects of anthropology, from text books to applied research, and include the Washo and Navajo Indians, Japan and Japanese-U.S. relations, the Navy, and inter-cultural issues.
There are few personal materials in the Downs collection; they include resumes and vitas for Downs and his company, International Bridge, Inc.; assorted clippings about Downs; obituaries; and correspondence written by Downs to his family in 1966-1967 while he was in India and Tibet on a research trip.
The collection also includes two series of articles and books written by other authors. Series IV contains articles about the Washo Indians and Africa by Dr. Warren d'Azevedo and a book on Mormonism by M.E. Mason. Series V consists of U.S. Navy procedure manuals and a magazine which features photos of Downs.
A few photographs accompanied the collection; they have been transferred to the photographic archives of the Special Collections Department. There were also three books in the collection which are about Japan; they were transferred to the Special Collections book stacks.
Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: October 8, 1999
The papers of James F. Downs have been divided into the following series:
I. Personal materials
II. Unpublished Articles and Novels
III. Published Articles and Books
IV. Articles by Dr. Warren d'Azevedo and Others
V. U.S. Navy Publications
Series I. Personal Materials. 1944-1999. .25 cu. ft.
This small series contains the few personal materials which were donated with the Downs collection. Included are resumes, obituaries, some correspondence, clippings about Downs or his son, and his high school diploma. Most of the letters consist of those written by Downs from India/Nepal to his parents, describing his adventures in traveling to Nepal for his research project.
Box 1
I/1 Personal materials: correspondence, clipping, obituary, funeral card.
I/2 Curriculum vita of JFD. n.d.
I/3 International Bridge, Inc. capability statements, vita of principle partners. 1998-1999.
I/4 Vita of JFD, list of his publications. ca 1998.
I/5 "India letters." Correspondence from JFD to his parents from India. June 1, 1966-May 20, 1967.
I/6 High school diploma. 1944.
I/7 Clipping: "Anthropologist Returns General Nogi's Letters to Museum." Japan Times. April 14, 1991.
Series II. Unpublished Articles and Novels. n.d. .25 cu. ft.
Downs was a prolific author of both scholarly works and pieces intended for a more popular market. This series contains manuscripts of three novels (only one of which appears to be complete) and several short stories; whether any were published is undetermined. The short stories appear to be autobiographical and describe his family and the home in which he was raised. All except the novel "Carscaden" are typed and were accompanied by Down's original computer disks. "Carscaden" is hand-written and fills five spiral notebooks.
Box 1
II/1 Autobiographical articles: "Grandmother's Map," "1071 Avoca Ave.," Roots and Branches," and "The Place and its Times."
II/2 "Ideas 1 Indians."
II/3 "Snapshots of a Decade" [autobiographical].
II/4 "Sekiguchi no oji San."
II/5 "Introduction" [to a book about the role of the horse in the history of Japan].
II/6 "Beautiful Memories and Times When I was, and am, Happiest.
II/7 Novel: "Secret Seas" [Incomplete].
II/8 Novel: no title. Fictional story of Navy mates Buck Taft and "Stone."
II/9 Computer disks (written with Word software). Contents printed out.
II/10-14 Novel: "Carscaden."
Series III. Published Articles and Books. 1951-1994. .5 cu. ft.
Downs published at least eight books and over sixty articles beginning in about 1951. The articles appeared in anthropological journals, naval publications, and magazines and newsletters targeting specific topics, especially horses and horse racing. In addition, his Master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertation were the basis for books about the Washo Indians of Nevada and California and about the Navajo Indians. The contents of this series represents only a small portion of his total bibliography.
Arranged chronologically by publication date. Three articles were undated and were filed at the end of this series. Unless noted otherwise, Downs was the author of all items in this series.
Box 1
III/1 "Princeton Varieties." In Pacific Stars and Stripes, May 12, 1951.
III/2 "Environment, Communication, and Status Change Aboard an American Aircraft Carrier." In Human Organization, v. 17, Fall 1958.
III/3 "Thoughts on Calvary, Guerilla Warfare and the Fall of Empires." In Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, no. 23, Fall 1960.
III/4 "Domestication: An Examination of Changing Social Relationships Between Man and Animals." n.d. [M.A. thesis, UC Berkeley, 1960. Does not include a bibliography].
III/5 "The Social Consequences of a Dry Well." In American Anthropologist, v. 67 no. 6 pt. 1, Dec. 1965.
III/6 Two Worlds of the Washo: an Indian tribe in California and Nevada. 1966. Autographed and inscribed to Shizuko Downs.
III/7 Book review by JFD: "The Magic Carpenter of Japan." In Arizona Quarterly, v. 22 no. 3, Autumn 1966.
III/8 "The Beginning of Livestock." In The Cattleman, Dec. 1967.
III/9 "Fables, Fancies, and Failures in Cross-Cultural Training." In Trends, v. 2, no. 3, Dec. 1969 [issued by the Hilo Center, University of Hawaii Peace Corps Training Project].
III/10 "Understanding culture: Guidelines and Techniques for Training." In Trends v. 3, no. 2, Sept. 1970.
III/11 Cultures in Crisis, 2nd. ed. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Glencoe Press, 1971.
III/12 The Navajo. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, [1972].
III/13 James F. Downs and Hermann K. Bleibtreu. Human Variation: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology. New York: Glencoe Press, 1972.
III/14 Human Nature: An Introduction to Cultural anthropology. New York: Glencoe Press, 1973.
III/15 "His Sentimental Journey Still going Strong in ‘96: Shin Zan, The Elder Statesman, Now 35." In Daily Racing Form, June 23, [1985].
III/16 "Written Testimony of James F. Downs, Expert Witness for the U.S., Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas et al vs the United States. 1986.
III/17 Robert B. Ekvall and James F. Downs. Tibetan Pilgrimage. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1987.
III/18 "Americans Look into Japanese Mirror." The Japan Times, Aug. 15, 1988.
III/19 "...And I Met Elizabeth Taylor." Polo Magazine, Aug. 1988.
III/20 "The Right Words: Interpersonal Relations in a Japanese Restaurant." In Anthropology of Work Review, v. IX, no. 2-3, [1988 or 1989?].
III/21 "Why Japan Shuts Out Foreign Rice." In Farm Journal, Feb. 1989.
III/22 "The Cultural Maze: Pacific is a Hard Bridge to Cross." In Japan Times, May 28, 1990.
III/23 "Nudity in Japanese Visual Media: A Cross-Cultural Observation." In Archives of Sexual Behavior, v. 19 no. 6, 1990.
III/24 "America's Rice Obsession." In Japan Times, Feb. 11, 1991.
III/25 "Where's Old Fred When You Need Him?" In The Jockey News, Feb./Mar. 1994.
III/26 "Rockne of Riders Saying Sayonara." In Daily Racing Form, 3/17/n.d.
III/27 "Mr. Hearst and Me and the North Koreans." n.d.
III/28 "Scot Repeal or Revision of the Second Amendment." n.d.
Series IV. Articles by Dr. Warren d'Azevedo and Others. 1891; 1986-1994. .25 cu. ft.
This series consists of anthropological articles written by Dr. Warren d'Azevedo and one book on Mormonism, by M.E. Mason. The topics of the articles are related to d'Azevedo's two areas of expertise: the Washo Indians of Nevada and California, and African cultures. Arranged chronologically except for the book on Mormonism, which was filed separately for preservation purposes..
Box 1
IV/1 Introduction to Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 11 - Great Basin. 1986.
IV/2 "Art as Mirage: Reflections and Recollections of a Savage Mind." In African Arts, 12(1), 1989.
IV/3 "Whatever Happened to Primitive Art?" In Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly, 16(3), 1991.
IV/4 Review of Elephant: the Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture, [1992].
IV/5 "Gola Womanhood and the Limits of Masculine Omnipotence." In Religion in Africa, ed. By Thomas D. Blakely et al. 1993.
IV/6 "The Washoe People in the Twentieth Century" [conference]. July 30, 1993.
IV/7 "Afterthoughts." In Others Knowing Others: Perspectives on Long-Term Anthropological Inquiry, Don Fowler and Donald Hardesty, eds. [Mar. 1994].
Box 2
IV/8 Mason, M.E. Mormonism Unveiled. 1891.
Series V. U.S. Navy Publications. 1859-1974. .5 cu. ft.
The books in this series were well-used by Downs during his military career and cherished long after their useful days were over. They are, for the most part, manuals of Naval procedures and regulations.
Box 2
V/1 Excerpts from U.S. Navy Regulations. 1920; U.S. Navy Shore Patrol Manual. 1966.
V/2 [U.S. Navy manual of signals]. n.d.
V/3 Bluejackets' Manual. 1916. [Petty Officers and Enlisted Men's manual.]
V/4 A Manual of Naval Tactics.... by James H. Ward. 1859.
V/5 Campus: The Navy Training and Education Monthly. Nov. 1974 [photos of Downs].