Dr. Jack A. Tobin: 1920-2010

We regret to note the passing of Dr. Jack A. Tobin, a highly respected Pacific anthropologist who devoted his life's work to the Marshall Islands. Tobin first went to the Marshalls in 1950 as a student of Dr. Len Mason, to work on the Pacific Science Board's Coral Atoll Project (CAP) -- an initiative meant to study the needs of atoll dwellers with limited resources and growing populations. Arno Atoll was chosen as the first CAP research site. 

Later in 1950, Tobin was hired as an anthropological field consultant by the Civil Administration Unit of Naval Operations. During the Trust Territory Administration era, he served as the sole district anthropologist for the Marshall Islands, a position he held through 1957. Between 1967 and 1975, he served as community development adviser to the Marshall Islands. (The photo above shows Dr. Tobin in 1957, preparing to land on Ejit. It is taken from the Pacific Collection's online Trust Territory Archives Photo Collection.)

A few years back Dr. Tobin began donating his research materials to the Pacific Collection. Shortly before his passing last week, he transferred the remainder of these materials, including some twelve linear feet of manuscripts and an estimated 1,500 photos and 35mm slides. The manuscript collection is as yet unprocessed; in the meantime, the Pacific Collection has begun work digitizing Dr. Tobin's photos and slides, with the aim of making them available online later this year.

Dr. Robert Kiste, professor emeritus of anthropology at UH and a longtime friend of Tobin's, has written an obituary notice for the Pacific Islands Report. It can be viewed online at: http://pidp.org/pireport/2010/June/06-25-12.htm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jack Tobin Papers

Image
--> Pacific Collection librarian Eleanor Kleiber recently finished processing the Jack Tobin Papers , and they are now available for public use. Jack Adair Tobin, Ph.D. (June 15, 1920-June 18, 2010) was an anthropologist who worked in the Marshall Islands, beginning in 1950. This manuscript collection, which comprises roughly six linear feet of material and covers the bulk of Dr. Tobin's professional life, is extremely important in that it contains primary source documentation of numerous aspects of Marshallese life during a period of intense change. In addition to the physical materials in the collection, nearly 2,000 photographs have also been digitized and are available online . A finding aid for the collection is also available online . The Jack Tobin Collection is one of more than 60 Pacific manuscript collections -- because these collections are comprised primarily of unpublished material, they are an important tool when searching for primary source docume...
Read more

Bidding a fond Aloha to Joan Hori

Hawaiian Collection curator Joan Hori retired on December 28, after 44 years of service at the University of Hawai'i. In addition to her position as curator, at the time of her retirement Joan also served as department head of the Hawaiian and Pacific Collections.  Joan began working at UHM's Sinclair Library in 1968, eventually taking on responsibility as head of Sinclair. In 1993 she transferred to Hamilton Library, and in 1995 she joined the Hawaiian Collection. She became curator of the collection after Chieko Tachihata's retirement in 1999.  Joan's better known projects include Hawai'i's first Hawaiian language digitization project in the late 1990s, and the English language digitization project which has brought us free online access to pre-1923 issues of the  Hawaiian Gazette ,  Garden Island ,  Maui News , parts of  Hilo Tribune , the  Honolulu Star-Bulletin  and its predecessors, and a number of other titles. The project is ongo...
Read more

On Display: Snitch

Image
The Hawaiian & Pacific Collections are currently exhibiting a sculpture titled "snitch," by Aotearoa-based artist Brett Graham. The sculpture is on loan from the UH Art Gallery, which provided the below description: Brett   Graham   (Aotearoa/New Zealand)  snitch, 2014 foam, tar, feathers Different manifestations of binding can involve alienation, appropriation and misappropriation that may result in an integration of sorts. But even when relevant facts are known, integration with a partial or total disconnect can also occur. As a character, Stitch has an alien origin—that is, alien to Earth. The creators of the animation film  Lilo and Stitch originally intended the narrative to be set in Kansas. But the plot was shifted to Hawai‘i where a Hawaiian family adopts Stitch. The family was portrayed as dysfunctional and impoverished by a failing American economy. The long-standing reasons for these conditions—the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, col...
Read more