Title: Demitri B. Shimkin Papers, 1935-1993

Series Number: 15/2/26

Acquired: 5/10/1993; 10/24/97; 4/20/2006

Volume: 40.0 cubic feet

Arrangement

Creator(s)

Biographical Note

DEMITRI SHIMKIN (1916-1992)

Sources:

Professor Shimkin was born on July 4, 1916, in Omsk, Siberia. His family moved to Indonesia after the Russian Revolution, then to Holland and the United States. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Anthropology in 1936 and in 1939 received a Ph.D. in Anthropology, both from the University of California at Berkeley. Shimkin served in the U.S. Army on the War Department General Staff, the Military Intelligence Division (1941-1947) and he taught at the National War College, the Army War College and the Navy War College (1946-1947).

Shimkin worked as a research associate at Harvard University's Russian Research Center from 1948 to 1953 and was assistant curator of Siberian Ethnology. He also served as a social science analyst to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1953-1960). In 1960, Shimkin was hired as a professor of anthropology and geography at the University of Illinois. After his retirement in 1985, he was Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UIUC.

Shimkin's research and publications focused on military intelligence, public health and human ecological studies as regards to diverse groups in Russia, Siberia, the Americas, and Africa. His most notable projects include: human ecological studies in Western Siberia in the Soviet Union (1984), Alaska (1949, 1966), and the Shoshone Indians in the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming (1937-1940, 1966, 1975); and primary health care and malaria studies in Tanzania (1983-1984, 1988-1989).

Shimkin participated in a Center for Advanced Computation (UIUC) project funded by the National Center for Health Services Research and Development under subcontract from the Milton Olive II Memorial Corporation. This corporation was a non-profit organization made up of representatives of the black community and the Holmes project received assistance and cooperation from the residents. Lexington, Mississippi to study community health of African-Americans living in Holmes County, Mississippi from1966 to 1978, (CAC Document no. 138, Nov. 1974, https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/32714/hypertensioninho138scho.pdf?sequence=2).

Shimkin taught anthropology courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, covering topics such as human ecology, North American Indian, Siberian, and Russian ethnology, African health problems, and African American cultures. He served as an American Anthropological Association Representative for the National Research Council (1964-1967). Additionally, he was a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at Kemerovo State University (Soviet Union, 1984), and a Fellow for the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (1970-1971).

Demitri Shimkin died December 22, 1992.

References:

"Mini Curriculum Vitae," ca. 1992. [Demitri B. Shimkin Papers, Box 33, Folder 12]

"Demitri Shimhin Obituary," The New York Times. December 25, 1992. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/25/obituaries/demitri-shimkin-76-an-anthropologist.html.

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Description:

Demitri Boris Shimkin was a professor of Anthropology and Geography at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1960-1985). He completed his Bachelor's degree in Anthropology in 1936 and in 1939 received a Ph.D. in Anthropology, both from the University of California at Berkeley. Shimkin served in the U.S. Army on the War Department General Staff, the Military Intelligence Division (1941-1947) and he taught at the National War College, the Army War College and the Navy War College (1946-1947). Shimkin worked as a Research Associate at Harvard University's Russian Research Center (1948-1953). He also served as a Social Science Analyst to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1953-1960). Professor Shimkin primarily researched diverse groups in Russia, Siberia, the Americas, and Africa. He served as an American Anthropological Association Representative for the National Research Council (1964-1967). Additionally, he was a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at Kemerovo State University (Soviet Union, 1984), and a Fellow for the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (1970-1971). After his retirement in 1985, he was a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UIUC.

Papers includes personal materials, correspondence, meeting minutes, publications, speeches, course materials, student recommendations, manuscripts, research notes and proposals, reports, reprints, maps, photos, computer data tape, and audiotapes; his research and scholarly ties with the Soviet Union and Siberia; African-Americans, Native Americans (Shoshone); military service activities, including teaching and consulting for the U. S. Army War College, the National War College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. The collection includes notes, papers and publications of Edith Shimkin, and Helen Tauby Shimkin. Also included is a guide to Demitri B. Shimkin papers at the University of Wyoming. The additional Holmes County Health Research Program materials from the March 2016 accession are restricted for use until.

Materials sent to the archives in 1990s were organized by subject and chronological or alphabetically thereunder. The final accession from March 2016 is organized into three series (boxes 33-44): Series 1, Personal Materials, 1937-2001, arranged chronologically with one undated item listed at the beginning of the series; Series 2, Research Materials, 1956-1992, organized into two groups: research materials, arranged alphabetically, and Holmes County Health Research Program, arranged by report cards, interview surveys, and statistical analysis printouts; and Series 3: Publications, 1938-1993, arranged chronologically with undated publications listed at the beginning of the series.

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