Barry Michrina papers
Contents
This collection is comprised of documents pertaining to Barry Michrina’s life and research. The subjects of this collection are primarily the Pennsylvania coal mining region and the Southern Ute tribe, with some discussion on professionalism within the field of anthropology and the overlap between psychology and cultural anthropology. Materials in this collection include handwritten and typed documents, letters, and journals, audio and visual tapes, newspapers and newspaper clippings, and both positive and negative photographs. Most items in this collection date between 1980 and 2010, with some ethnographic writings on the Ute dating to between the early 19th century and the mid-20th century.
Dates
- Creation: 1980-2010
Creator
Access to the collection
Open for research in Tomlinson Library Special Collections and Archives. Please make an appointment at archives@coloradomesa.edu to ensure staff availability. Files in this collection relating to Dr. Michrina's research with the Southern Ute Tribe are restricted pending consultation with tribal representatives.
Use of material in the collection
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Colorado Mesa University, Tomlinson Library, its administrators, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that they are an owner of copyright.
Historical Note
The late Barry Paul Michrina, Ph.D. was a professor of Anthropology at Colorado Mesa University (CMU), formerly Mesa State College, in Grand Junction, Colorado. Michrina instructed classes on Cultural Anthropology, North American Indians, Ethnographic Methods, Religion and Culture, Ethnopsychology, and World Cultures at CMU. Born May 28, 1947 in Johnstown (Cambria County), Pennsylvania, Michrina grew up in the coal-mining region of northern Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Francis College (St. Francis University 2001) located in Loretto, Pennsylvania in 1969, Michrina earned an M.S. in Chemistry from Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1971. He subsequently earned 2 doctorates; a Ph.D. in Agronomy at Pennsylvania State University at University Park in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology in from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton in 1991. Michrina was also Postdoctoral Scholar in Agronomy at Cornell University from 1981 to 1983.
Michrina’s professional and academic interests were focused on the peoples of Pennsylvania’s coal-mining regions (specifically Cambria County where he was born and raised) and the Southern Utes and Colorado. He authored several books, including, notably, Pennsylvania Mining Families: The Search for Dignity and the Coalfields (University of Kentucky Press, 1994) and Person to Person Fieldwork, Dialogue, and the Hermeneutic Method (State University of New York Press, 1996), written with CherylAnne Richards. His compassionate worldview endeared him to students, staff, and fellow faculty at CMU. An ardent, life-long fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, Michrina also enjoyed hiking and camping, writing poetry, country-swing dance, and his eclectic music collection. Michrina passed away unexpectedly, on April 16, 2012 in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado.
Extent
18 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Summary
This collection is comprised of documents pertaining to Barry Michrina’s life and research, with most items dating between 1980 and 2010 on the subject of Pennsylvania coal mining region and the Southern Ute tribe.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged to generally follow the progression of Michrina’s research and interests throughout his working life. The collection begins with his research on the lives of Pennsylvania coal mining families, followed by materials used in his teaching of anthropology courses at Colorado Mesa University, formerly known as Mesa State College. The collection then shifts to the interests Michrina had outside of his professional life, including his creative writing, personal journals, and personal correspondences. The end of the collection contains oversized items such as newspapers that did not fit on the shelves with the preceding boxes. Initially, the collection was arranged according to which items were donated first, so the collection was previously arranged in the opposite order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
[If permitted by donor, include the source of the collection and date of accession]
Separated Materials
The following items have been removed from this collection due to widespread digital access:
VHS tapes of Ikpik Bay- Canada; Tewa Tales, Hopi Legend, Mesicar People, Lakota Camp Courage; Faces and Culture #6, “Language and communication”; Nancy Scheper Hughes, Death Without Weeping; Native Americans I; The Native Americans II; Native Americans III; Seeing Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology through Film, Second Edition; Catholic Exorcism; Paha Sapa: City of Joy; Daughters of the Country: Canada “metis” Women; Four Winds- Navajo Education; Contrary Warriors: story of the Crow Tribe, Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World, Native American Dance Theater, Haiolia Gwai: Islands of the People; Ancient Spirit, Living Word: The Oral Tradition; Tibetan Marriage; Voodoo and the Church in Haiti; How the West Was Lost; The End of the Body: The Global Traffic in Organs and Body Parts; The End of the Body, copy 2; Ishi: The Last Yahi; Cats, Romania Children, “Los Minores”; Lakota Woman, The Making of Lakota Woman; Roger and Me- Michael Moore, GM and Flint, Michigan; Bushman’s Art, Praying for Rain, Mysteries of Peru; Where the Spirit Lives; Lone Pine Special; The Aztecs; To Protect Mother Earth, Judeaus Among Us, More Than Bows and Arrows; Anthropologists at Work; Between Two Worlds: The Hmong Shaman in America- The Foundation for Shamanic Studies; Return of the Scared Pole; Australia’s Gagudju: Understanding Hindu Traditions; Kennewick Man, Return of the Sacred Pole; The Yavapai Story, The Fifth Gate; Asante Market Women, Hopi: Songs of the 4th World; Richard Katz: The Straight Path; Bali Beyond the Postcard; Voodoo and the Church in Haiti; Apache Sunrise Dance, Peyote Road; Apache Sunrise Dance, Peyote Road, copy 2; Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo, Winds of Change, Parts one and two; Yanomami The Shrine (Chimayo); Pygmies of the Rainforest; Bushmen of the Kalahari; Earth People; Ken Burns’ The West: Ghost Dance- PBS. The cassette tape Chants of Peace- The Monks of Gaden Shartse, Monastic University. And the microcassette tape “Sodmon”.
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Lauren McClard
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Tomlinson Library Special Collections & Archives Repository
1100 North Avenue
Tomlinson Library
Grand Junction CO 81504 United States
archives@coloradomesa.edu