Henry Usher Hall (1876–1944) was an American

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

. He was Assistant Curator and Curator of the General

Ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

Section of the

University of Pennsylvania Museum The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly known as the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighb ...

from 1915 to 1935. He was instrumental in guiding the Museum's African collection in its early years.Winegard, Dilys Pegler (1993). ''Through Time, Across Continents: A Hundred Years of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University Museum'', pp. 190-91. Philadelphia: The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. . He accompanied Polish anthropologist

Maria Antonina Czaplicka Maria Antonina Czaplicka (25 October 1884 – 27 May 1921), also referred to as Marya Antonina Czaplicka and Marie Antoinette Czaplicka, was a Polish cultural anthropologist who is best known for her ethnography of Siberian shamanism. Czaplicka ...

(1886-1921) on an expedition down the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

to the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

in 1914, together with

Maud Doria Haviland Maud Doria Brindley née Haviland (10 February 1889 – 3 April 1941) was an English ornithologist, entomologist, explorer, lecturer, photographer and writer. She conducted studies on bugs and also examined bird biology while at Cambridge and on ...

(1889-1941),

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, and

Dora Curtis Dora Curtis (1875-1920) was a British artist and a member of the 1914 expedition down the Yenisei River in Siberia to the Kara Sea led by Polish anthropologist Maria Antonina Czaplicka (1886–1921). The other expedition members were Maud Doria ...

, artist. He conducted excavations in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

in 1923, and in 1936-37 he led an expedition to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, where he investigated the

Sherbro people The Sherbro people are a native people of Sierra Leone, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 1.9% of Sierra Leone's population or 134,606. The Sherbro are found primarily in their homeland in Bonthe District, where they make up 40% o ...

.Collins (1999), p. 81. On his return from Sierra Leone, he published ''The Sherbro of Sierra Leone'' (1938), which included an account of the secret

Poro The Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a men's secret society in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast, introduced by the Mane people. It is sometimes referred to as a hunting society and only males are admitted to its ranks. The femal ...

society of the Sherbro men.

References

External links

Photos of Hall from the photo album of M. A. Czaplicka
American anthropologists 1876 births 1944 deaths {{US-anthropologist-stub