Emma Shaw was born on September 3, 1846 in Thompson, Connecticut, the child of George W. Shaw and Abby Carpenter. She moved to Providence, Rhode Island at age 18 to begin a career as a primary school teacher. In 1875, she began her interest in travel based journalism by writing about her trip to the upper banks of Lake Superior to visit relatives in Minnesota, subsequently published in the Providence Daily Journal. Between the years of 1884 and 1910 she traveled extensively; documenting her travels as an early ethnographer, visiting Alaska (1884 & 1885), Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba (1888-1893) and the Northwest Territories (1894), Canada, where she first began collecting ethnographic material, Hawaii (1891 & 1897), Samoa, Fiji Islands, New Zealand and Tahiti (1897), Cuba (1898), Puerto Rico (1900), Africa (1902) and South America (1910).
She married Frederick William Colcleugh, a Canadian (d. 1907) on May 17, 1893, and lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for four years before divorcing in 1897. She was also an avid photographer, often giving lectures on her travels with accompanying stereopticon presentations. Emma Shaw Colcleugh retired from journalism in 1927 at age 81 and in 1930, sold the entirety of her field collections to Rudolf Haffenreffer, Jr.. In 1932, she wrote a series of nineteen articles for the Providence Evening Bulletin entitled “I Saw These Things” which documented her experiences during her years of traveling. Her last trip was a solo train ride to Florida in 1937 at age 91.
All responsible investigators shall have access to the collection for legitimate research and study, subject to procedures necessary to safeguard the objects and to restrictions required by limitations of normal operating hours, exhibition requirements, available study space and facilities, and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology staff time.
Costs of reproducing documentary materials and photographs may be charged to investigators. No distinctions in such charges shall be made on the basis of the value or rarity of the original materials. Methods of reproduction may be limited if necessary to protect the originals from possible damage.
As travel writer for the Providence Daily Journal and Providence Daily Bulletin, Emma Shaw Colcleugh created scrapbooks of articles that she wrote documenting her various travels abroad, her many lectures, photography as well as subjects of personal interest. She also collected ethnographic material during these trips, amassing 218 objects from the Subarctic, Americas, Oceania and Africa by the time she retired from journalism in 1927. In 1930, she sold the bulk of her field collections to Rudolf F. Haffenreffer, Jr. The scrapbooks were donated to the museum by her nephew, Richard Jackson and great-niece, Deborah Jackson in 1990.
Arranged into four series by collection number and type of materials
Emma Shaw Colcleugh Collection. ESC. Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University. Bristol, Rhode Island.
Ethnographic objects and inventories purchased from Emma Shaw Colcleugh by Rudolph F. Haffenreffer Jr., 1930. Scrapbooks donated by Richard Jackson and Deborah Jackson in 1990.
Collection arranged and described by Anthony M. Belz, January 2012; revised July 2013
Hail, B. & Duncan, K. (1989).
Hail, B. (1991).
Scrapbooks and inventory of field collections are also available on microfilm
A collection of five scrapbooks consisting of articles written by Emma Shaw Colcleugh and organized by Colcleugh according to date and geographic location.
Two inventories of Colcleugh’s ethnographic collection; one of handwritten field notes and one typewritten as part of the sale to Rudolph Haffenreffer in 1930.
Related items from travels; newspaper clipping, postcard, personal photographs and blank Canadian reservation forms.
Collection of ethnographic objects acquired during Colcleugh’s travels and sold to Rudolf Haffenreffer in 1930.