C. Ray Carpenter was research professor of psychology and anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 1940-1970, and University of Georgia, 1970-1974. He studied primate behavior, produced primate films and videotapes, and researched communication processes. Carpenter died in 1975.
The collection contains materials reflecting Carpenter's research interests in primates, communication, and educational technology. Included are manuscripts for his books, Behavioral Regulators of Behavior in Primates, and Naturalistic Behavior of Nonhuman Primates; chapters for books, periodical articles, speeches, and reports. His primatology materials consist of research journals, 1932-1972; correspondence, 1934-1974, with Robert Ardrey, Irven DeVore, Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, George Schaller, and Robert Yerkes, among others; student papers, 1966-1972; membership and activities in professional organizations, 1955-1973; field centers and labs on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, and Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, 1925-1974; and colleagues' papers. His interest in instructional technology is reflected in his correspondence, 1955-1974, concerning publications and consulting; formation of the Instructional Quality of Television program at Penn State; work with the Joint Council on Educational Telecommunications and Commission for Instructional Technology; and papers and reports he collected on the subject, 1918-1973. Carpenter's activities in higher education include his involvement in designing several buildings at Penn State, planning for Florida Atlantic University, and as a consultant to the president of the University of Georgia. Also, includes slides, photographs (many taken by Hansel Mieth), audio tapes, and motion pictures of primates.
Collection Number:
149
Size:
66 Cubic feet
Location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the
library catalog.
Clarence Ray Carpenter was born in Lincoln County, North Carolina to C.E. and Gaddie Lee Harrelson Carpenter. He married Mariana Carpenter in 1932, they had two children, Richard Lee and Lane Evans, Mariana died on July 16, 1963. Carpenter married Ruth Jones on October 8, 1966, who had several daughters from a previous marriage. He completed his bachelor of arts and masters degrees at Duke University in 1928 and 1929, respectively. There he studied with Professor William McDougall. He entered Stanford University in 1929, worked with Professor Calvin P. Stone, and completed work for a Ph.d. in 1932.His early research was in animal behavior where he used pigeons as subjects and developed a special interest in the ecological and endocrinological conditions which affect their social behavior. He received a National Science Research Fellowship for work at the institute of Human Relations, New Haven Medical School, Yale University, and from 1931 to 1934 conducted field research on the naturalistic behavior of primates in Panama under the sponsorship of Professor Robert M. Yerkes. According to Harvard's Irven DeVore, for the succeeding thirty years almost all of the accurate information available on the behavior of monkeys and apes living in natural environments was the result of Carpenter's research and writing.
His first published article concerning primate behavior appeared in 1934, and was followed by over 40 professional journal articles, books, book chapters and special publications dealing with this topic. In addition, he was responsible for the production of primate films and videotapes, the establishment of Penn State University as a depository for the Psychological Cinema Register and for developing an internationally known collection of psychological, psychiatric and animal behavior films. His other major research interest was in the communication processes. On the applied level he was concerned with the application of various educational technologies to instructional communication in colleges and universities.
During World War II he served as a technical advisor in the production of Army training films. After the war he conducted extensive research on variables to learning in instructional films. The program which he directed produced sixty-six technical reports. In 1954, he shifted his research emphasis to instructional television and other research developments for improving instruction at the university level. Beginning in 1957 and 1958, he became involved in the problems of long range planning for higher education. He served on the Central Committee for Projecting and Planning the Pennsylvania State University Medical School at Hershey, and on the Planning Commission in Florida for drafting plans for the Florida Atlantic University. His interest in Communication and learning potentials prompted his return to Barro Colorado Island in 1959 to resume field studies of its howler population, thus continuing the line of work he began in the early thirties.
His teaching career began in 1934 when he accepted an appointment as Assistant Professor and Lecturer at Bard College, Columbia University. In this capacity he was a member of the Asiatic Primate Expedition in 1937, was a Fellow of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, and an associate of Dr. Harold J. Coolige, Jr., and professor Adolph Schultz. In 1938 he transferred to the College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico. There he planned and developed the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Colony. This required the collection of some 350 animals in India and their transportation to Puerto Rico where the colony still exists. In 1940 he moved to the Pennsylvania State College from which he retired in 1970 as Research Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Anthropology. He then accepted a position as Research Professor in Psychology and Anthropology at the University of Georgia and in 1974, a visiting Research post at the East-West Communication Institute, Honolulu.
While at Penn State, Professor Carpenter contributed many special qualities to the Anthropology and Psychology departments. As Research Professor in both departments from 1965-1970, he guided their development to accommodate his precocious notion that human behavior is fundamentally similar to the behavior of other animals and thus should be studied simultaneously, utilizing similar methodology and paradigms. He, more than anyone, is responsible for the Penn State Anthropology Department's continuing commitment to primatology, empiricism, science as opposed to humanism, and most importantly, through the compelling example of his own successful studies, the melding of the behavioral sciences with the theory of evolution. In Georgia, he continued this work both at the University and at the nearby Yerkes Primate Center where he was on the Board of Advisors.
In addition to the above accomplishments, Dr. Carpenter received a number of other honors and helped cultivate a variety of other programs. At Penn State, he established in 1957 the Division of Academic Research and Services, later the University Division of Instructional Services, which fostered research on learning behavior and provided assistance to faculty in developing teaching expertise. During this time he was instrumental in establishing Penn State's pioneering instructional television activities. In 1963, he was a member of a team sponsored by the Ford Foundation which studied the communication systems of India. In 1964, he was a visiting scientist under the auspices of the US-Japan Cooperative Science Program and the Japan Science Council.
He was active in the framing of the National Defense Act, especially Title VII, concerning employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and had worked continuously in some relationship with the US Office of Education from 1958 until his death. He was a member of the Primatology Committee of the National Academy of Sciences and served during the academic year of 1965-1966 as the President of the Association for Higher Education. For a complete list of his accomplishments see the vita included in this collection. Dr. Carpenter died on March 1, 1975 in Athens, Georgia.
Series 1: Publications, Presentations and Personal Material: This subgroup contains family correspondence, biographical information, and materials related to Carpenter's publications. Carpenter's vita is used as a guide for the following publications series within this subgroup. The series are non-inclusive:
Series 2: Primatology: The subgroup chiefly includes daybooks and journals, 1932-1972; correspondence, 1934-1974; course materials, 1966-1972; information about professional organizations and meetings, 1955-1973; research and grant proposals, 1960-1972; and center and labs, 1925-1974.
Series 3: Instructional Technology. This subgroup contains correspondence, 1955-1974; information on professional organizations and meetings, 1955-1972; U.S. Office of Education materials, 1963-1972; and the Commission for Instructional Technology: Administration and Reports 1967-1970.
Series 4: Other Activities: This subgroup contains correspondence, 1934-1974; The Pennsylvania State University, 1935-1973; the military, 1942-1973; professional organizations and meetings, 1958-1973; the Association for Higher Education 1959-1971; Florida Higher Education, 1961-1966; Centers and Labs, 1962-1970; University of North Carolina, 1963-1971; University of Georgia, 1964-1973; Guam, 1964-1972; and American Samoa, 1972.
Series 5: Audio Visual Materials: The slide collection was put together by carpenter and shows samples of all research on primates. The notebooks are very well documented with title and date. The boxes of slides consist of miscellaneous primate slides. The photograph collection consists mainly of negatives with some photographs and many contact sheets. The series is separated by primate type with a general primate section included. Many photographs taken by Hansel Mieth for Time-Life Books are also included. The audio tapes are listed in alphabetical order and contain primate sounds and notes as well as lectures by other primatologists. The films in the series deal exclusively with primatology and are listed in alphabetical order.
Collection is open for research. Access to student files are restricted for the life of the individual, in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Clarence Ray Carpenter papers, PSUA 149, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
Processing Information
Processed by Special Collections staff.
Existence and Location of Copies
There are digital surrogates available for some materials.
