Ina VanStan Papers

Ina VanStan (1901-1989) was a researcher and professor specializing in textiles.

VanStan was born in California in 1901. After growing up in Alameda, she earned her B.A. in Economics with a Minor in Decorative Arts at the University of California, Berkeley. She then received her M.A. in Decorative Arts and a Minor in Anthropology at UC Berkeley. Her Master’s thesis was on Guatemalan textiles held at UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, she began her studies of Peruvian textiles as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Lila M. O’Neale and worked under the direction of Dr. O’Neale and Dr. Alfred L. Kroeber at the Anthropology Museum. In between her studies, she volunteered and taught at the Davenport Public Museum in Iowa. She started earning her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, but left seven academic hours away from graduating due to her worsening eyesight. While at Penn, she studied Peruvian textiles at the University Museum with assistance from H.N. Wardle and Dr. Alden Mason. VanStan was a Professor of Clothing and Textiles in the School of Home Economics and conducted research in the field of pre-Columbian Peruvian textiles at Florida State University for 30 years (1941-1971) before retiring and moving to Oregon. In Oregon, she continued her research as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural History. VanStan died in Eugene, Oregon in 1989.

VanStan’s research utilized collections housed in the United States and spent three months in Peru conducting research (1968-1969). Her research helped establish definitely that Peruvians were using Ikat method of tie-dying long before the Spanish came. She also remained in correspondence with scholars from or working in Peru, such as Katherine Hodnett Nunez.

VanStan was a member of numerous intellectual societies: the Society for American Archaeology, the Textile Museum in Washington D.C., the Le Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the American Anthropological Association, the Archaeological Institute of American, the Florida Anthropology Society, the Philadelphia Anthropology Society, the Florida Academy of Sciences, the Latin American Studies Association, the International Congress of Americanists, and the National Directory of Latin Americanists.

She published at least 22 articles, listed below.

VanStan, I. (1954). Weaver Education in Ancient Peru. Florida State University Studied, 16, 89-118. VanStan, I. (1955). Peruvian Domestic Fabrics from Supe: A Study of the Uhle Collection of Painted Cloths. American Antiquity, 1(3). VanStan, I. (1957). A Peruvian ikat from Pachacamac. American Antiquity, 23(2 Part 1), 150-159. VanStan, I. (1958). Problems in pre-Columbian textile classification (No. 29). Florida State University. VanStan, I. (1958). A Peruvian tasseled fabric. Department of Anthropology, The Florida State University. VanStan, I. (1959). Three Feather Ornaments from Peru: Archaeology, 12(3), 190-193. VanStan, I. (1960). A Peruvian Tapestry with a Knotted Openwork Ground. The Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin Club, 44(1 & 2), pp. 3014. VanStan, I. (1961). Miniature Peruvian shirts with horizontal neck openings. American Antiquity, 26(4), 524-531. VanStan, I. (1961). Ancient Peruvian textile arts: Patchwork and tie-dye from Pachacamac. Expedition, 3(4), 34. VanStan, I. (1962). An Ancient Peruvian Rag Doll. Archaeology, 15(4), 244-248. VanStan, I. (1963). A problematic example of Peruvian resist-dyeing. American Antiquity, 29(2), 166-173. VanStan, I. (1963). Every Shred of Evidence: Rediscovering Ancient Peruvian Weavers’ Craft. Americans, 15(12), 30-34. VanStan, I. The fabrics from a Peruvian bale found beneath the Pachacamac Temple. Bulletin de liaison du centre international d'etude des textiles anciens, 1964(19), 20-37. VanStan, I. (1964). Rags and Tatters Among the Textiles of Peru. Expedition, 6(4), 34. VanStan, I. (1964). Ancient Peruvian tapestries with reed warps. Archaeology, 17, 257-61. VanStan, I. (1965). A triangular scarflike cloth from Pachacamac, Peru. American Antiquity, 30(4), 428-433. VanStan, I. (1966). The Fabrics of Peru. The World Heritage of Woven Fabrics, no. 11. VanStan, I. (1979). Brocades or Embroideries, seventeen Textiles from Pashacamamc, Peru. The Bulletin of the needle and Bobbin Club, 50, 234. VanStan, I. (1967). Textiles from Beneath the Temple of Pachacamac, Peru: A Part of the Uhle Collection. UPenn Museum of Archaeology. VanStan, I. (1969). Six bags with woven pockets from pre-columbian Perú. Ñawpa Pacha, 7(1), 17-28. VanStan, I. (1971). Peruvian Textiles & Artifacts. Introduction ⎼ exhibit catalog, University Gallery, College of Architecture and Fine Arts, University of Florida, Gainesville. VanStan, I. (1971). The Wrappings from a Child Mummy from Ancon, Peru. Ñawpa Pacha, 9(1), 87-112. VanStan, I. (1979). Brocades or Embroideries, seventeen Textiles from Pashacamamc, Peru. The Bulletin of the needle and Bobbin Club, 50, 234. VanStan, I. (1979). Did Inca weavers use an upright loom? In The Junius B. Bird pre-Columbian Textile Conference. Washington DC: The Textile Museum/Dumbarton Oaks (pp. 233-238).

Biographical note by Rebecca M. Jacobson, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology