HAR is pleased to announce one of the latest releases from Encyclopédie Bérose des histoires de l’anthropologie: an article (in English) on women ethnographers at the Musée d’ethnographic du Trocadéro and the Musée de l’Homme.

Brassard, Sylvie, 2026. “French Women Abroad: Fieldwork Impediments for Women of the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro and the Musée de l’Homme (1928–1945),” Encyclopédie Bérose des histoires de l’anthropologie.

Between 1928 and 1945, the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro and the Musée de l’Homme became crucibles for French female ethnographers’ scientific ambitions—spaces where the boundaries of gender, discipline, and empire were both contested and redrawn. While ethnology’s male pioneers traversed continents to collect artifacts and develop theories, their female counterparts navigated a far more treacherous landscape: one shaped by paternalistic gatekeepers, sartorial constraints, and the unspoken “urinary leash” of bodily logistics. Yet, against these odds, nearly a quarter of the museum’s fieldworkers were women—solo travelers, wives-turned-collaborators, and scholars who redefined what it meant to “do science” in the field. This study excavates the archival silences and strategic adaptations that shaped women’s participation in French ethnology’s golden age. Their successes, however, were fragile, often contingent on wealth, marital status, or the willingness of mentors such as Paul Rivet—a self-proclaimed feminist who nonetheless cautioned that ethnology demanded “vigor” rather than “coziness.” By centering these overlooked strategies and constraints, this research not only recasts the history of French anthropology but also invites reflection on the enduring tensions between mobility, respectability, and scientific authority that continue to shape women’s place in the field—literally and figuratively.

This article is published as part of the research theme “History of French Anthropology and Ethnology of France (1900–1980),” directed by Christine Laurière. See also the encyclopedic dossiers dedicated to the Musée d’ethnographie du Trocadéro and the Musée de l’Homme:

Created as part of the “temporary museum of scientific missions” organized for the 1878 Universal Exhibition, the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro opened to the public in 1882. From 1928 onward, the museum was directed by Paul Rivet and underwent a profound modernization, as it aimed to become the showcase and platform for French ethnology, which was then in the process of institutionalization and professionalization. The museum closed its doors in August 1935 to make way for the construction, on the same site, of the future Musée de l’Homme. Inaugurated on June 20, 1938, the Musée de l’Homme was founded and directed by Paul Rivet until 1949 and housed collections in ethnography, paleontology, prehistory, and biological anthropology. Until the 1960s, it occupied a central place in the French anthropological field. Its ethnographic collections were later moved to the Musée du quai Branly, and it closed in 2009. The new Musée de l’Homme reopened its doors in October 2015, with a museum and scientific project focused on the relationship between humans and their natural and cultural environment.