HRAF History

In 1929, the Institute of Human Relations (IHR) was established at Yale University as an interdisciplinary center for cooperative research on problems of human welfare. In 1935, a small group of researchers under the direction of IHR’s Director Mark A. May and Professor George Peter Murdock began to design a system that would allow the rapid retrieval of information on a broad range of societies. The resulting Cross-Cultural Survey would become the foundation for the HRAF Collection of Ethnography.

In 1949, HRAF became a financially autonomous research agency based at Yale University operating as a cooperative inter-university membership organization to promote the Cross-Cultural Survey on a broader scale. On February 26, 1949 delegates from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Washington, and Yale University met in New Haven, Connecticut to pledge their membership in a new nonprofit research consortium to be based at Yale. On May 7, 1949, the date we celebrate as our anniversary, the Human Relations Area Files was formally established.

HRAF’s original goal was to have the Collection of Ethnography include organized information about 400 cultures around the world. Beginning with paper files, HRAF later developed microfiche and digital collections, including the eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology databases. Anthropologically-trained analysts subject-classify ethnographic and archaeological materials at the paragraph level. This unique feature of the eHRAF databases enables precise searching and retrieval of information.

Today, our mission is to promote understanding of cultural diversity and commonality in the past and present. To learn more about HRAF history, visit our timeline.

75th Anniversary Celebration

On May 7, 2024 the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University hosted a celebration in honor of our 75th Anniversary. The HRAF Board of Sponsoring Members, past participants from the HRAF Summer Institutes for Cross-Cultural Anthropological Research, faculty members and researchers featured in our 75th Anniversary videos, and HRAF staff members gathered on Zoom for a virtual celebration.

HRAF 75th Anniversary Celebration

The celebration included opening remarks from President Carol Ember and a video from Board Chairman Glenn Storey.

Attendees enjoyed playing a fun game of HRAF Jeoparody, a great resource for teaching and learning.

HRAF Jeoparody Game

After the virtual celebration, staff members at the HRAF office in New Haven, Connecticut enjoyed a birthday cake featuring the HRAF 75th Anniversary logo.

HRAF 75th Anniversary Cake

In the year ahead, we will be featuring video recordings from members of the broader HRAF community. These videos will be uploaded once a month to our YouTube channel.

Please celebrate our anniversary by joining the Friends of HRAF.