Laura Maud Thompson (1905- ) was born in Hawaii. In a long and distinguished career her main interest has been applied anthropology. She undertook 3 major studies in the Pacific: The southern Lau Islands, Fiji (1933-34); Guam (1938-39); Hawaii (1940-41). Thompson retired to Hawaii in 1985 where she recently completed the manuscript of her life story, Beyond the Dream. The letters relate to the Lau study, sponsored by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Thompson was accompanied on this study by Bernhard Tueting.

Letters from Fiji, 1933-34' is an unpublished manuscript of 65 pages, containing letters from the family correspondence of Dr Laura Thompson, written during her first Pacific study, in the Lau Islands of Fiji. The letters begin in September 1933, the first written in Nakausuli, on the Wainimalo River, Viti Levu, describing a week-long visit to the interior prior to sailing to Kambara Island. There the study's base was set up in Tokalau and ethnographic and archaeological surveys were carried out in all four villages on Kambara. Further work was done on Fulanga, Ongea and Mothe Islands and the uninhabited island of Wangava. The letters describe local activities, customs, food, agriculture, clothing and daily life but do not make detailed reference to the field work.

For a more detailed description of the expedition's work see Southern Lau, Fiji, an Ethnography, Bishop Museum Bull. No.162, Honolulu, 1940. Also included on the reel is a register of the Papers of Laura Maud Thompson held in the Smithsonian Institution