Wiley American Anthropological Association: Info/about/policies/terms - JSP

Unofficial Histories: A Vision of Anthropology from the Margins
Author(s): Louise Lamphere

Source: American Anthropologist, Vol. 106, No. 1 (Mar., 2004), pp. 126-139
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3567447
Accessed: 04-03-2016 13:30 UTC
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
American Anthropological Association and Wiley are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
American Anthropologist.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 196.11.235.231 on Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:30:34 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
LOUISE LAMPHERE
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
100th AAA ANNUAL MEETING, WASHINGTON, D.C., DECEMBER 2001
Unofficial Histories: A Vision of Anthropology
from the Margins
ABSTRACT Initially given as the Presidential Address at the 100th Meeting of the AAA, this article examines the contributions of
women and minority anthropologists who have struggled to gain a place at the center of the discipline. Despite 25 years of scholarship
on women and minorities, anthropology needs to go further in terms of paying attention to their pioneering efforts and the breadth
of their scholarship. The article explores four currently important areas of creativity: (1) the transformation of field research through
problem-oriented participant observation and "native anthropology," as exemplified by George Hunt, the young Margaret Mead, and
Delmos Jones; (2) the evolution of more dialogical forms of ethnographic writing, as pursued by Elsie Clews Parsons, Gladys Reichard,
Ella Deloria, and Zora Neale Hurston; (3) sources of critique, as embodied in the work of Ruth Benedict and Michelle Rosaldo; and
(4) forms of activism, engaged in by Anita McGee, Benedict, Mead, and Alfonzo Ortiz. [Keywords: history of anthropology, women,
minorities]
IN 2002 THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (AAA) celebrated its 100th anniversary. Cen-
butions of selected women and minorities connected to
them as spouses, students, colleagues, or fieldwork assis-
tennial commemorations occasion two impulses: that of
tants. These women and minority anthropologists either
celebration and that of reevaluation and critique. Our first
struggled to gain a place at the center or remained mar-
impulse is to celebrate-to invoke the important central
ginal relative to their colleagues and mentors during their
life times.
figures in our history and reflect on the dominant theories
and insights that have shaped anthropology as a set of
Each generation of anthropologists revises history,
finding in the past precursors of present-day topics of in-
methodological practices and as a body of knowledge for
understanding humankind. To this end, the AAA, in col-
tense debate and reformulation. But there is also a peda-
laboration with the University of Nebraska Press, publish-
gogical goal in rethinking our history. Whose work gets
ed Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological As-
taught and how it is connected to other traditions is criti-
sociation: Presidential Portraits. Regna Darnell and Fred
cal to the shaping of anthropology for the next genera-
Gleach (2002) put together a fascinating series of bio-
tion. By stressing the breadth and creativity of the contri-
butions of women and minorities, we can enrich our
graphical sketches along with the presidential photos that
line the wall of our conference room at the AAA headquar-
description of what anthropology has been and continues
ters in Arlington,VA. This volume constitutes a part of our
to be.
My choice of focus reflects our current interest in
"official history."
But the aim of this article is to invoke the second im-
reshaping fieldwork, revising the way ethnography is writ-
ten, providing cultural critique, and opening pathways for
pulse-that of reevaluation and critique. As is fitting for
incorporating activism into anthropology. The figures I
an address on the eve of the AAA Centennial I will begin
have selected made contributions in each of these areas. I
with brief glimpses of several "iconic figures": AAA presi-
will look at three groups of women and minority anthro-
dents who were intellectually and institutionally at the
center of the discipline in their time. My main emphasis is
pologists: (1) elite women who entered the discipline in
the formative period between 1900-45; (2) minorities who
not, however, on these figures but, instead, on the contri-
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 106(1):126-139. COPYRIGHT ? 2004, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
Lamphere * Presidential Address 127
were connected to anthropology in the same time period;
and (3) minorities and women who came to the very dif-
ferent institutional and intellectual milieu of anthropol-
tial number of senior women faculty, including minority
women, although perhaps not the same proportion as sen-
ior women in departments nationwide. Minority men
were beginning to achieve tenure in these departments as
ogy after 1960.
Among the representatives of the first group, I will fo-
well. It is no longer unusual for women to be directors of
cus on Elsie Clews Parsons, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret
University Museums of anthropology or chairs of anthro-
Mead: three women who arguably had the greatest impact
pology departments. The AAA itself has had eight female
on the anthropology of their time. All three were from
middle- or upper-class backgrounds, were able to gain ac-
cess to elite colleges and universities, and later became
presidents of the AAA. As such, a focus on these women
presidents, including the first female African American
president (Yolanda Moses). In terms of the institutional
representation and impact on future generations of an-
thropologists through teaching and mentoring, women
initially may not seem to constitute a "view from the mar-
and minorities are in a much stronger position than in the
gins." However, on closer examination, each was excluded
past.
To understand this generation of women and minor-
in subtle ways from important disciplinary rewards or
achieved them at a much later stage in their lives than
their male peers. Until recently, the breadth and creativity
of their work has been unacknowledged, and even today
their contributions are often "pigeonholed" in narrow
ways. Moreover, these three women were exceptions.
Most women interested in anthropology at the beginning
of the 20th century were marginalized. Women members
of the AAA were primarily amateurs without connections
to major institutions.' Some, like Anita McGee, led lives of
service outside of anthropology, combining their interest
in other cultures with activism. Three decades later, most
Ph.D. recipients were likely to find positions in museums,
government service, or small liberal arts colleges. Gladys
ity anthropologists, I focus on Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo,
Alfonso Ortiz, and Delmos Jones, all of whom wrote at the
beginning of this sea change in the discipline. They are
part of the transformation of anthropology as it grew
larger and became increasingly influenced by the antiwar
movement, feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and
Native American activism.
In looking at all three groups, I will explore the inno-
vations in their work that have resonance with our con-
temporary preoccupations. This article will stress four
sources of creativity: (1) the transformation of field re-
search from textual transcription to problem-oriented par-
ticipant observation and native anthropology, exempli-
fied by George Hunt, the young Margaret Mead, and

Reichard represents this latter path. She remains largely
unrecognized for her scholarly work. Furthermore,
Reichard taught at the undergraduate level and, therefore,
had less influence on the graduate students who then be-
came the next generation of anthropologists.2
Delmos Jones; (2) the evolution of ethnographic writing
from the standard ethnographic present to more dialogical
forms, as seen in the writing of Elsie Clews Parsons, Gladys
Reichard, Ella Deloria, and Zora Neale Hurston; (3) sources
of critique, often emanating from a marginal positionalThe second group, late-19th- to mid-20th-century mi-
nority anthropologists (both men and women), had an
even harder time becoming institutionally central to the
discipline or having their contributions recognized in the
disciplinary canon. Many never obtained M.A. or Ph.D.
degrees. In the case of Native Americans, they were usually
relegated to being "informants" or research assistants
rather than full-fledged ethnographers and professionals.
Following the lead of many contemporary minority schol-
ity, which result in new theoretical formulations, for
which I focus on Ruth Benedict and Michelle Rosaldo; and
(4) the forms of activism both inside and outside the acad-
emy that have produced more public roles for anthropolo-
gists, as exemplified by Anita McGee, Ruth Benedict, Mar-
garet Mead, and Alfonso Ortiz.
As the AAA celebrates its Centennial, we have had 25
years of scholarship on women in anthropology.5 There
are important new collections that focus on African
ars, I wish to highlight the contributions of African Ameri-
can writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Native American
American anthropologists (Harrison and Harrison 1999;
McClaurin 2001), and there is a contined interest in the

ethnographers like George Hunt and Ella Deloria-only
three among the two or three dozen who have contributed
role of Native Americans. But the history of anthropology
and of anthropological theory is still largely portrayed in

to anthropology during the first 70 years of this century.3
Beginning in the 1960s, women entered the discipline
in increasing numbers, and more minorities (even though
they represented a small number) were recruited to the
field.
terms of the white male "founding fathers." It is disap-
pointing that new texts and readers on the history or an-
thropology pay scant attention to the work of contempo-
rary women and minority anthropologists (see, e.g.,
During the 1970s and 1980s, women still had diffi-
culty obtaining positions in the elite departments in an-
Erickson with Murphy 1991; Erickson and Murphy 2001).6
Recuperating the work of these women and minorities
needs to go beyond viewing their contributions in a narrow,
thropology.4 The AAA became the setting for an internal
conflict regarding how far a professional organization
should go in order to support the hiring and tenure of
one-dimensional fashion, such as emphasizing only the
"culture and personality" writing of Mead and Benedict,
the research on folklore conducted by Parsons, and the

women in anthropology (Sanjek 1978, 1982). By 2003,
most of the top Ph.D.-awarding departments had substan-
scholarly publications on folk tales by Zora Neale Hurston.
128 American Anthropologist * Vol. 106, No. 1 * March 2004
McGee, then, is our first iconic figure, representing
Instead, the full range of their writing needs to be empha-
the Washington anthropologists and self-made men who
sized and how various genres and field experiences con-
dominated the profession at the time. He was a self-
tribute to anthropology needs to be explored. Thus
educated man of Irish heritage who grew up on an Iowa
Benedict's writing on race should be stressed in addition
farm. He became a devotee of John Wesley Powell who
to her book Patterns of Culture; Parsons's feminist book
should be mined for their contributions to ethnography;
brought him to Washington in 1883. After serving ten
and Hurston's wide range of writing (from memoir to mul-
years in the U.S. Geological Survey, McGee moved to the
tivoiced ethnography to short story and novel) should be
BAE where he became Powell's assistant and "Ethnologist-
in-Chief," running the Bureau as Powell's health declined.
part of reclaiming her as an anthropologist. Their work
McGee published widely in the fields of geology, hy-
also needs to be seen in relation to both the male figures
drology, and anthropology with over 300 articles and re-
that dominate the "official history" of the discipline and
ports, but his only field research was a few days with the
to the work of other women and minorities. We need to
more fully explore the creativity in their work that has
Seri, a group of impoverished and dispossessed Native
resonance with topics that currently are shaping the disci-
Americans living in northern Mexico. He used his meager
observations to confirm his evolutionary presuppositions

pline.
(Hinsley 1981:242). Like a number of other early presi-
My argument is not that all or even the most impor-
dents during the first 25 years who were central both insti-
tant innovations have come from those at the edges of the
tutionally and intellectually during their lives, he left little
discipline struggling to find their place at the center.
in the way of a lasting legacy. One hundred years later no
Rather, I argue that we need to go further still in terms of
one reads about McGee's elaborate evolutionary frame-
paying attention to the contributions of women and mi-
work. For someone previously central to discipline, McGee
nority anthropologists, and that by doing so we can en-
in retrospect has had little lasting impact and his career
rich our view of the past and expand our vision of future
seems like a mere footnote.

possibilities.
From a contemporary perspective, some of the women
members of the AAA who were institutionally marginal-
ized at the time appear more interesting sources of creativ-
WIDENING THE LENS: W. J. MCGEE AND HIS WIFE
ANITA NEWCOMB
ity. Women like Alice Fletcher and Zelia Nuthall were
emerging professionals, although Fletcher was blocked
from standing for a Ph.D. at Harvard. Most, however, were
part of the educated elite who took an interest in travel
and collecting, and who occasionally delivered papers at
the annual meetings. There were, however, few places for
them in the early AAA. It was a male-dominated organiza-
tion, with only 15 women among 175 founding mem-
bers.7 Excluded from the intellectual centers of the disci-
pline, women forged their contributions through activities
outside universities.
W Ai
One of the few women members of the AAA in 1902,
Anita Newcomb McGee, McGee's wife, is a case in point.
While she was marginal to the discipline at the time, her
career anticipates the kind of activist professionalism that
marks a return to public anthropology in recent years.8

WJ McGee Anita McGee
She is a fascinating example of a woman who obtained
The discipline's early years illustrate particularly well why

professional status and used it to pursue an activist role,
going beyond the institutionally central figures is neces-
following a kind of dedicated social service model preva-
sary in constructing a canon that fully reflects the richness
lent among women during the late 19th century.
of our history. Today, it is hard to imagine how small the
group of active anthropologists was at the Turn of the
During the Spanish American War, in 1898, McGee
convinced the surgeon general of the need to recruit trained
Century. At the founding meeting on June 30, 1902, 13
nurses who had not been able to serve since the Civil War.
men (seven of whom would become future presidents) se-
She started the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
lected the 24 members of the council, chose the nine
member executive committee, and elected the officers in-
cluding WJ McGee, the first AAA president. The first two
decades of the AAA were dominated by the Washington an-
Hospital Corps, which in 1901 became the Army Nurse
Corps. She was appointed acting assistant surgeon general,
the first woman to hold such a position. In 1904-05, she
took nine nurses who had served in the Spanish conflict to
thropologists: followers of McGee and those associated
Japan to work alongside Japanese nurses during the Russo-
with the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) (Darnell
Japanese War. During 2001, her photos of the trip were on
1998: ch. 13; Stocking 1968: ch. 11).
exhibit at the National Museum of Health and Medicine at
the Walter Reid Hospital in Washington, D.C. That year
was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Army
number of texts that were central to the kind of ethnogra-
phy Boas espoused.
Nurse Corps and recognition was being given to McGee as

Hunt did not take down stories by dictation. Instead,
its founder (Dearing 1971:464-466).
he listened to a performance and then went home and
wrote down a text. He often put together several versions
THE TRANSFORMATION OF FIELD RESEARCH: BOAS,
HUNT, AND MEAD
of the story or combined his own observations with the
information from several informants (Berman 1996:235).
This technique was acceptable in a period in which in-
tracultural variation was less recognized and fit well with
Boas's attempt to build a picture of Kwakuitl culture as a
seamless whole. There is a clear asymmetrical dynamic
,.
here. Boas controlled the subjects of the text and worked
hard to get Hunt to produce exactly what he wanted, in

\, 4 :9
some cases hinting that continued financial support rested
on Hunt's willingness to provide Boas with a continuous
flow of information.
For his part, Hunt exercised a certain amount of in-
Franz Boas George Hunt Margaret Mead
dependence and creativity even as he complied with
Boas's demands. Unlike Boas, Hunt often took the role of a
While Anita McGee is an interesting precursor of contem-
participant-observer, recording his wife's recipes, collect-
porary public anthropology, it was not until Franz Boas
ing crest stories from each Kwakuitl group, and learning to
and his students achieved preeminence in the discipline
become a shaman. His textual strategies were innovative
that women gained Ph.D.s and were able to contribute
as well. Hunt wrote in an authentic Kwakw'ala speech

more fully to both theory and ethnography. In addition,
style that was primarily used for the myth recitations, al-
minority anthropologists began to move beyond their tra-
ways writing in ways that would "show you the oldest way
ditional role as "informants." Boas is well known for his
of speaking" (Briggs and Bauman 1999:491).
commitment to a detailed scientific study of cultural phe-
What I want to highlight is Hunt's creative ability to

nomena, the creation of an integrated four-field disci-
forge a separate role as ethnographer and writer apart from
pline, and the use of a historical rather than evolutionary
Boas. As Jean Canizzo argues, "George Hunt is one of the
framework. Thus, Boas is the second institutionally central
most important originators of our current view of 'the tra-
figure I will emphasize. Here, I want to focus on George
ditional' Kwakiutl society; he is a primary contributor to

Hunt and Margaret Mead and the ways they transformed
the invention of the Kwakiutl as an ethnographic entity"

Boas's approach to field research. When each began work-
(Canizzo 1983:45). Without him, our sense of the tradiing with Boas, they were both marginal but for very differ-
tions, stories, and practices of this group of Native Amerient reasons: Hunt's marginality was embedded in the co-
cans would be very much diminished.

lonial context where anthropologists found themselves
Mead took Hunt's explorations in fieldwork methodol-
working with Native intellectuals who were on the edges
ogy one step further, enlarging the role of participant obserof Indian communities; meanwhile, Mead was institution-
vation and breaking with Boas's tradition of holistic eth-
ally marginal simply because she was a student and only
nography. Boas had always been in the habit of giving

24 years old. However, both managed to transcend their
problems to his students for study. So when Mead insisted

positions. Mead circumvented the control of her much
on going to Samoa, he set out for her the problem of adoolder mentor, Boas, and in a "gutsy move" went to Samoa
lescence. Taking Boas's directions as a starting point, she

and created new forms of fieldwork. Later, she was able to
shaped her own problem-focused methodology.
leverage the advantages of her class and the gender per-
Mead spent six months studying 68 girls between the

missiveness of the interwar period to project herself into
the center of anthropology. Hunt faced more difficult ob-
ages of nine and 20 who were residents of three contigu-
ous villages on the tiny island of Tau in American Samoa.

stacles; however, he was able to create a role as "intercul-
The appendices and text of Coming of Age in Samoa indi-
tural interlocutor."
cate that Mead gathered copious amounts of information
Boas first met Hunt in 1886 during his first field trip
to the Kwakiutl.9 The son of a Scots-Irish Ft. Rupert trader
and Tlingit mother, Hunt was not a Kwakiutl but grew up
learning the Kwakw'ala language as well as English. His
position was one of an outsider on the inside. Over 45
years, Boas conducted only about 15 months of field re-
search among the Kwakiutl. Once Boas taught Hunt how
to write Kwakw'ala, it was primarily the correspondence
on these young girls (Mead 1961:249-265, 282-294). Her
chapters include portraits of several girls with comments
on their relations with parents and siblings, their standing
in the community, and their experience with boys. In ad-
dition, she gave each girl a battery of tests in the Samoan
language. Mead credits herself with inventing a cross-
sectional method of studying girls at different stages of pu-
between Hunt and Boas that created the monumental

berty in order to get at a process-that of acquiring and
performing the requisite adult gender roles of a culture
(Mead 1972:154).
opening up for anthropologists in universities and col-
leges, but women still had difficulty getting them. Finan-
Much has been made of Mead's "wind in the palm
trees" method of ethnographic writing: her exotic descrip-
tions that represent a general picture with ideal-typical
specifics but no individual people. However, a close read-
ing of Coming of Age in Samoa shows that she paid special
attention to individual cases (Lutkehaus 1995:186-206).
She presented several kinds of behavior to be found
cial security or being married mattered; either or both
could be used to disqualify women from being considered
for positions in elite departments. Parsons came from a
wealthy New York background and used her money to
support Columbia's anthropology department, fund re-
search in the Southwest, and finance several anthropologi-
cal publications. As a married woman with four children,
among the "typical" girls in her study, as well as in exten-
three homes, and a number of servants, she was in a posi-
sive examples of "the girl in conflict" (see Mead 1961: chs.
tion not to need an academic appointment (Deacon
10 and 11). Contrasted with the text-based field research
of Boas and Hunt, Mead's innovative methodology reflects
1997). However, this kept her from influencing the next
generation of anthropologists. This structural marginality
a whole new chapter in fieldwork.
allowed for the erasure of many of the contributions that
NEW FORMS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC WRITING: KROEBER,
before WWII. A sort of disciplinary amnesia developed
Parsons and other white women made to anthropology
PARSONS, AND REICHARD
about these contributions, allowing James Clifford to
write in his introduction to Writing Culture that feminist
ethnography "had not produced ... unconventional forms
of writing" (Clifford 1986:21).
Parsons was the same age as Kroeber. They were
friends, working partners, and, possibly, intimates. Kroe-
ber and Parsons first met at the end of a second brief field
trip to Zuni in December 1915. Her psychological ap-
proach to culture highlighted the interplay between social
constraint and individual psychology in contrast to Kroe-
ber's emphasis on a culture as superorganic. They devel-
Alfred Kroeber Elsie Clews Parsons Gladys Reichard

oped a close friendship, all the while teasing each other
about their theoretical differences. Kroeber spent two weeks
Alfred Kroeber is the third iconic figure I treat here, and
at Parsons's Lounsberry Estate (outside New York City)
the most prominent U.S. anthropologist after Boas. He be-
during May 1918. They then shared a three-week field trip
gan his two-year term as president of the AAA in 1917 at
to Zuni in September. Correspondence suggests to that al-
the young age of 41. While president of the AAA, Kroeber

though their time in New York was filled with long walks,
published "The Superorganic" (1917), his initial and most
stimulating conversation, and mutual work, the Zuni trip
important statement arguing that culture should be
was disappointing. Parsons felt subordinated to Kroeber's
treated sui generis as a separate level of analysis, distinct

interests and lacked the space and time to achieve her own
from the biological or organic. On the one hand, Kroeber's

goals (Deacon 1997:207). Their relationship afterward be-
work can be seen as a codification of Boas's approach. On
came more distant, although still a genuine friendship.
the other, it is evident that he advanced our thinking
Kroeber returned to California and his career at the center
about the nature of culture, developing the concepts of

of the discipline, while Parsons continued her work as eth-
pattern and configuration and utilizing them to analyze
nographer, folklorist, and patron.
the history of a wide number of cultures and civilizations.
Parsons began her innovative writing style through a
During the 1920s and 1930s, when Kroeber's vision of
series of feminist books that combine trenchant social cri-
anthropology with its emphasis of trait distributions and

tique with cross-cultural ethnographic analysis. Books like
configurations dominated the discipline, two women-El-
the Old-Fashioned Woman (1913) and Fear and Convention-
sie Clews Parsons and Gladys Reichard-created open and

ality (1997) blend insightful ethnographic commentary on
innovative styles of ethnographic writing, 50 to 60 years
before new forms of dialogical text-making came into
vogue. Although both were committed to the Boasian tra-
dition in terms of their theoretical writing, they used eth-
nography in new ways. These innovations went long un-
recognized as these women worked in the shadow of
her own upper-class social circle with examples from a
wide range of other cultures. When Parsons turned to an-
thropology, she continued to be interested in the position
of women and published a series of articles between
1915-24 on Pueblo women, including their roles as moth-
ers. These essays are more open and dialogic than either
Kroeber, Robert H. Lowie, and other prominent male stuher previous writing or the ethnographic texts of Boas and
dents of Boas during this period.
Hunt. They rarely use cross-cultural comparison, social cri-
The situation of Parsons and Reichard points to the

tique, or irony. Instead Parsons adopted what Barbara Bab-
subtle ways that even elite white women were structurally
marginalized. During the 1920s and 1930s, positions were
cock describes as "a polyphonic pastiche that mixes styles
and genres, invoking, questioning, and comparing the
voices and authority of other anthropologists as well as
her own previous inscriptions of Pueblo life" (Babcock
scribes the scene when Red Point finds out about the inci-
dent:
1991:16). Her ethnography is a blend of different points of
Red Point was so excited last evening about the Navajo

view: the anthropologist as observer, the native "other"
boys taking pay for helping us that he did not think of
answering the anthropologist's questions, transcriptions
anything else. Today, as Marie is stringing the new blan-
of ritual texts, and narratives from Pueblo women them-
ket over the temporary frame and as I unwind the yarn
from the skein, preparatory to winding the ball, he comes
selves. For example, in an article on "Mothers and Chil-
in. He is in his usual mild temper, but cannot refrain from

dren at Laguna," Parsons gives her hostess Wana's narra-
mild remonstrance. "Too bad you paid that money. You
tive of the naming ceremony used for her two-week-old
wouldn't have had to do it if I had been here." He has
baby. It includes Wana's drawing of the altar and a text of
come to see my first blanket. As I spread it out I tell him
the medicine man's prayer in both Keres and English (Par-
that at Ganado they all laughed at it. Whereupon he leaps
sons 1919:34-38). More examples of this dialogical weavto my defense with, "Tell them to make one." [Reichard
ing of Parsons' voice, as well as that of her subjects, can be
1934:60]
found in her other articles on Pueblo women and in her
Although Reichard describes Red Point's emotions in
later work on Mexico. Parsons' work clearly anticipates the
her own words, she gives her subject a voice and presents
kinds of textual strategies that ethnographers have been
much of the conversation in his words. In addition,

employing in the last two decades as anthropologists have
Reichard places herself within the text, making it more
gone beyond the position of the distant observer, writing
dialogical and exploring the nature of their interaction, as

in the third person and using the "ethnographic present"
well as her own views and behavior. Throughout the book,

that was typical of many classic ethnographies.
Reichard's descriptions of the Southwest, her nights under
However, in terms of influencing students, colleagues,
the stars, and the sunsets are quite evocative. Rather than
and anthropological institutions, Parsons remained struc-
giving us analytic concepts (such as the centrality of genturally marginal and was only fully recognized when she
erosity and reciprocity), we get a better sense of the indiwas elected AAA president in 1941 at age 73. She died be-
viduality of Navajo actors and Reichard's own views. Defore she was able to give her presidential address, which
was delivered instead by Gladys Reichard. It has only been
signed for a popular audience but employing surprisingly
modern textual strategies, the book portrays the "feel" of

in the last 15 years that Parson's feminism has been redis-
Navajo life, something rarely found in ethnographies of
covered and an appreciation for her textual innovations
the period.
developed (Babcock 1991; Deacon 1997; Lamphere 1989;
Her second innovative book, Dezba: Woman of the DeZumwalt 1992).
sert (1939), is a novelistic account of Navajo life based on

Gladys Reichard, who saw Parsons as her mentor, car-
ried these textual innovations even further. Her research
trips to the Navajo reservation during the summers of
1930-34 were funded by Parsons through her Southwest
society. She stayed with Red Point, a well-known Navajo
singer and his extended family. Reichard was interested in
crafts and decided that "learning to weave would be a way
of developing the trust of the women" (Reichard n.d.:l).
Reichard's experiences during her three summers with Red
Point's family. Reichard uses several textual strategies:
conveying the Navajo ceremonial system as a set of inner
beliefs held by Desba; employing careful ethnographic ob-
servations to create fictional descriptions of a sheep-dip
and the Navajo girl's puberty ceremony; using plot devices
to explore the internal dynamics of an extended family in
Living with a Navajo family allowed Reichard to see
a matrilineal society; and creating situations that reveal
Navajo social life from the inside. The fact that she was a
the impact of Anglo society on Navajo culture. In Dezba,
woman helped her to obtain a sense of the internal core of
Navajo kinship: a mother and her children. She published
her experiences in two books: The first, Spider Woman
(1934), is an ethnography and personal memoir; the sec-
ond, Dezba: Woman of the Desert (1939), is a novel.
Spider Woman is a long and complex dialogic text full
of more extensive innovations as compared with Parsons's
articles. It contains more of the research process, elabo-
Reichard takes a woman's point of view. Yet, in doing so,
she also gives readers a sense of the variety of male and fe-
male individual personalities found within a family as
well as a window into how Navajo life was changing in the
1930s.
Like Parsons, Reichard's position as a woman shaped
her career trajectory and her legacy. Boas gave his position
at Barnard to Reichard, who was single and needed to sup-
rates on the interaction between ethnographer and subport herself, passing over Ruth Benedict, who was married
ject, and records conversations as well as descriptions. Al-
at the time. Although her teaching position at an elite
though Reichard does the recording and much of the
women's college provided Reichard with a secure life, it
interpreting, the voices of Red Point's family are heard as
also limited her influence over graduate students in a pe-
well. For example, one afternoon Reichard paid several
riod when training the next generation of anthropologists
Navajo boys for helping pull her car out the mud. She de-
was taking on more importance (Lamphere 1993:178).
without taking shorthand notes. She simply listened to
EXTENDING NEW FORMS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC TEXT
stories and later wrote them down as she remembered
MAKING: HURSTON AND DELORIA
them, first in Lakota and then in English (Rice 1992:5). In
her writing she attempted to convey an oral tradition with
subtle linguistic features such as exclamations or com-
pound words. Her transcriptions supplied the emotion,
ElD
humor, or irony that many folklorists have felt only an
oral performance could convey (Rice 1993:14). Rice likens
her work to that of Nobel Prize winner and Yiddish novel-
ist Isaac Bashevis Singer: Both pioneered a new multilin-
gual literature, writing or collecting texts in their native
languages and publishing them in both languages (Rice
1992:6).
After Boas died in 1942, Deloria continued to innovate
in the ways she wrote about Dakota culture. Her work,
both as a social analyst and as a novelist, can be thought
of as an example of writing for the public.10 In 1944 she
produced Speaking of Indians, which was written for mis-
Ella Deloria Zora Neale Hurston
sionaries and others who had preconceived ideas that the
Reichard and Parsons were not the only female anthro-
Dakota no longer had a culture of their own with its own
pologists who wrote experimental texts in the in the

kinship system, social organization, religion, or set of val-
1920s and 1930s. During this period some minority
ues. Deloria felt that these people tried to "pour white cul-
women were obtaining college educations, though only a
ture into a vacuum and when that did not work out, they
few were able to study at elite institutions like Columbia
concluded that the Indians were impossible to change and
and Barnard. Ella DeLoria and Zora Neale Hurston were
train" (DeMallie 1968:238). Her book emphasized the im-
among these women. Both were mentored by Boas, colportance of Dakota kinship and the value of sharing. It
lected folk tales, and experimented with new literary
also discussed the obstacles facing the Sioux after they
forms: the memoir, the novel, and books for popular read-
were relocated to reservations (Deloria 1944:48-87).
ership.
At the same time, and with the support of Benedict,
During her lifetime, Ella Deloria explored a wider

Deloria finished the novel Waterlily, which at the time
range of genres than Reichard, working carefully in her

went unpublished because of a lack of interest in a book
native language and writing for the public but also, like
focusing on Dakota women. In the book, Deloria por-
Reichard, using ethnographic accounts in fictional texts.
trayed Dakota culture through the eyes of the female char-
Born on the Yankton Sioux reservation, her great-grandfaacters, a careful reconstruction of life in the camp circle
ther was a powerful medicine man and her father an Episduring the late 19th century, based on the descriptions
copal priest. As a child, Deloria learned to speak all three

she collected from elderly informants. In 1988 the Univer-
dialects of Dakota but was educated in Episcopal schools.

sity of Nebraska finally issued Waterlily. In evaluating the
She received scholarships to Oberlin and then to Columscope of Deloria's contributions, Bea Medicine noted,
bia Teachers' College. It was at Columbia that she met
Deloria's body of work remains among the fullest ac-
Boas, and he asked her to help translate a collection of

counts of the Dakota culture in the native language. It is
Lakota stories. She received a B.S. degree in 1915 and reunique as a woman's perspective, which has been lacking
turned to South Dakota to take care of members of her
in the writings on the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota peoples, and
as an interpretation of the Dakota reality to other peoples.

family. Boas lost track of her until 1927 when he met her
[Medicine 1988:49]
at the Haskell Institute where she had accepted a job as a
physical education instructor. In 1928 he brought her to
Perhaps the most innovative textual strategies were
New York to work on the translations of Dakota texts (Dethose of Zora Neale Hurston, who has only recently been
Maillie 1988:235). Over a period of 15 years, whether livrecognized for her creative contributions to anthropology.
ing in South Dakota or on brief trips to New York, she as-
sisted Boas in publishing a Sioux grammar (Deloria 1941)
and a Sioux-English dictionary. She also translated and
transcribed an enormous body of texts, many of which
she collected herself. Julian Rice, an English professor and
Born in 1894, Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida, a
self-governing, African American town with a rich folk tra-
dition. Hurston's years in Eatonville, followed by a decade
of struggling to support herself and pursue an education,
imbued Hurston with a strong will, a firm sense of her
literary scholar who has worked intensively with Lakota
own independence, and ardent racial pride, as well as a
materials, has reprinted, annotated, and interpreted many
gift for storytelling, irony, and humor. The stories that
of Deloria's texts. He argues that Deloria should be viewed
laced her books were often ones she had honed in "per-
as a literary creator rather than scrupulous recorder in the
formances" at parties. As Langston Hughes noted, "Only
Boasian sense (Rice 1992:1-20). Like Hunt, she worked
to reach a wider audience, need she ever write books, be-
cause she is a perfect book of entertainment in herself"
most anthropologists. Graciela Hernandez describes Hur-
ston's ability to cultivate subjective and objective voices

(Boyd 2003:140).
Hurston arrived in New York in 1925 when she was 31
years old with a high school diploma from Morgan Acad-
throughout her work as embodying "a literary harmonic"
(Hernandez 1995:156).
Race and class shaped both women's marginality and
emy and three years of course work from Howard Univer-
added the dimension of financial dependence to their re-
sity. Within nine months, she had become recognized as a
writer and accepted as the first Black student at Barnard
lationships to their patrons-for Deloria, Boas, and for
Hurston, both Boas and Mason. In Deloria's case, her obliCollege. During the next few years she was part of two
contrasting worlds: Harlem with its circle of young black
writers and artists and Barnard with its students and fac-
ulty. She attended "rent parties" in Harlem (where atten-
gations within the Dakota kinship system were always a
source of tension. In a poignant letter to Boas, Deloria ex-
plained,
dees contributed up to 50 cents to help the host defray the
Now, as regards my returning to New York. I have never
high cost of rents in segregated Harlem); participated in
told [sic] this, but besides my nieces and nephews for
whom I am guardian, I am responsible perfect for provid-
upscale dinners hosted by white patrons at New York res-
ing the roof for my sister as well as for me.... If I were

taurants; and visited the homes of her Barnard classmates.
alone in the world, I might risk it; but with things as they
She won competitions for her short stories and collabo-
stand, I am afraid to return to New York, so far from the
rated on Fire!, a short-lived journal that included contribureservation, for so little money. [Deloria in Finn 1995:139]
tions by the best young writers and artists of the Harlem
When Boas was unable to provide funds, she was forced to

Renaissance.
sell her trust land and derive limited income from speakWhile at Barnard, she first took a course from Reichard
and then came to the attention of Boas (Hurston 1996:
ing engagements and short-term teaching jobs.
Hurston was acutely aware of her unusual position as
140). Boas reportedly sent her out to measure heads in
Harlem (Boyd 2003:114) but also encouraged her to study
a young African American woman at Barnard. In her
memoir Dust Tracks on the Road, she included this pithy

folklore. After her graduation in early 1927, Boas arranged
statement, "The Social Register crowd at Barnard soon took

a fellowship for her to return to Eatonville and other parts
me in and I became Barnard's sacred black cow" (Hurston
of the South to collect songs, stories, jokes, and dances.
1996:139). Hurston had a complex relationship with Ma-
Charlotte Osgood Mason, a wealthy white patron who
son, who demanded she work in secret and accept Ma-
supported a number of Black writers including Langston
son's vision of Negro "primitiveness." On the one hand,
Hughes, funded a second, longer trip. Hurston's book
she chafed at the restrictions her patron placed on her

Mules and Men (Hurston 1990a) is part ethnography, part
work (Boyd 2003:171-174). On the other hand, she wrote
folklore collection, and part novelistic account of two
adoring letters to her, addressing her as "Godmother" and
years in the South. Written in dialect, Hurston's book is a
tale framing other tales. Her entrance into Eatonville is
full of dialogue as she tries to position herself as Zora re-
signing them "Most devotedly," or even "Your Pickaninny"
(Kaplan 2002:211-212, 216-219). Boyd argues that much
of this flattery was "tongue-in-cheek" and that Hurston
turned home-just Lucy Hurston's daughter instead of
"knew how to play the wealthy widow like the guitar"

some rich Northerner with a Chevrolet. The stories are not
set apart as some dry-as-dust texts but are fully integrated
(Boyd 2003:195). By 1932, Hurston had begun to wean
herself financially from Mason.
into the situations in which people recount them. On her
In the most discouraging incident, Hurston's Rosen-
first day, the stories are interrupted when Eatonville folks
wald Fellowship, awarded so she could complete a Ph.D. at
decide to take in a party in nearby Woodbridge, convinc-
Columbia University, was shortened to only one semester
ing Zora to give them a ride in her fancy car. Later when
when the director rejected her proposed plan of study.
she ventures into Polk county and attends a dance near
one of the local sawmills, she is first seen as a stranger
Disappointed, Hurston left graduate school at the end of
the semester. Hurston won acclaim as a novelist and ethwearing a very expensive ($12.95) Macy's dress. She deftly
nographer during the mid-1930s, but she also struggled finegotiates an acceptable identity for herself among the
nancially. Though she faced discrimination in the Jim
men gathered at the fire outside the dance. In the follow-
Crow South, she never acknowledged this: "Hurston was
ing days, a number tell her stories of "the Massa and John"
not deaf, dumb, and blind to the facts of American racism.

amidst lively conversation.
But she had long ago made a decision that was reflected in
A second ethnographic work, Tell My Horse (1990b),
her own autobiography. She would not allow it to define

was based on field research in Jamaica and Haiti and
or distort her life" (Boyd 2003:359). Her later years were
funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1934-35. Like
characterized by illness, isolation, and financial problems.
Mules and Men, it contains rich ethnographic descriptions
In 1960, shortly after she was confined to a nursing home,
with Hurston as a prominent force in both ongoing inter-
Hurston died in Ft. Pierce, Florida, and was buried in an
action and in particular conversations. Her ear for dia-
unmarked grave.
logue, her novelist's attention to detail and character, and
The rediscovery of both Deloria and Hurston owes as
her belief in the richness of black culture allowed her to
much to those outside of anthropology as to those within

create ethnographic descriptions that were unequaled by
the discipline. Literary scholar Julian Rice has republished
a feminism that deeply offended the conservative Sapir,
Deloria's Dakota texts with ethnographic and historical
they became more distant (Handler 1986:145-147).
commentary (Rice 1992, 1993), while anthropologist Bea
Sapir's career makes a compelling contrast to Benedict's
since the comparison points to the difficulties women had
Medicine has been the crucial voice reminding us of De-
in gaining a foothold in central institutions and building a
loria's innovations (Medicine 1988). African American
lasting legacy within the discipline. Although nearly the
feminists, particularly Alice Walker, made Hurston an
same age as Sapir, Benedict came to anthropology later in

early literary heroine of "African American memoir as fic-
life-at the end of her marriage. Boas worked for several

tion" (Walker 1975). Black feminists within anthropology
years to obtain an appointment for her at Columbia, but

have added to the depth of our knowledge of Hurston's
the dean of Graduate Studies refused the request. Only in

work, claiming her as an anthropological foremother
1931, when a new dean was appointed, was Boas able to

(McClaurin 2001; Mikell 1991).
secure an assistant professorship for Benedict (Caffrey
1989:113-114). However, six years later she was passed

CRITIQUE FROM THE INSIDE: SAPIR AND BENEDICT
over as department chair in favor of Ralph Linton because
the university administration would not allow a woman
in that position, even though Benedict had been acting
head at several points during the Boas years. She was not
elected AAA president until 1947 and then served only six
months because a new AAA constitution was taking effect
E St
and she declined to run for reelection. Finally, Benedict
was promoted to full professor only a few months before
her death in 1948.
These career difficulties may have added to Benedict's
\ /.
view of herself as marginal to U.S. society. Her early deaf-
ness, her commitment to loving women, and her discom-
fort with the way women's professional roles were con-
strained contributed to her feelings of marginality and
isolation. Benedict, of all women anthropologists in the
Edward Sapir Ruth Benedict

United States, went furthest in terms of penetrating the
"center" of the discipline: She held a tenured position in a
prestigious department, wrote and published popular and

I invoke Edward Sapir as the next iconic figure because he
theoretically important books, influenced a number of
was just as important as Kroeber in carrying on Boasian
students, and is acknowledged in current books on an-
anthropology and was very much at the center of develop-
thropological theory for her contributions.

ments in linguistics and culture and personality, two im-
Only recently has renewed interest in Benedict allowed
portant aspects of U.S. anthropology during the 1920s and
us to see the barriers within her career and the broader
1930s. He served as President of AAA in 1938, by which
scope of her anthropology. Feminists have provided many
time membership had grown from the 500 of Kroeber's day
crucial biographies of Benedict (Caffrey 1989; Modell
to 1,000. Sapir was a brilliant linguist who devoted much
1983) and have revised our notions of her contributions to
of his life to the study of Native American languages. His
theory. While most anthropologists have viewed Benedict
early monograph on Time Perspective in Aboriginal Ameri-
merely as a member of the "culture and personality
can Culture, a Study in Method (1916) was a typical Boasian
school" and have criticized her treatment of cultural patterns
text. Beginning with his critique of Kroeber's idea of the
(such those elaborated by the megalomaniac Kwakuitl) as
superorganic (1917), Sapir turned his attention to the rela-
examples of "personality writ large," Babcock takes a new
tionship between the individual and culture, the concept
approach. She sees Benedict as someone who was deeply
of personality, and the notion of "genuine culture" (Sapir

influenced by literary and philosophical traditions and
1924). These writings and his contributions to linguistics

whose work is a precursor to recent interpretative and
made him one of the most influential anthropologists of
postmodern anthropology (Babcock 1993). In a continued
his generation and earned him appointments at both the

effort to broaden our view of Benedict's contributions, I
University of Chicago (1925-31) and Yale (1931-38).
stress the critical stance that Benedict took within her
Sapir had intense relationships with both Mead and

theoretical work about culture, the individual, and race,
Benedict during the 1920s."1 Sapir and Benedict had both

and the way in which she took a public stance on some of
faced traumatic personal experiences-Sapir's first wife

the important issues of her day, this latter approach often
died and Benedict was estranged from her husband-and
they encouraged each other in writing poetry to cope with
these difficulties. Then when it became clear that Benedict
was committed to a professional life and began to exhibit
associated with Mead rather than Benedict.
The last chapter of Patterns of Culture (Bateson 1934) is
devoted to the relationship between culture and the indi-
vidual. Benedict argued that individuals shape their lives
in terms of the cultural patterns that they are given. How-
ever, not all individuals fit into the dominant patterns and
these individuals are seen as deviants. Benedict argued for
the tradition developed by Benedict and Boas, Mead had
become a powerful spokesperson for anthropology outside
of the discipline. She wrote a column for Redbook Magazine
a relativist notion of deviance and its opposite "normal-
and lectured extensively on a wide variety of contempo-
ity." Using the example of homosexuality, she suggested
that, although in Western cultures homosexuality was re-
rary issues. But, in her role as a public intellectual and ad-
vocate, Mead was regarded with some ambivalence in the
garded as a perversion, in other cultures-for example, in

profession (Lutkehaus in press). She was never appointed
ancient Greece and among the Pueblos of the South-
as a full-time tenured member of the Columbia anthropol-
west-it had a valued place. She recommended more huogy department, and her office in the corner tower of the
mane ways of dealing with homosexuality in our own culAmerican Museum of Natural History illustrated her isola-
ture. Benedict's position was one of combining theory

tion from her colleagues and the university.
with cultural critique: an analysis of deviance but also an

By 1969, when Cora DuBois was elected president,
evaluation of how our own society might change (1934:

AAA membership had doubled, encompassing a new total
262-265).
of 5,047-including 1,520 fellows with voting rights. Un-
In the late 1930s, during the Nazi rise to power in Gerder Dubois's leadership, the AAA was reorganized to ad-
many, Benedict began to follow in Boas's footsteps and
dress the dissatisfaction of the younger generation regard-
take an active role in combating racism. While on sabbatical
ing the lack of a sufficient voice in the association. The
in California just after the outbreak of the war in Europe,

AAA Constitution was amended so that Fellows and all
Benedict wrote Race: Science and Politics (1940). The book is a
members-including students-could vote for officers of
clear, well-written discussion of anthropological data that
the association and on other issues of interest. By 1969,
discredits the notion that race is biologically based. The
the AAA had entered the era of lengthy business meetings.
last half of the book includes an analysis of racism and an
That year, the last of those meetings concluded at 1:30
examination of the persistence of racial prejudice.
a.m. on Sunday after passing 17 resolutions on topics as
Benedict worked with Gene Weltfish to produce a pam-
diverse as the recruitment of women and minorities, con-
phlet called "The Races of Mankind" (1953), which was to
demning clandestine research, and asking the AAA to take
be distributed to the YMCA. Using maps and charts, it out-
steps to end the discrimination of women. These resolu-
lined most of the material from Race: Science and Politics. A
tions reflected on a wide number issues of contemporary
furor developed over the pamphlet when Representative
and growing impact of the civil rights movement, the
Andrew May of Kentucky challenged it as a piece of Com-
feminist movement, and the antiwar movement on the
munist propaganda. The resulting publicity made the book
discipline.
an enormously popular and it received widespread distri-
Michelle Rosaldo, Alfonso Ortiz, and Delmos Jones
bution (Caffrey 1989:298-299). In evaluating Benedict, it is
represent anthropologists affected by these social move-
important not only to rethink her theory but also to see
ments. Their creativity and innovations stem from their
her as fully engaged in cultural critique and in bringing
ability to take a critical stance based on their social loca-
anthropological insights to bear on important public issues.
tion and bring it to bear on their field research, theory,
and activism. In Rosaldo's case, I will emphasize her theo-
BRINGING THE MARGINS TO THE CENTER: ROSALDO,

retical insights; with Ortiz, I will stress his less-known ac-
ORTIZ, AND JONES

tivism; and in the case of Jones, I will focus on his creative
approach to the politics of fieldwork.
Rosaldo was one of the pioneering young feminist an-
thropologists who helped revive the discipline's interest in
women. Her contributions to Women, Culture and Society

Lel
(Rosaldo and Lamphere 1974), a collection I coedited with
Rosaldo, developed out of her participation in the early
1970s women's movement. For Rosaldo, theory had a
critical role in political change. As we wrote in our intro-
duction, "Along with many women today we are trying to
Michelle Rosaldo Alfonso Ortiz Delrnos Jones

understand our position and to change it. We have be-
come increasingly aware of the sexual inequalities in eco-
Twelve years passed between Benedict's presidency and

nomic, social and political institutions and are seeking
another woman being elected to the position. In 1960,

ways to fight them" (Rosaldo and Lamphere 1974:1).
Mead became the third woman president of the AAA.

Later, Rosaldo argued that new theoretical frameworks
Mead's career makes an interesting bridge to the late
were necessary because "what we know is constrained by
1960s-a time of transformation for the AAA and in acainterpretive frameworks, which of course, limit our think-
demia as a whole. By this time the association had a mem-
bership of 800 fellows and 2,000 members. Continuing in
ing; what we can know will be determined by what we
think" (Rosaldo 1980:390).
Her initial contribution to feminist theory was to pro-
vide a structuralist model of the universal asymmetry in
cultural evaluations of the sexes. She posited an opposi-
tion between the domestic and public spheres and argued
critique the neutrality of social science research. Through
his studies, Jones came to acknowledge that descriptive
studies of the hill peoples in Thailand (even those not
funded by the CIA or the Department of Defense) could be
that women's economic and political responsibilities are

unwitting tools in a counterinsurgency policy that was
constrained by childcare, while men are free to build those

aimed at keeping hill tribes loyal to their government in a
"broader associations we call society" (Rosaldo 1974:24).
She also envisioned the bases of a more egalitarian society:
system that marginalized and denigrated them. In order to
protect the Lahu families from a politically dangerous situ-
not just in the incorporation of women into the public
ation, Jones decided not to publish his research (1971).
sphere but also the corresponding incorporation of men
His classic article, "Towards a Native Anthropology"
into the domestic sphere with equal responsibilities for

(1970), contrasts his role as an "outside anthropologist" in
child rearing and domestic tasks (Rosaldo 1974).
Thailand with his role as an "insider" when conducting Den-
In the years after the publication of Women, Culture

ver, Colorado, research in the African American commu-
and Society, Rosaldo went on to make important contribunity. It set the stage for a reanalysis of field research in the
tions to the understanding of the self and emotion. But
1980s. Along with Black and Latino feminists, Jones
she also began to reconceptualize her approach to women's
viewed the role of "anthropologist" as always socially po-
roles. Although she continued to argue that the evidence
sitioned in terms of his or her class, race, gender, national-
supported the view that women have been universally
ity and sexual orientation, and the practice of anthropo-
subordinated to men throughout history and for the use-
logical knowledge as always partial and fragmentary.
fulness of the domestic-public dichotomy, she came to
Furthermore, Jones was acutely aware of how often an-
understand that this was a Western category and part of
thropologists are in a position of power in relation to their
our Victorian heritage. In her work with Jane Collier on
subjects. Yet his vision of a native anthropology opened
Politics and Gender in Simple Societies (Collier and Rosaldo
the way for establishing more collaborative relations be-
1981), Rosaldo was concerned "to stress not the activities
tween anthropologists (both insiders and outsiders) and

of women-or of men-alone" but their interdependence
communities.
(Rosaldo 1980:414). At the end of her life she was already
leading feminists to emphasize gender, the approach that
CONCLUSION
characterizes current feminist theory, and she was formu-
This address has focused on the creativity of women and
lating a sense of how to reflexively interrogate anthropo-
both male and female minority anthropologists who have

logical categories, a hallmark of postmodern approaches
come from the margins of the discipline to contribute inthat emerged much later.
Alfonso Ortiz is best known for his book The Tewa
novations and whose importance is only now beginning
to be fully recognized. The anthropologists I have profiled
World (1969), an in-depth analysis of the structure in sym-
have contributed important methodological or textual inbolic associations of Eastern Pueblo dual organization. Un-
like Rosaldo, he separated his anthropological work from
novations, theoretical insights, strategies for presenting
anthropology to the public, and new paths to activism. In

his activism, which he always insisted would be his more
many ways this work anticipated the theoretical and

lasting contribution. Ortiz's activism began in his under-
methodological trends that have been so important in regraduate days with the Southwestern Indian Regional
cent years.
Youth Council and continued during the 1970s on the Na-
tional Indian Youth Council in Albuquerque. For almost
twenty-five years, he served on the Board of the Associa-
tion of American Indian Affairs, acting as president be-
tween 1973-88. During this time, he became an eloquent
spokesperson for the American Indian Child Welfare Act
and he played a major role in the return of the sacred Blue
Lake to the Toas Pueblo. He was instrumental in the crea-
tion of the Tonto Apache Indian reservation near Payson
I have taken an integrated approach examining the re-
lationships these anthropologists had with figures tradi-
tionally seen as more central to the discipline. These rela-
tions have ranged from mentorship to ambivalent
relations of power and dependence and from collegial
friendship and intimacy to later distance. In all these con-
texts, both women and minorities were marginal to and in
the shadow of more institutionally central males. Since
Arizona. Ortiz was not someone who engaged in confron-
the 1960s mentors and patrons have become more dis-
tational politics; rather, he worked through institutions
persed as the Ph.D. programs producing women and mi-
and to use the scholarly knowledge to benefit local com-
munities (Basso 1997).
nority anthropologists have expanded. I have focused in-
stead on the impact of social movements in shaping the
Delmos Jones was one of the leading anthropologists
of the late 1960s and 1970s who began to reconceptualize
contributions of more recent women and minority schol-
ars. I have also contrasted the contributions of women
fieldwork and turn away from the notion of "pure re-
and minority anthropologists across time periods and po-
search" that motivated Boas, Mead, and succeeding gen-
sitionalities. We see, for example, a long trajectory of ac-
erations. His research among the Lahu, a hill tribe in Thai-
tivism and public commentary on critical social issues
land at the beginning of the Vietnam War, led him to
running from McGee through Ortiz (both active in organi-
zations outside the discipline), and from Parsons to

by permission from the Dakota Indian Foundation; the
Benedict and Mead (whose roles as public intellectuals
were quite different from each other). Innovation in field-
work and ethnographic writing came from both women
and minorities, but class, race, and gender had a very dif-
photo of George Hunt was used by permission from the
American Museum of Natural History Library (negative
#11854); the photo of Zora Neale Hurston was used by per-
mission from the Van Vechten Trust (Carl Van Vechten,
ferent impact on the kinds of innovations each anthrophotographer); the photo of Delmos Jones was used by
pologist forged.
permission from Mary Lou Jones; the photo of Anita McGee
In the last two decades a generation of scholars has
was used by permission from the National Museum of
worked to recuperate these and other less well-known anHealth and Medicine (Otis Historical Archives); the photo
thropologists. I hope that this Presidential Address will
of Margaret Mead was used by permission from Barnard
contribute to that effort. Finding and revaluing these indiCollege Archives; the photo of Alfonso Ortiz was used by
viduals stems from an impulse to find role models from the
permission from Elena Ortiz; the photo of Elsie Clews Par-
past but also from the notion that semioutsiders-because
sons was used by permission from the American Philo-
of their positionality-bring new insights, new theories,
sophical Society (Collection II, Series VII); the photo of
and especially new sources of critique to the discipline as a

Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo was used by permission from
whole. However, the incorporation of our historically

Dorothy Zimbalist; and the photo of Gladys Reichard was
marginal anthropologists is not yet complete. We need to

used by permission from the Museum of Northern Ari-
teach their work (and that of others like them) in our thezona.
ory classes and make their writing part of the anthropo-
logical canon as it is represented in textbooks and histoNOTES
ries of the discipline. Rather than attention to a few of the

Acknowledgments. This article is a revised and more formal version
more well-known women scholars (e.g., Mead and

of my presidential address delivered at the AAA Annual Meetings,
December 1, 2001, in Washington, D.C. I wish to acknowledge the

Benedict) or the use of one collection of essays, a much
Russell Sage Foundation that supported me as a visiting scholar
wider-ranging set of comparisons and analysis is necessary
during fall 2001 when I was writing the address. I would also like
if we are to present our students with the full history of
to thank Sabrina Neem, Peter Bret Lamphere, and Peter Evans who
provided typing and editorial support. At the University of New
anthropology.
Mexico, Megan Underwood and Gabriel Torres helped with revi-
Despite a generation of efforts we still have work to

sions. Finally, I would like to thank Susan Lees and Fran Mascia-
do. We must not fool ourselves: Although white women

Lees for helping me to clarify and sharpen the argument in this
have made great progress, we are a long way from fully in-
corporating minority men and women into anthropology.
version.
1. Nancy Parezo outlines the marginalization of women in anthro-
pology in her chapter "Anthropology: the Welcoming Science."

It will take several decades of hard work before this goal is
She reminds us that women have struggled to obtain higher de-
achieved. Minority students still have a difficult time findgrees in anthropology and tenured jobs in major institutions. Even
ing financial assistance for a graduate degree, and they are
Columbia, which later produced 20 women Ph.D.s between
1920-40, was a relatively inhospitable place for women in the early

often too isolated and underrepresented in departments to
1900s. Of 160 women enrolled in advanced social science and phi-
sustain a commitment to the discipline. We still bear the
losophy courses between 1899-1906, only two--Elsie Clews Par-
colonial heritage of our discipline, particularly among Nasons and Naomi Norsworthy-were awarded Ph.D.s. At Harvard, as
tive American populations, which makes it difficult to forge
late as the 1940s, Laura Thompson recalled that women "had to sit
in the hall while men attended classes" and Alfred Tozzer told his
collaborative relationships with communities we study.
Radcliffe students (including Eleanor Leacock) that women were
And in some departments there still is animosity towards

not welcome in anthropology (Parezo 1993:6, 18, 19).
applied anthropology and writing for the public, making

2. Other women anthropologists in this situation were Ruth Lan-
difficult the forging a new activism that combines re-
des, Ruth Bunzel, Frederica de Laguna, Dorothy Keur, and Kate
Peck Kent. Still others like Ruth Underhill, Laura Thompson, and
search, writing, and public advocacy within the academy.
Rosamund Spicer spent considerable portions of their careers as
As we begin the AAA's second century, we need to
government or applied anthropologists. Women archaeologists
nurture those on the margins and find ways in which they

like Bertha Dutton and Florence Hawley Ellis were employed in
can be fully incorporated into the ever-changing defini-
museums and in new departments in Western universities (Parezo
1993).
tion of what anthropology is. Mindful that we need to
3. The careers of the first generation of 17 African American an-
continue to recuperate a different view of our past, these
thropologists are outlined in Harrison and Harrison 1999. Other
unofficial histories offer a reading of anthropology's greatNative American scholars include William Jones (Mesquakie) who
est strengths.
received a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1906, Frances La Flesche
(Omaha) who was employed as an anthropologist by the BAE, and
Alfonso Ortiz (Tewa), Ed Dozier (Tewa), and Edmund Ladd (Zuni)
who received advanced degrees in the 1950s and 1960s. Many Na-
LOUISE LAMPHERE Department of Anthropology, University
tive American ethnographers (e.g., Ely Parker [Seneca] who worked
of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131

with Lewis Henry Morgan) have been recognized as American In-
dian Intellectuals (Liberty 1978) but have rarely been seen as true
collaborators. Attention is only now being given to the handful of

PHOTO PERMISSIONS
Hispano/Chicano/Mexican anthropologists such as Manuel Gamio
The photos used in this Presidential Address were pro-
vided by the following: The photo of Ella Deloria was used
who earned his Ph.D. under Boas in 1922 and who founded an-
thropology in Mexico.
4. My own Title VII suit at Brown University, which was settled
Barnard, Alan
2000 History and Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge: Cam-
successfully in 1977 when I was awarded tenure and promotion,
indicates how difficult it was for women to become senior profes-
sors in Ivy League universities. I was denied tenure in May 1974
bridge University Press.
Basso, Keith
1997 Eulogy for Alfonso Ortiz:January 30, 1997. Unpublished MS.
and sued Brown University in the spring of 1975. Three other
Bateson, Mary Catherine

plaintiffs joined me in this suit, after it was certified as a class ac-
1984 With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gretion. When the suit was settled in September 1977, I and two other
gory Bateson. New York: William Morrow and Co.
women were awarded tenure and promotion. Brown University
Benedict, Ruth
was under a Consent Decree from 1977 until the early 1990s, and
1934 Patterns of Culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

the proportion of women faculty went from 10 percent in 1978 to
1940 Race: Science and Politics. New York: Modern Age Books.
23 percent in 1991 (Kaufman 1991:212).
Benedict, Ruth, and Gene Weltfish
5. Feminist anthropologists and biographers have done much dur1953 The Races of Mankind. New York: Public Affairs Committee.
ing the past 20 years to rehabilitate the work of women anthroBerman, Judith
pologists, beginning with A Biographic Dictionary of Women Anthro-
1996 The Culture as It Appears to the Indian Himself: Boas, George
pologists (Gacs et al. 1988) and continuing with Hidden Scholars

Hunt, and the Methods of Ethnography. In Volksgeist as Method
(Parezo 1993) and Harrison's and Harrison's book on African

and Ethic. George W. Stocking Jr., ed. Pp. 215-256. Madison:
American anthropologists (1999). There are also book-length bio-
graphies of Benedict (Caffrey 1989; Modell 1983), Mead (Bateson
University of Wisconsin Press.
Bohannan, Paul, and Mark Glazer
1988 Ruth Fulton Benedict: 1887-1948.In High Points inAnthro-
1984; Howard 1984), and Parsons (Deacon 1997; Hare 1985).
Other anthropologists have contributed to new readings and un-
pology. Paul Bohannan and Mark Glazer, eds. Pp. 172-181. New
York: McGraw-Hill.
derstandings of the work of these three women (Babcock 1991,
Boyd, Valerie
1993; Lamphere 1989; Lutkehaus 1995).
2003 Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston. New
6. Manners and Kaplan (1968) only selected articles by women soYork: Scribner.
ciologists for inclusion in their source book, and Bohannan and
Briggs, Charles, and Richard Bauman
Glazer (1988) only included a selection from Benedict in their col-
1999 The Foundation of All Future Researches: Franz Boas, George

lection. The Erickson and Murphy books published 25 years later
Hunt, Native American Texts, and the Construction of Moder-
still treat Benedict, Mead, and Dubois only in relation to culture

nity. American Quarterly 51(3):479-528.
and personality studies but reprint one article by Marilyn Strathern
Caffrey, Margaret Mary
and one by Sherry Ortner. Other recent textbooks include sections
1989 Ruth Benedict: Stranger in This Land. Austin: University of
on feminism (Barnard 2000; Layton 1997), but women are still un-
derrepresented compared to men. This is true despite the fact that,
Texas Press.
Cannizzo, Jeanne
by the late 1990s, 41 percent of the teaching positions in Britain
1983 George Hunt and the Invention of Kwakiutl Culture. La Re-
were held by women (Spencer 2000:10) and over half the member-
ship of the AAA was female. These books on the history of theory
vue canadienne de Sociologie et d'Anthropologie 20(1):44-58.
Clifford, James
1986 Introduction: Partial Truths. In Writing Culture: The Poetics
support Catherine Lutz's (1990) findings, based on an examination
and Politics of Ethnography. James Clifford and George E. Mar-
of citation practices, that men tend to cite the works of female an-
cus, eds. Pp. 1-26. Berkeley: University of California Press.
thropologists less than women anthropologists cite women. Mi-
Collier, Jane F., and Michelle Z. Rosaldo

norities, both male and female, are largely still absent from books
1981 Politics and Gender in "Simple" Societies. In Sexual Mean-
on the history of anthropology.
ings. Sherry Ortner and Harriet Whitehead, eds. Pp. 275-329.
7. Alice Fletcher was the only woman of the 40 individuals invited
New York: Cambridge University Press.
to attend the initial organizing meeting in July 1902, and she was
Darnell, Regna
among the 15 founding female members (AAA 1903).

1998 And along Came Boas: Continuity and Revolution in Ameri-
8. I am indebted to Nancy Parezo who first introduced me to the
canist Anthropology. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
details of Anita McGee's life.
Company.
Darnell, Regna, and Frederic W. Gleach
9. The Kwakuitl are now called the Kwakwaka'wakw, but I will use
2002 Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological As-
the term Kwakuitl since that was the one that Boas used.
sociation: Presidential Portraits. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
10. Others, including Boas, Parsons, and Benedict-already men-
tioned in this article-also used their anthropological training to
Press.
Deacon, Desley
write for broader audiences. However, few of these authors pro-
1997 Elsie Clews Parsons: Inventing Modern Life. Chicago: Uni-
vided native or minority voices that characterized Deloria's and
Hurston's work.
versity of Chicago Press.
Dearing, Maring
1971 McGee, Anita Newcomb. In Notable American Women

11. Mead had a brief affair with Sapir, whom she thought was one
1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Edward T. James, Janet

of the greatest intellects of the discipline, but she was disappointed
WilsonJames, and Paul S. Boyer, eds. Pp. 464-466. Cambridge:

when he wanted her to marry him and have children rather con-
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

duct research in Samoa. She cut off the relationship by mail toward
Deloria, Ella Cara
the end of her fieldwork in Samoa and burned his letters (Caffrey
1941 Speaking of Indians. New York: Friendship Press.
1989:198-199; Darnell 1990:183-188).

1988 Waterlily. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
DeMallie, Raymond J.
1968 Afterword. In Waterlily. Ella Cara Deloria, author. Pp.
REFERENCES CITED
233-244. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
American Anthropological Association
Erickson, Paul A., with Liam D. Murphy

1903 Antecedent Conditions. American Anthropologist, n.s.
1991 A History of Anthropological Theory. Orchard Park, NY:

5(1):178-192.
Broadview Press.
Babcock, Barbara A.
Erickson, Paul A., and Liam D. Murphy, eds.
1991 Elsie Clews Parsons and the Pueblo Construction of Gender.
2001 Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory. Orchard
In Pueblo Mothers and Children. Barbara A. Babcock, ed. Pp.

Park, NY: Broadview Press.
1-27. Santa Fe: Ancient City Press.

Finn, Janet L.
1993 "Not in the Absolute Singular": Rereading Ruth Benedict. In

1995 Ella Cara Deloria and Mourning Dove: Writing for Cultures,
Hidden Scholars: Women Anthropologists and the Native SouthWriting against the Grain. In Women Writing Culture. Ruth Be-
west. NancyJ. Parezo, ed. Pp. 107-128. Albuquerque: University
har and Deborah A. Gordon, eds. Pp. 131-147. Berkeley: Univer-
of New Mexico Press.

sity of California Press.
Gacs, Ute, Aisha Khan, Jerrie McIntyre, and Ruth Weinberg, eds.
Mead, Margaret
1988 Women Anthropologists: A Biographical Dictionary. New
1961 [1928] Coming of Age in Samoa. New York: Marrow Quill Pa-
York: Greenwood Press.
perbacks.
1972 Blackberry Winter. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Handler, Richard
Medicine, Beatrice
1986 Vigorous Male and Aspiring Female: Poetry, Personality, and
Culture in Edward Sapir and Ruth Benedict. In Malinowski, Riv-
1988 Ella Cara Deloria. In Women Anthropologists: A Biographi-
cal Dictionary. Ute Gacs, Aisha Khan, Jerrie McIntyre, and Ruth
ers, Benedict and Others. George W. StockingJr., ed. Pp. 127-155.
Weinberg, eds. Pp. 45-50. New York: Greenwood Press.

Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Mikell, Gwendolyn
Hare, Peter
1991 Zora Neale Hurston. In Women Anthropologists: A Bio1985 A Woman's Quest for Science: Portrait of Anthropologist El-
graphical Dictionary. Ute Gacs, Aisha Khan, Jerrie McIntyre, and

sie Clews Parsons. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.
Ruth Weinberg, eds. Pp. 160-166. New York: Greenwood Press.

Harrison, Faye V., and Ira E. Harrison
Modell, Judith Schachter

1999 African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. Chicago: Uni-
1983 Ruth Benedict: Patterns of a Life. Philadelphia: University of

versity of Illinois Press.
Pennsylvania Press.
Hernandez, Graciela
Ortiz, Alfonso
1995 Multiple Subjectivities and Strategic Positionality: Zora
1969 The Tewa World: Space, Time Being, and Becoming in a
Neale Hurston's Experimental Ethnographies. In Women Writ-
Pueblo Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
ing Culture. Ruth Behar and Deborah A. Gordon, eds. Pp.

Parezo, NancyJ., ed.
148-166. Berkeley: University of California Press.

1993 Hidden Scholars: Women Anthropologists and the Native
Hinsley, Curtis M., Jr.

American Southwest. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
1981 Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian Institution and the

Press.
Development of American Anthropology 1846-1910. WashingParsons, Elsie Worthington Clews
ton, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

1913 The Old-Fashioned Woman: Primitive Fancies about the
Howard, Jane
Sex. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
1984 Margaret Mead: A Life. New York: Simon and Schuster.

1919 Mothers and Children at Laguna. Man 18:34-38.
Hurston, Zora Neale

1997[1914] Fear and Conventionality. Chicago: University of Chi-
1990a[1935] Mules and Men. With a foreword by Arnold Rampercago Press.
sad. New York: Harper Perennial.

Reichard, Gladys A.
1990b[1938] Tell My Horse. With a foreword by Ishmael Reed.
N.d. Another Look at the Navajo. Unpublished MS, Reichard Pa-
New York: Harper Perennial Library.
pers, Museum of Northern Arizona.
1934 Spider Woman: A Story of Navajo Weavers and Chanters. Al-
1996[1942] Dust Tracks on the Road. With a foreword by Maya
Angelou. New York: Harper Perennial.
buquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
1939 Dezba: Woman of the Desert. New York: J.J. Augustin.
Jones, Delmos
1970 Towards a Native Anthropology. Human Organization: Jour-
Rice, Julian
1992 Deer Women and Elk Men: The Lakota Narratives of Ella De-
nal of the Society for Applied Anthropology 29:251-259.
loria. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
1971 Social Responsibility and the Belief in Basic Research: An Ex-
1993 Ella Deloria's Iron Hawk. Albuquerque: University of New
ample from Thailand. Current Anthropology 12(3):335-356.
Mexico Press.
Kaplan, Carla
Rosaldo, Michelle Zimbalist

2002 Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. New York: Doubleday.
1974 Woman, Culture, and Society: A Theoretical Overview. In

Kaufman, Polly Welts, ed.
Woman, Culture, and Society. Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and

1991 The Search for Equity: Women at Brown University,
Louise Lamphere, eds. Pp. 17-42. Stanford: Stanford University
1891-1991. Hanover, RI: Brown University Press.
Press.
Kroeber, Alfred Louis
1980 The Use and Abuse of Anthropology: Reflections on Femi1917 The Superorganic. American Anthropologist 19(2):163-213.
nism and Cross-cultural Understanding. Journal of Women in

Lamphere, Louise
Culture and Society 5:389-417.

1989 Feminist Anthropology: The Legacy of Elsie Clews Parsons.
Rosaldo, Michelle Zimbalist, and Louise Lamphere

American Ethnologist 16:518-533.
1974 Woman, Culture, and Society. Stanford: Stanford University

1993 Gladys Reichard among the Navajo. In Hidden Scholars:
Press.
Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest.
Sanjek, Roger
NancyJ. Parezo, ed. Pp. 157-181. Albuquerque: University of
1978 The Position of Women in the Major Departments of An-
New Mexico Press.
thropology, 1967-76. American Anthropologist 80(4):894-904.
Layton, Robert
1982 The American Anthropological Association Resolution on
1997 An Introduction to Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge:
the Employment of Women: Genesis, Implementation, Dis-
Cambridge University Press.
avowal and Resurrection. Signs: AJournal of Women in Culture
Liberty, Margot, ed.
and Society 7:845-868.
1978 American Indian Intellectuals. St. Paul, MI: West Publishing.
Sapir, Edward
Lutkehaus, Nancy C.
1916 Time Perspective in Aboriginal American Culture: A Study in
In press Margaret Mead: Anthropology's Liminal Figure. In Read-
Method. Canadian Department of Mines, Geological Survey,
ing Mead/Reading Benedict: Feminism, Racism and the AmeriMemoir 90, Anthropological Series 13.
can Empire. DoloresJaniewski and Lois Banner, eds. Baltimore:
1917 Do We Need a "Superorganic"? American Anthropologist
John Hopkins Press.

19(3):441-447.
1995 Margaret Mead and the "Rustling-of-the-Wind-in-the-Palm1924 Culture, Genuine, and Spurious. American Journal of Sociol-
Trees School" of Ethnographic Writing. In Women Writing Culogy 29:401-429.
ture. Ruth Behar and Deborah A. Gordon, eds. Pp. 186-206.

Spencer, Jonathan
Berkeley: University of California Press.
2000 British Social Anthropology: A Retrospective. Annual Review
Lutz, Catherine
of Anthropology 29:1-24.
1990 The Erasure of Women's Writing in Sociocultural AnthropolStocking, George W.
1968 Race, Culture, and Evolution: Essays in the History of An-
ogy. American Ethnologist 17:611-627.
Manners, Robert A., and David Kaplan, eds.
1968 Theory in Anthropology, a Source Book. Chicago: Aldine
Publishing.
McClaurin, Irma
thropology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Walker, Alice
1975 Looking for Zora. Ms. March 1975.
Zumwalt, Rosemary Levy
2001 Black Feminist Anthropology. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers
University Press.
1992 Wealth and Rebellion: Elsie Clews Parsons, Anthropologist
and Folklorist. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Wiley American Anthropological Association: Info/about/policies/terms - JSP

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Wiley American Anthropological Association: Info/about/policies/terms - JSP

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Unofficial Histories: A Vision of Anthropology from the Margins

Author(s): Louise Lamphere

100th AAA ANNUAL MEETING, WASHINGTON, D.C., DECEMBER 2001

Unofficial Histories: A Vision of Anthropology

from the Margins

butions of selected women and minorities connected to

them as spouses, students, colleagues, or fieldwork assis-

tennial commemorations occasion two impulses: that of

tants. These women and minority anthropologists either

celebration and that of reevaluation and critique. Our first

struggled to gain a place at the center or remained mar-

impulse is to celebrate-to invoke the important central

ginal relative to their colleagues and mentors during their

figures in our history and reflect on the dominant theories

and insights that have shaped anthropology as a set of

Each generation of anthropologists revises history,

finding in the past precursors of present-day topics of in-

methodological practices and as a body of knowledge for

understanding humankind. To this end, the AAA, in col-

tense debate and reformulation. But there is also a peda-

laboration with the University of Nebraska Press, publish-

gogical goal in rethinking our history. Whose work gets

ed Celebrating a Century of the American Anthropological As-

taught and how it is connected to other traditions is criti-

sociation: Presidential Portraits. Regna Darnell and Fred

cal to the shaping of anthropology for the next genera-

Gleach (2002) put together a fascinating series of bio-

tion. By stressing the breadth and creativity of the contri-

butions of women and minorities, we can enrich our

graphical sketches along with the presidential photos that

line the wall of our conference room at the AAA headquar-

description of what anthropology has been and continues

ters in Arlington,VA. This volume constitutes a part of our

My choice of focus reflects our current interest in

But the aim of this article is to invoke the second im-

reshaping fieldwork, revising the way ethnography is writ-

ten, providing cultural critique, and opening pathways for

pulse-that of reevaluation and critique. As is fitting for

incorporating activism into anthropology. The figures I

an address on the eve of the AAA Centennial I will begin

have selected made contributions in each of these areas. I

with brief glimpses of several "iconic figures": AAA presi-

will look at three groups of women and minority anthro-

dents who were intellectually and institutionally at the

center of the discipline in their time. My main emphasis is

pologists: (1) elite women who entered the discipline in

the formative period between 1900-45; (2) minorities who

not, however, on these figures but, instead, on the contri-

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 106(1):126-139. COPYRIGHT ? 2004, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Lamphere * Presidential Address 127

were connected to anthropology in the same time period;

ferent institutional and intellectual milieu of anthropol-

tial number of senior women faculty, including minority

women, although perhaps not the same proportion as sen-

ior women in departments nationwide. Minority men

were beginning to achieve tenure in these departments as

ogy after 1960.

Among the representatives of the first group, I will fo-

well. It is no longer unusual for women to be directors of

cus on Elsie Clews Parsons, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret

University Museums of anthropology or chairs of anthro-

Mead: three women who arguably had the greatest impact

pology departments. The AAA itself has had eight female