Martha Warren Beckwith facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Martha Warren Beckwith
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| Born | January 19, 1871 |
| Died | January 18, 1959 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Folkloristics Ethnography |
| Institutions | Vassar College |
| Academic advisors | Franz Boas |
Martha Warren Beckwith (January 19, 1871 – January 28, 1959) was an American folklorist and ethnographer, appointed to the first chair in Folklore established in the U.S. She was born in Wellesley Heights, Massachusetts.
Education and academic career
Beckwith graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1893 and taught English at Elmira College, Mount Holyoke, Vassar College, and Smith College. In 1906, she obtained a Master of Arts degree in anthropology after studying under Franz Boas at Columbia University, and she received her Doctor of Philosophy in 1918. In 1920, Beckwith was appointed to the chair in Folklore at Vassar College, making her the first person to hold a chair in Folklore at any college or university in the United States. She became a full professor in 1929 and retired in 1938.
Research
Beckwith conducted research in a variety of European and Middle Eastern countries, but her most extensive research focused on Hawaii, Jamaica, and the Sioux and Mandan-Hidatsa Native American Reservations in North Dakota and South Dakota where she was inducted into the Prairie Chicken Clan of the Mandan-Hidatsa.
