Alfred L. Kroeber

Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 – October 5, 1960) was an influential figure in the development of modern American anthropology.

Life

Alfred Louis Kroeber was born on June 11, 1876 in Hoboken, New Jersey, as a second-generation German immigrant. His father came to America when he was ten years old, and settled down in New Jersey. Kroeber however grew up in New York City, where his mother was born. Kroeber's family cherished their German roots, speaking German at home, and raised their children with strong sense for their cultural inheritance.

Kroeber entered Columbia University when he was 16 years old, and eventually received his B.A in 1896, and M.A. in 1897, both in English literature. After meeting with Franz Boas, professor of anthropology at Columbia, Kroeber decided to enroll in the graduate program in anthropology and psychology. He earned his Ph.D. in 1901, after spending two years fieldwork studying Arapaho Indians and writing his dissertation on their symbolism..

After his graduation in 1901, Kroeber moved to California, where he was appointed curator of anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He started teaching and became the first member of the new Department of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. Kroeber spent most of his career at the university, developing the anthropological department and enriching the university museum's collection of artifacts.

Kroeber married Henriette Rothschild in 1906, but the marriage ended tragically in 1913, when Henrietta died from tuberculosis. Kroeber himself developed an inner ear ailment, which left permanent deafness in his left ear. During this time, Kroeber had become the caretaker of "Ishi," who claimed to be the last surviving member of the Yahi Indian tribe. Kroeber worked with Ishi, studying his lifestyle, until Ishi also died of tuberculosis in 1916. Affected by these tragedies, in 1918, Kroeber decided to leave anthropology and became involved with psychoanalysis. This sudden change in his career was brief, however, and Kroeber returned to anthropology in 1922.

In 1926, he was remarried, to Theodora Krakow Brown. They had two children, Karl Kroeber, who became professor of Humanities at Columbia University, and author of numerous books on the Romantic poets, Ursula K. Le Guin, the science fiction writer. He also adopted the two children of Theodora's first marriage, Ted and Clifton.

Kroeber retired in 1946, but continued to lecture, research, and publish until 1960, when he died from heart failure in Paris, France. The anthropology department building at the University of California is known as Kroeber Hall in his honor.

Kroeber never wrote about Ishi himself, but Theodora published his story one year after her husband's death (Kroeber, T. 1961). Krober's son, Karl, and stepson, Clifton, also edited a book on the Ishi case, Ishi in Three Centuries (Kroeber & Kroeber 2003).

Work

As an anthropologist, Kroeber was more than a well-known name. He was the first student of Franz Boas and the main proponent of his theories. Also, Kroeber was the second American to earn a Ph.D. in anthropology. Like Boas, Kroeber believed in "cultural relativism," the theory that one’s cultural beliefs or behaviors can be understood only from within one’s own culture. Cultural relativism was thus in direct opposition with the theory of cultural evolution, namely that cultures evolved from primitive to more developed. Kroeber spent many years studying different Native Indian tribes, especially in California and the American West.

Kroeber is credited with developing the concepts of culture areas and "cultural elements" (Kroeber 1939/2000). A cultural area is a geographical area with relativelly homogenous human activity (culture), while a cultural element is an essential part that constitutes a culture.

Although being known primarily as a cultural anthropologist, Kroeber also did significant work in archaeology, and contributed to anthropology by making connections between archaeology and culture. He conducted excavations in New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru. Kroeber also worked together with Roland B. Dixon on the classification of Native American languages, being responsible for groupings such as Penutian and Hokan languages.

Kroeber and his students did important work collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native American Indians. Kroeber was not only interested in the material aspects of their culture—their pottery, weapons, dwellings, etc.—he also studied their symbols, social roles, and moral beliefs. He became particularly interested in the phenomenon of the Native American berdache – a biological male who assumes a female role. Kroeber's work on preserving knowledge of California tribes appeared in his Handbook of Indians of California (1925).

These efforts to preserve remaining data on these tribes has been termed "salvage ethnography," a concept Kroeber developed with Robert Lowie. The example of this attempt to save Native Indian cultures is Kroeber's work with Ishi, an American Indian who claimed (though not uncontroversially) to be the last California Yahi Indian. Kroeber studied Ishi for several years—his toolmaking, language and customs, in the attempt to salvage what remained of the Yahi tribe. After Ishi died, Kroeber had a cast made of Ishi's face, and removed his brain and sent it to the Smithonian Institute.

Alfred L. Kroeber with Ishi in 1911.

Legacy

Kroeber was a very productive writer. During his career he published over 500 books and articles. His book, Anthropology (1923), was widely used for years as a standard university textbook.

Kroeber is perhaps best-known for his work on preserving knowledge of Native American cultures, especially the Yahi tribe through his work with Ishi.

Beside cultural anthropology, Kroeber was well known in archeological circles. He helped establish archaeology as an essential component when investigating culture.

His influence was so strong that many contemporaries adopted his style of beard and mustache as well as his views as a social scientist.

Bibliography

• Kroeber, Alfred. (1944). Configurations of Culture Growth. University of California Press. ISBN 0520006690
• Kroeber, Alfred. (1963). Anthropology. Harvest/HBJ Book (original work published 1923). ISBN 0156078058
• Kroeber, Alfred. (1973). Style and Civilizations. Greenwood Press. (original work published 1957). ISBN 0837169666
• Kroeber, Alfred. (1976). Handbook of the Indians of California. Dover Publications. (original work published 1925). ISBN 0486233685
• Kroeber, Alfred. (1987). The Nature of Culture. Univ of Chicago Press. (original work published 1952). ISBN 0226454258
• Kroeber, Alfred. (2000). Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America. Periodicals Service Co. (original work published 1939). ISBN 0527013943
• Kroeber, Karl and Clifton Kroeber (eds). (2003). Ishi in Three Centuries. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803227574
• Kroeber, Theodora. (1961). Ishi in Two Worlds. University of California Press. ISBN 0520006747

External links

• Sex in Natural History (A. Kroeber talks at UC Berkeley, 1956). (Online audio recording)
• Alfred Kroeber biography
• Theodora Kroeber biography

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