Alfred Louis Kroeber

Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876–October 5, 1960) was one of the most influential figures in American anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century. From Polish Wikipedia File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Kroeber was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He received his doctorate under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901, basing his dissertation on his field work among the Arapaho. He spent most of his career in California, primarily at the University of California, Berkeley. The anthropology department's headquarters building at the University of California is known as Kroeber Hall. Image of Hoboken taken by NASA (red line shows where Hoboken is). ... Franz Boas Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 22, 1942) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology and is often called the Father of American Anthropology. Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did post-doctoral work in geography. ... Columbia University is a private university in New York City. ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Scabby Bull, Arapaho 1806 Arapaho camp, ca. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, University of California, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a public coeducational university situated in Berkeley, California, USA to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate. ...

Although he is known primarily as a cultural anthropologist, he did significant work in archaeology, and he contributed to anthropology by making connections between archaeology and culture. He conducted excavations in New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru. Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... Importance and applicability Archaeology is the study of human nature and attempts to illuminate the question of what it means to be human. ... State nickname: Land of Enchantment Other U.S. States Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Governor Bill Richardson Official languages English and Spanish Area 315,194 km² (5th)  - Land 314,590 km²  - Water 607 km² (0. ...

Kroeber and his students did important work collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native Americans. The work done in preserving California tribes appeared in Handbook of Indians of California (1925). These efforts to preserve remaining data on these tribes has been termed "Salvage Ethnography." He is credited with developing the concepts of Culture Area and Culture Configuration (Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America, 1939). A Sioux in traditional dress including war bonnet, circa 1908. ...

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

Kroeber and Roland Dixon were very influential in the genetic classification of Native American languages in North America, being responsible for groupings such as Penutian and Hokan. Native American languages are the indigenous languages of the Americas, spoken by Native Americans from the southern tip of South America to Alaska and Greenland. ... The Penutian is a phylum (or stock) of language families that include many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California. ... The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California and Mexico. ...

He is noted for working with Ishi, who was claimed (though not uncontroversially) to be the last California Yahi Indian. His second wife, Theodora Kroeber, wrote a well-known biography of Ishi, Ishi in Two Worlds. Ishi (1860? – March 25, 1916) was the name given to the last member of the Yahi tribe of California, and means man in the Yahi language. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... The Yahi were a group of Native Americans who lived in Northern California in the Northern Sierra Nevada, on the western side of the range. ... Theodora Kracaw Kroeber (1897-1979) was a writer and anthropologist best known for her interpretations of the oral traditions of several native Californian cultures. ...

His textbook, Anthropology (1923, 1948), was widely used for years.

Kroeber was father of the academic Karl Kroeber and the fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin by his second wife, Theodora. He also adopted the two children of Theodora's first marriage, Ted and historian Clifton Kroeber. Clifton and Karl recently (2003) edited a book together on the Ishi case, Ishi in Three Centuries. This is the first scholarly book on Ishi to contain essays by Indians. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Ursula K. Le Guin at an informal bookstore Q&A session, July 2004 Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (born October 21, 1929), is an American author. ...

External links

• Sex in Natural History (talk at UC Berkeley, 1956)(online audio recording)