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"Margaret Mead 1901-1978"
American Anthropologist
Margaret Mead was born in Philadelphia in 1901 into a Quaker family. Her father was an economics professor, and her mother, was a sociologist.
Margaret studied what was then a new science, anthropology, at Barnard University. She received her undergraduate degree from Barnard in 1923. Afterwards, she acquired a PhD from Columbia University.
At the age of 23, Dr. Mead undertook a field study in Samoa in the South Pacific, against Boaz's advice. The experience resulted in the writing of her renowned book, "Coming Of Age In Samoa", which to this day remains a best seller. As a result of her Samoan studies she came to believe that adolescence need not be a time of upheaval, and that our society creates problems when we deny sexuality and try to hide it. She studied many southern Pacific native cultures and is largely responsible for the contents of the American Museum of Natural History's Pacific Peoples exhibit.
Mead took a woman's perspective into the field of anthropology. She was the first person to study child rearing practices and their effects on societies. Her theory of imprinting, a method through which she believed children learn, continues to be researched and studied today. She believed that the study of children was essential to understanding ourselves and to improving our futures.
She combined psychological sciences with anthropological field studies for the first time. She believed it was important to create a link between anthropology and other fields of science. She had a great deal to do with making this information available to the general public through her writings, lectures, radio interviews and television appearances, including a number of appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. She was the first to use photography in anthropological field work.
Mead was an energetic spokesperson regarding human rights and social issues including women's rights, child development and education. She often testified before Congress and other government agencies regarding issues she believed to be important.
Her interests and writings spread across a vast range of topics, from spirituality to overpopulation. She worked in the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1926 through the end of her life, initially as assistant curator, then as associate curator and finally as curator. She was a professor of anthropology at Columbia. Her 44 books and thousands of articles have been well cataloged and documented so that we may continue to learn from her.
Margaret Mead died in 1978. She is a member of the National Women's Hall of Fame and received numerous other honors during her life time. She was depicted in the "Celebrate The Century" stamp set released by the Post Office in the 1920s. Since her death some of her conclusions have been called into question, but there is no doubt about her contributions to the science of anthropology and human understanding.
Quotes Attributed To Margaret Mead
"Women want mediocre men, and men are working to be as mediocre as possible."
"I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples -- faraway peoples -- so that Americans might better understand themselves."
"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
"We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet."
Source:
National Women's Hall of Fame
http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=109
Source:
Columbia Encyclopedia: 6th Ed. 2001
http://www.bartleby.com/65/me/Mead-Mar.html
Contributed by: Crimson (GSR)
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