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Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration

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Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration
AuthorTheodora Kroeber
LanguageEnglish
GenreBiography
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Publication date
1970
Pages292
ISBN9780520015982

Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration is a 1970 biography of the anthropologist Alfred Louis Kroeber, written by Theodora Kroeber. The book covers his entire life, including his childhood in New York City, his education at Columbia University and his work in anthropology under Franz Boas, his eventual employment at the University of California, Berkeley, the death of his first wife and his second marriage in 1926 to Theodora, his various field trips, and his life in retirement. Theodora Kroeber's writing was universally praised by reviewers: anthropologist George W. Stocking Jr. wrote that her "gift for [evocative] and moving descriptive writing" was frequently evident.[1] Some reviews also discussed the biography's illumination of Kroeber's scholarly development and called it a work of value to anthropologists, while others found it wanting as an "intellectual biography".[1]

Background and writing

Theodora Kroeber decided to study anthropology in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1923, shortly after the death of her first husband, Clifford Spencer Brown.[2] There she met Alfred Louis Kroeber, a leading American anthropologist of his generation and the head of the anthropology department.[2] She had previously taken classes with Alfred's assistant Thomas Waterman, but had not encountered Alfred.[2] Theodora and Alfred married on March 26, 1926.[2] Alfred, 21 years older than Theodora, had also been previously married: his wife had died of tuberculosis in 1913. Alfred adopted Theodora's two sons, and the couple had two more children together, Karl and Ursula.[2][3] They remained married until Alfred's death in 1960:[2] the marriage was described in Theodora's obituary as a successful one.[3] Theodora began a biography of Alfred after his death, but struggled to complete it until her marriage in 1969 to artist John Quinn. Quinn encouraged her to complete the book, which was published in 1970,[4] by the University of California Press.[5]

Summary

Alfred Kroeber and Ishi, pictured in 1911.

The book begins by narrating Alfred Kroeber's childhood in New York, where his family moved soon after he was born in Hoboken, New Jersey.[6] He enrolled at Columbia University in 1892, when he was 16 years old.[6] His education there focused on English literature, in which he received Bachelor's and Master's degrees, before he was introduced to anthropology and began studying it under Franz Boas.[5] He studied dialects among the Eskimo, and worked in Wyoming on "decorative symbolism of the Arapaho" during his PhD. He was briefly employed by the California Academy of Sciences as a curator, before he was fired: according to the academy, Kroeber's position, which involved paid field work, was too expensive to maintain.[5] After a brief return to New York, Kroeber was employed by the University of California Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley, California, and tasked with putting its collections in order.[5] In the early 1900s Kroeber spent extensive periods doing field work, and oversaw the Museum, which opened to the public in 1911.[7] Kroeber endured personal tragedy, with the deaths from tuberculosis of Henriette Rothschild, his wife of five years, in 1913, and his friend Ishi in 1916. Kroeber himself suffered from Ménière's disease, though he experienced its symptoms for many years before it was diagnosed.[5]

Approximately half the book discusses Kroeber's life after his marriage to Theodora. In this period Alfred undertook a variety of ethnographic work, including field work in Mexico and Peru.[5] He was offered the professorship at Columbia that had been held by his mentor Boas, which he turned down. He participated in the Army Specialized Training Program during World War II, which is described as a "highly rewarding challenge".[5] Kroeber experienced a heart attack during the last years of the war, and retired soon after.[8] In retirement he taught as a guest lecturer at various universities, including Harvard, Brandeis, Yale, and the University of Chicago.[9] He participated as a witness in the Indians of California v. United States legal case.[10] The biography ends with Kroeber's death in Paris, after a trip to Vienna.[11] It touches at various points on his relationship to his children,[5] and discusses his deep love of music.[12] A brief section covers Theodora's own autobiography.[5]

Reception

Theodora's "unique qualifications" to write Alfred's biography were mentioned in reviews in Science,[13] and the American Anthropologist.[14] Scholar Timothy Thoresen commented that the book's strength was its "warm portrait of a distinguished anthropologist", but its limitations were related, and the consequence of the author's closeness to Kroeber.[15] Thoresen wrote that the book glossed "too quickly" over some aspects of Kroeber's life, especially in the period before their marriage, during which he dabbled in psychoanalysis.[15] Multiple reviewers commented that the biography shed light on the warmth of Kroeber's familiar relationships and his long and happy marriage to Theodora.[13][14] Scholar Regna Darnell wrote that biographies written by women of their husbands were "often embarrassing", but that this one was a "welcome and refreshing exception" that achieved Kroeber's stated goal of being "personal but not intimate".[16]

Multiple reviewers noted that Theodora's stated intention was to "[leave] the measure of the anthropologist" to others.[14][16][17] Anthropologist George W. Stocking Jr., writing in the American Historical Review argued that the book's value was in the rich anecdotal portrait offered of Kroeber, and that portions of it illuminated the biography of an anthropologist who dominated his profession for a period: but that it had deficiencies as an "intellectual biography",[1] a view shared by Thoresen.[15] David G. Mandelbaum, a cultural anthropologist and former colleague of Alfred,[18] stated that this biography was just as important a work from an anthropologist's perspective as Ishi in Two Worlds.[4] A review in Science similarly wrote that the biography provided a "meaningful addition to the history of anthropology" to readers unfamiliar with Kroeber's work.[13] The reviewer praised Kroeber's decision to leave out "amusing or bizarre trivia" that may have enhanced the book's appeal to general readers, and said it provided a useful account of Kroeber's intellectual development.[13]

Kroeber's writing was universally praised. Stocking commented that Theodora Kroeber's "gift for [evocative] and moving descriptive writing" was frequently evident.[1] Thoresen called the book "well-written":[15] the American Anthropologist also praised Kroeber's writing, calling it "vivid and readable".[14] Scholar Grace Buzaljko called it a "sensitive biography with her inimitable phraseology and setting of mood".[2] A review in the Pacific Historical Review praised the book, noting that it was "distilled rather than encyclopedic" and praising its writing as "intriguing and evocative of a remarkable human being".[5] A review in the California Historical Quarterly was wholly positive, writing that the book could be "enthusiastically recommended" to both anthropologists and general readers, and particularly praising Kroeber's "charming accounts" of the couple's married life and field trips together.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Stocking Jr., George (1972). "Theodora Kroeber: Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1970. Pp. xi, 292. $7.95". The American Historical Review. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1086/ahr/77.1.222. ISSN 1937-5239.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Buzaljko, Grace Wilson (1989). "Theodora Kracaw Kroeber". In Ute Gacs; Aisha Khan; Jerrie McIntyre; Ruth Weinberg (eds.). Women Anthropologists: Selected Biographies (Reprint ed.). University of Illinois Press. pp. 188–190. ISBN 0-252-06084-9.
  3. ^ a b Elsasser, Albert B. (March 1980). "Obituary – Theodora Kroeber-Quinn 1897 – 1979". The American Anthropologist. 82 (1): 114–115. doi:10.1525/aa.1980.82.1.02a00090. JSTOR 676133.
  4. ^ a b Mandelbaum, David (1979). "Memorial to Theodora Kroeber Quinn (1897–1979)" (PDF). Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 1 (2): 237–239. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Caughey, John W. (1971). "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. By Theodora Kroeber. (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1970. xi + 292 pp. $7.95)". Pacific Historical Review. 40 (3). University of California Press: 405–406. ISSN 0030-8684. JSTOR 3638383. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Kroeber 1970, pp. 5–33.
  7. ^ Kroeber 1970, pp. 60–73.
  8. ^ Kroeber 1970, pp. 185–195.
  9. ^ Kroeber 1970, pp. 211–213.
  10. ^ Kroeber 1970, p. 221.
  11. ^ Kroeber 1970, pp. 280–287.
  12. ^ Alarcón-Jiménez, Ana-María; Jiménez Pasalodos, Raquel; Díaz-Andreu, Margarita (September 30, 2021). "A glimpse behind closed doors. Alfred L. Kroeber and the representation of native Californian music". History and Anthropology. Informa UK Limited: 1–19. doi:10.1080/02757206.2021.1983561. ISSN 0275-7206.
  13. ^ a b c d Driver, Harold E. (December 25, 1970). "Life of an Anthropologist: Alfred Kroeber. A Personal Configuration. Theodora Kroeber. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1970. xii, 292 pp., illus. $7.95". Science. 170 (3965). American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): 1391–1391. doi:10.1126/science.170.3965.1391.a. ISSN 0036-8075.
  14. ^ a b c d Steward, Julian H. (1971). "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. THEODORA KROEBER. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. xi + 292 pp., illustrations, bibliography. $7.95 (cloth)". American Anthropologist. 73 (4). American Anthropological Association: 819–822. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 671284. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d Thoresen, Timothy H. H. (1971). "Theodora Kroeber. Alfred Kroeber: A personal configuration. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1970, xi & 292 pp. $7.95". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 7 (4). Wiley: 384–385. doi:10.1002/1520-6696(197110)7:4<384::aid-jhbs2300070416>3.0.co;2-q. ISSN 0022-5061.
  16. ^ a b Darnell, Regna (1972). "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. Theodora Kroeber". Isis. 63 (1). University of Chicago Press: 130–131. doi:10.1086/350879. ISSN 0021-1753.
  17. ^ a b Olmsted, D. L. (1972). "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. By Theodora Kroeber. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. xi + 292 pp. Photos. $7.95.)". California Historical Quarterly. 51 (4). University of California Press: 360–361. ISSN 0097-6059. JSTOR 25157405. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  18. ^ "David G. Mandelbaum". The New York Times. New York City. April 23, 1987. p. D31. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.

Primary source

  • Kroeber, Theodora (1970). Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration. University of California Press.
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