- Née:
- Elsie Worthington Clews
- Born:
- November 27, 1875, New York, New York, U.S.
- Died:
- December 19, 1941, New York City (aged 66)
- Subjects Of Study:
- Americas
- Pueblo Indians
- Zapotec
- culture
- folklore
Elsie Clews Parsons
-
Who was Elsie Clews Parsons?
Elsie Clews Parsons (1875–1941) was an American sociologist and anthropologist known for her studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States.
Parsons attended private schools and graduated from Barnard College in 1896. She studied history and sociology at Columbia University and later lectured in sociology at Barnard College. Her first book, The Family, was published in 1906. In 1915, Parsons met anthropologists Franz Boas and Pliny E. Goddard, who sparked her interest in Native American cultures. This encounter led to a 25-year career of field research, establishing her as a leading authority on the Pueblo and other tribes in North America, Mexico, and South America. Parsons was also the first woman to be elected president of the American Anthropological Association.
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What is anthropology, the field that Parsons worked in?
Anthropology is the study of humanity, from human biology and evolution to the features of society and culture that distinguish humans from other animal species. Since the mid-20th century, anthropology has grown into a collection of more specialized fields, including cultural, social, linguistic, and psychological anthropology, as well as archaeology.
Elsie Clews Parsons was an American sociologist and anthropologist known for her studies of Native American peoples. In 1915, Parsons met anthropologists Franz Boas and Pliny E. Goddard, which sparked her 25-year career in field research and writing.
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What groups did Elsie Clews Parsons study in her work?
Elsie Clews Parsons's work included studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States, as well as tribes in North America, Mexico, and South America. She also researched the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. Additionally, Parsons published works on West Indian and African American folklore, such as the Gullah-speaking people of South Carolina and black Cape Verdeans in Massachusetts.
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Why was Elsie Clews Parsons important in the study of Native American cultures?
Elsie Clews Parsons was a significant figure in the study of Native American cultures due to her extensive field research and detailed data collection. Her work led to influential syntheses of knowledge, most notably in Pueblo Indian Religion (1939), establishing her as a leading authority on the Pueblo peoples and other tribes across North America, Mexico, and South America. Parsons's interest in various cultural influences led her to investigate Native American communities in the Great Plains, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and the Caribbean, broadening the understanding of these cultures.
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What were some of Elsie Clews Parsons’ major discoveries or writings?
Elsie Clews Parsons, a prominent American anthropologist and sociologist, is best known for her extensive studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States.
Parsons's major works include:
* The Family (1906), a feminist tract and textbook that analyzes trial marriage
* Pueblo Indian Religion (1939), a synthesis of knowledge about Pueblo peoples
* Mitla: Town of the Souls (1936), a study of the Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico
* Folk-Tales of Andros Island, Bahamas (1918)
* Folk-Lore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina (1923), which deals with the Gullah-speaking people of the areaParsons also published works on West Indian and African American folklore.
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How did Elsie Clews Parsons contribute to changing views about women in science and society?
Elsie Clews Parsons, an American sociologist and anthropologist, significantly contributed to changing views about women in society through her feminist writings and sociological research. In her book, The Old Fashioned Woman (1913), published under the pseudonym "John Main," she presented a sharp analysis of traditional gender roles and the cultural codes that reinforce them. Her work challenged conventional norms and promoted social freedom, contributing to broader discussions about women's roles and rights in society. Although Parsons was the first woman to be elected president of the American Anthropological Association, she did not focus on women in science.
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Elsie Clews Parsons (born November 27, 1875, New York, New York, U.S.—died December 19, 1941, New York City) was an American sociologist and anthropologist whose studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States remain standard references.
Elsie Clews attended private schools and graduated from Barnard College (1896). She then studied history and sociology at Columbia University (M.A., 1897; Ph.D., 1899) and was appointed a Hartley House fellow at Barnard. In 1900 she married Herbert Parsons, a New York attorney and politician. From 1902 she was a lecturer in sociology at Barnard, but with her husband’s election to Congress in 1905 she resigned and accompanied him to Washington, D.C. Her first book, The Family, was published the following year; a textbook and a feminist tract founded on sociological research and analysis, it contained a lengthy discussion of trial marriage, which generated some notoriety and helped it to enjoy a large sale. To avoid further embarrassing her husband in his political career, Parsons used the pseudonym “John Main” for her next two books, Religious Chastity (1913) and The Old Fashioned Woman (1913), the latter of which is a sharp and witty analysis of the genesis of traditional sex roles and behaviour and the cultural codes that sustain them. Fear and Conventionality (1914), Social Freedom (1915), and Social Rule (1916) appeared under her own name.
On a trip to the Southwest in 1915, Parsons met the anthropologists Franz Boas and Pliny E. Goddard, who interested her in their work among Native Americans of the region. After further studies with Boas at Columbia, she embarked on a 25-year career of field research and writing that established her as perhaps the leading authority on the Pueblo and on other tribes in North America, Mexico, and South America. Aware of the need for exactness and detail, she collected a vast amount of data that led to useful and influential syntheses of knowledge, culminating in Pueblo Indian Religion, 2 vol. (1939). Her interest in all possible influences on Pueblo peoples led her to investigations among Native Americans of the Great Plains and of Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and the Caribbean. The Zapotec Indians of the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico, are the subject of her widely acclaimed work Mitla: Town of the Souls (1936). The results of her Andean researches were published in Peguche, Canton of Otavalo (1945).
Parsons also published a number of works on West Indian and African American folklore, including Folk-Tales of Andros Island, Bahamas (1918); Folk-Lore from the Cape Verde Islands (1923), gathered from black Cape Verdeans in Massachusetts; Folk-Lore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina (1923), dealing with the area’s Gullah-speaking people; and Folk-Lore of the Antilles, French and English, 3 vol. (1933–43).
From 1918 Parsons was associate editor of the Journal of American Folklore. Her only teaching post in later years was a lectureship in 1919 at the newly opened New School for Social Research, where one of her students was Ruth F. Benedict. She was the first woman to be elected president of the American Anthropological Association, but she did not live to deliver her inaugural address, which dealt with the abuse of anthropology to further racist schemes.