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Melville Jacobs
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Melville Jacobs
Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist and folklorist known for his work preserving indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest United States. Jacobs was a doctoral student of Franz Boas, a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist who did fieldwork with the Chinookan Peoples. After his time in the field, Jacobs became member of the faculty of the University of Washington in 1928 and remained there until his death in 1971. During the McCarthy Era, Jacobs was targeted for his progressive political activism and his association with the Communist Party USA.
Jacobs graduated with his bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1922. He went on to receive a master's degree in American history from Columbia University in 1923 and his doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University in 1931. After studying under anthropologist Franz Boas at Columbia, Jacobs went on to do linguistic and anthropologic fieldwork with tribes in the state of Oregon. His fieldwork was funded six months at a time by Boas between the years of 1928 and 1936.
During his years of study, Jacobs met Elizabeth Derr and would go on to marry her on the 3rd of January 1931. He mentored her in the field of anthropology and she went on to do her own work with the Tillamook people after accompanying Melville on his research trips in 1933.
Jacobs was a fellow of the American Anthropological Association and an associate editor of the American Anthropologist under Ralph Linton from 1939-1944. He was president of the American Folklore Society from 1963-1964 and served as their delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies from 1966-1968.
Jacobs died of cancer a year short of retirement, several weeks after his 69th birthday on the 31st of July, 1971 in Seattle, Washington.
During the earlier part of his career and with funding from Franz Boas, Jacobs collected large amounts of linguistic data and text from a wide range of languages of native peoples in Oregon including Sahaptin, Molale, Kalapuya, Clackamas, Hanis, Miluk, Tillamook, Alsea, Upper Umpqua, Galice and Chinook Jargon. One method of collection was by working with indigenous story tellers such as Victoria Howard, born on the Grand Ronde reservation, and audio recording and transcribing their songs and stories.
Jacobs met with a number of last speakers of indigenous languages and worked extensively to preserve as much of these dying languages as possible for future study. Jacobs recorded audio on wax cylinders, in the earlier years, and on acetate records using a custom-built portable phonograph recorder which he took into the field. After completing his fieldwork in 1939, the latter part of Jacobs' career was spent transcribing and translating his recordings and research notes.
Following in the footsteps of Franz Boas, Jacobs was a strong opponent of scientific racism. Up until 1948, he and a number of his fellow anthropologists at the University of Washington gave lectures around the Pacific North West opposing racism and racial science, which was at the time still considered part of the field of anthropology. These activities in particular are what drew the FBI's attention to Jacobs in the early years of the Cold War.
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Melville Jacobs
Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist and folklorist known for his work preserving indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest United States. Jacobs was a doctoral student of Franz Boas, a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist who did fieldwork with the Chinookan Peoples. After his time in the field, Jacobs became member of the faculty of the University of Washington in 1928 and remained there until his death in 1971. During the McCarthy Era, Jacobs was targeted for his progressive political activism and his association with the Communist Party USA.
Jacobs graduated with his bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1922. He went on to receive a master's degree in American history from Columbia University in 1923 and his doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University in 1931. After studying under anthropologist Franz Boas at Columbia, Jacobs went on to do linguistic and anthropologic fieldwork with tribes in the state of Oregon. His fieldwork was funded six months at a time by Boas between the years of 1928 and 1936.
During his years of study, Jacobs met Elizabeth Derr and would go on to marry her on the 3rd of January 1931. He mentored her in the field of anthropology and she went on to do her own work with the Tillamook people after accompanying Melville on his research trips in 1933.
Jacobs was a fellow of the American Anthropological Association and an associate editor of the American Anthropologist under Ralph Linton from 1939-1944. He was president of the American Folklore Society from 1963-1964 and served as their delegate to the American Council of Learned Societies from 1966-1968.
Jacobs died of cancer a year short of retirement, several weeks after his 69th birthday on the 31st of July, 1971 in Seattle, Washington.
During the earlier part of his career and with funding from Franz Boas, Jacobs collected large amounts of linguistic data and text from a wide range of languages of native peoples in Oregon including Sahaptin, Molale, Kalapuya, Clackamas, Hanis, Miluk, Tillamook, Alsea, Upper Umpqua, Galice and Chinook Jargon. One method of collection was by working with indigenous story tellers such as Victoria Howard, born on the Grand Ronde reservation, and audio recording and transcribing their songs and stories.
Jacobs met with a number of last speakers of indigenous languages and worked extensively to preserve as much of these dying languages as possible for future study. Jacobs recorded audio on wax cylinders, in the earlier years, and on acetate records using a custom-built portable phonograph recorder which he took into the field. After completing his fieldwork in 1939, the latter part of Jacobs' career was spent transcribing and translating his recordings and research notes.
Following in the footsteps of Franz Boas, Jacobs was a strong opponent of scientific racism. Up until 1948, he and a number of his fellow anthropologists at the University of Washington gave lectures around the Pacific North West opposing racism and racial science, which was at the time still considered part of the field of anthropology. These activities in particular are what drew the FBI's attention to Jacobs in the early years of the Cold War.