John R. Swanton
John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory. He is particularly noted for his work with indigenous peoples of the Southeast and Pacific Northwest.
John R. Swanton
February 19, 1873
May 2, 1958 (aged 85)
Alice M. Barnard
Harvard University (AB, AM, PhD)
Early life and education[edit]
Born in Gardiner, Maine, after the death of his father, Walter Scott Swanton, he was raised by his mother, née Mary Olivia Worcester,[1] his grandmother, and his great aunt. From his mother, in particular, he was imbued with a gentle disposition, a concern for human justice, and a lifelong interest in the works of Emanuel Swedenborg.[2] He was inspired to pursue history, and, more specifically, anthropology by his reading of William H. Prescott, The Conquest of Mexico.[2] Swanton attended local schools and then entered Harvard University, earning an AB in 1896, an AM in 1897, and a PhD in 1900.[3] His mentor at Harvard was Frederic Ward Putnam, who sent him to study linguistics with Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1898 and 1899, as he worked on his PhD dissertation, The Morphology of the Chinook Verb.[4][5]
Career[edit]
Within months of receiving his doctorate from Harvard, Swanton began working for the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, at which he continued for the duration of his career, spanning more than 40 years.[2] Swanton first did fieldwork in the Northwest.[4] In his early career, he worked mostly with the Tlingit and Haida. He produced two extensive compilations of Haida stories and myths, and transcribed many of them into Haida.[3] These transcriptions have served as the basis for Robert Bringhurst's translation of the poetry of Haida mythtellers Skaay and Ghandl.[6] Swanton spent roughly a year with the Haida.[3]
Another major study area was of the Muskogean-speaking peoples in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.[3] Swanton published extensively on the Creek people, Chickasaw, and Choctaw.[7] He also documented analyses about many other less well-known groups, such as the Biloxi, Ofo, and Tunica, the last of which supplemented earlier work by Albert Samuel Gatschet.[4] He worked with Natchez speaker Watt Sam and argued in favor of including the Natchez language with the Muskogean language group.
Swanton wrote works including partial dictionaries, studies of linguistic relationships, collections of native stories, and studies of social organization.[7] He worked with Earnest Gouge, a Creek who recorded a large number of traditional stories at Swanton's request. These materials were never published by Swanton.[8] They have recently been published online as Creek Folktales by Earnest Gouge, in a project by The College of William and Mary which includes some of the recordings by Gouge.[9]
Swanton also worked with the Caddo,[10] and published briefly on the quipu system of the Inca.[11]
Professional affiliations[edit]
Swanton was one of the founding members of the Swedenborg Scientific Association in 1898. He was president of the American Anthropological Association in 1932. He also served as editor of the American Anthropological Association's flagship journal, American Anthropologist, in 1911 and from 1921 to 1923.[3]
Swanton was also a member of the American Folklore Society, serving as its President in 1909.[12]
Personal life[edit]
Swanton married Alice M. Barnard on Dec. 16, 1903, with whom he had three children: Mary Alice Swanton, John Reed Swanton, Jr., and Henry Allen Swanton.[1] He died in Newton, Massachusetts, on May 2, 1958, at the age of 85.[2]
With James Owen Dorsey: