Lowie, Robert Harry, 1883-1957

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Robert H. Lowie was a noted anthropologist, professor of anthropology, and specialist on the Crow Indians. He moved from Vienna to New York in 1893, and later received his doctorate from Columbia University, studying with Franz Boas. After doing curatorial and field work for the American Museum of Natural History, in 1921 he joined the anthropology faculty at U.C. Berkeley, where he taught until his retirement in 1950. Lowie published hundreds of articles, reviews, and monographs in English, German, and Crow. He died in Berkeley in 1957.

From the description of Robert Harry Lowie papers, 1872-1968. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 83822506

Ethnologist.

Lowie was a Curator in the Dept. of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, 1906-1922. He made extensive ethnographic studies of North American Indians.

From the description of Papers, 1907-1916. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155511799

Biography

Robert H. Lowie, a noted anthropologist, professor of anthropology, and specialist on the Crow Indians, was born in Vienna on June 12, 1883. Lowie, his mother, and his sister joined his father in New York City in 1893. He attended New York public schools, and earned his bachelor's degree from the College of the City of New York in 1901. Lowie taught in the New York public schools from 1901 to 1904. He studied under Franz Boas, and received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1908. His dissertation was a study of American Indian folklore, entitled The Test Theme in North American Literature.

Lowie began his career as assistant curator, and later associate curator, at the American Museum of Natural History. Under the direction of Clark Wissler, he did field work among the Chipewyan, Crow, Hidatsa, Hopi, Kiowa, and Washo, among other tribes. Alfred L. Kroeber offered Lowie a position as a visiting associate professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lowie returned on a permanent basis in 1921. He attained the rank of full professor in 1925, often alternated with Kroeber as chairman of the department, and taught at Berkeley until his retirement in 1950.

Lowie published several hundred articles and reviews, in German and in English, and many books, including Culture and Ethnology (1917); Primitive Society (1920); Primitive Religion (1924); The Origin of the State (1927); Are We Civilized? (1929); Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (1934 and 1940); The Crow Indians (1935); History of Ethnological Theory (1937); Social Organization (1948); Toward Understanding Germany (1954); Indians of the Plains; and Crow Texts (1960).

He was active in many organizations. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, secretary and later honorary life member of the New York Academy of Sciences, president of the American Folklore Society and of the American Ethnological Society, editor of the American Anthropologist and of Current Anthropological Literature, and delegate to the Third International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, held in Brussels in 1948.

Lowie was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Chicago in 1941. He received the Viking Medal in Ethnography in 1948, and the Thomas Henry Huxley Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in the same year. He was appointed as Faculty Research Lecturer at U.C. Berkeley in 1949.

After his retirement in 1950, he lectured and did field work in Europe, continued to teach a course in the history and theory of anthropology at U.C. Berkeley, and was a visiting professor at the University of Washington, Columbia, and Harvard Universities.

Robert H. Lowie died at his home in Berkeley on September 21, 1957.

From the guide to the Robert Harry Lowie Papers, 1872-1968, (The Bancroft Library.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Lowie, Robert Harry, 1883-1957. Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, 1932. University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn Portraits of University of California individuals and groups, ca. 1850-[ongoing] Bancroft Library
creatorOf Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960. A.L. Kroeber papers, 1869-1972. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Franz Boas Professional Papers, Circa 1860-1942 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Vinogradoff, Paul, Sir, 1854-1925. Papers, 1881-1925. Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Cora Alice Du Bois papers, 1869-1988 (inclusive), 1912-1985 (bulk) Tozzer Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Oddon, Yvonne, 1902-1963. Yvonne Oddon letters from Alfred and Rhoda Bubendey Métraux, 1932-1951. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society, 1882-1958 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Anthropology. Records of the Department of Anthropology, 1901-[ongoing]. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Harvey Pitkin Papers, 1884-1968 American Philosophical Society
referencedIn Papers, 1881-1925 Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn George Sarton additional papers, 1901-1956 Houghton Library
creatorOf Goodspeed, T. H. (Thomas Harper), 1887-1966. Correspondence relating to research on tobacco, 1926-1950. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Radin, Paul, 1883-1959. Papers, 1727, 1824-1825, 1827-1991, undated bulk 1835-1903. Marquette University Raynor Memorial Library, John P. Raynor Library
referencedIn Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966. Papers, 1681-1966 (bulk 1900-1960) Houghton Library
referencedIn Frank G. Speck papers, 1903-1950 American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Goldenweiser, Alexander, 1880-1940. Correspondence with Franz Boas, 1907-1927 [microform]. Iowa State University, Parks Library
creatorOf Rubke, Francis William, 1890-1955. Francis William Rubke papers, ca. 1912-1947. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Boas, Franz, 1858-1942. Papers, ca. 1860s-1942. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Warren d'Azevedo Collection, 1935-2001 Liberian Collectionshttp://www.onliberia.org
creatorOf Stern, Bernhard Joseph, 1894-1956. Papers Bernhard Joseph Stern, 1926-1943. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Elsie Clews Parsons papers, 1880-1980 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Lowie, Robert Harry, 1883-1957. Robert Harry Lowie papers, 1872-1968. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Oddon, Yvonne, 1902-1963. Yvonne Oddon letters from Alfred and Rhoda Bubendey Métraux, 1932-1951. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Photographs relating to Robert Lowie's life and work [graphic] UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews, 1875-1941. Papers, 1835-1944. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Margaret Mead Papers and the South Pacific Ethnographic Archives, 1838-1996, (bulk 1911-1978) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960. A.L. Kroeber papers, 1869-1972. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Anthropology. Correspondence files, [ca. 1895]-1980. American Museum of Natural History. Department of Anthropology
creatorOf Lowie, Robert Harry, 1883-1957. Papers, 1907-1916. Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
referencedIn Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews, 1874-1941. Papers, [ca. 1882]-1978. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Thomas Harper Goodspeed: Correspondence Relating to Research on Tobacco, 1926-1950 Bancroft Library
creatorOf Robert Harry Lowie Papers, 1872-1968 Bancroft Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Council of Learned Societies. Committee on Native American Languages. corporateBody
associatedWith American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Anthropology. corporateBody
associatedWith American Museum of Natural History. Dept. of Anthropology. corporateBody
associatedWith Boas, Franz, 1858-1942. person
correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
associatedWith d'Azevedo, Warren person
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
correspondedWith Du Bois, Cora Alice, 1903- person
correspondedWith Gannett, Lewis, 1891-1966 person
associatedWith Goldenweiser, Alexander, 1880-1940. person
associatedWith Goodspeed, T. H. (Thomas Harper), 1887-1966. person
associatedWith Kroeber, A. L. (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960. person
associatedWith Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978. person
associatedWith Oddon, Yvonne, 1902-1963. person
associatedWith Online Archive of California. corporateBody
associatedWith Parsons, Elsie Worthington Clews, 1875-1941. person
associatedWith Pitkin, Harvey person
correspondedWith Radin, Paul, 1883-1959. person
associatedWith Rubke, Francis William, 1890-1955. person
correspondedWith Sarton, George, 1884-1956 person
associatedWith Speck, Frank Gouldsmith, 1881-1950 person
associatedWith Stern, Bernhard Joseph, 1894-1956. person
associatedWith University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Anthropology corporateBody
associatedWith University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Anthropology. corporateBody
associatedWith Vinogradoff, Paul, Sir, 1854-1925. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
North America
New York (State)--New York
Great Plains
West (U.S.)
Subject
Anthropological linguistics
Arikara Indians
Art, Primitive
Assiniboine dialect
Assininboin Indians
Chipewyan Indians
Chipewyan language
Cocopa language
Comanche Indians
Crow Indians
Crow language
Dakota language
Ethnological museums and collections
Ethnology
Hidatsa Indians
Hidatsa language
Hopi Indians
Hopi language
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Kiowa Indians
Kiowa language
Mandan Indians
Northern Paiute language
Paiute Indians
Santee Indians
Shoshonean Indians
Siouan languages
Ute Indians
Wahpetan dialect
Washoe Indians
Washoe language
Occupation
Ethnologists
Museum curators
Activity

Person

Birth 1883-06-12

Death 1957-09-21

Americans

Siouan languages,

Central American Indian languages,

German,

Dakota,

North American Indian languages,

Chipewyan; Dene Suline,

Washo,

English

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