Hallowell, A. Irving (Alfred Irving), 1892-1974

Alfred Irving Hallowell, University of Pennsylvania anthropologist, was best known for his innovative use of the Rorschach Test in his studies of the psychological interrelations of individuals and their culture. Hallowell's field studies involved the Abenaki of Quebec; the Montagnais-Naskapi of Labrador; and especially the Ojibwa-speaking peoples of Wisconsin and the Lake Winnipeg region of Canada.

From the description of Papers, 1892-1981. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122417092

Alfred Irving ("Pete") Hallowell was an anthropologist best known for his studies of Ojibwa culture and their world-view, and the innovative use of the Rorschach Test in his studies of the psychological interrelations of individuals and their culture. He was born on 28 December 1892 in Philadelphia, the son of Edgar Lloyd and Dorothy Edsall Hallowell. After a three-year course at a manual high school, Hallowell attended the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania. Since at that time the Wharton School was home to the social sciences and had a flexible curriculum, Hallowell took several elective courses in sociology and economics. By the time he graduated in 1914, Hallowell had abandoned the idea of a business career in favor of one in the social sciences. Hallowell lacked the finances to continue with graduate studies immediately, so he became a caseworker with the Family Society and took courses in anthropology on the side. Lectures by Alexander A. Goldenweiser, an anthropologist at the Pennsylvania School of Social Work, introduced Hallowell to the use of psychoanalytic theory in social science. He also took several courses with anthropologist Frank G. Speck at the University of Pennsylvania, who inspired Hallowell's interest in working with Native American cultures.

Speck helped Hallowell obtain a Harrison Fellowship so that he could pursue full-time graduate work in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Hallowell earned an master's degree in 1920, and his thesis research involved fish nets and netting in North America. In 1924 Hallowell received a PhD in anthropology. His dissertation, "Bear Ceremonialism in the Northern Hemisphere," was published as an entire issue of American Anthropologist in 1926. This study reveals the complex system of beliefs and ceremonies about the bear that were practiced among primitive peoples living throughout the circumboreal culture area of northern Europe, Asia, and North America.

Hallowell's field studies, which began in the late 1920s, involved the Abenaki of Quebec; the Montagnais-Naskapi of Labrador; and especially the Ojibwa-speaking peoples of the Lake Winnipeg region. His studies provide a complete ethnographic record of Ojibwa culture, including aspects of kinship and social organization, economics, technology, ecological relationships, medicine, religion, and folklore. Hallowell went beyond ethnological issues to those involving the psychological dimensions of Ojibwa acculturation. Such pioneering research required the development of new methodology, and Hallowell chose to make use of the then-new Rorschach Tests. Hallowell saw the Rorschach Test as a subtle and relatively culture-free way of probing the complexities of personality. Additionally, the Rorschach Test allowed comparisons on both an individual and group basis. Hallowell published several works on both the methodological theory and field use of Rorschach Tests, including "Rorschach Protocols of 151 Berens River Adults and Children and 155 Adults From Lac du Flambeau," and "The Rorschach Technique in Personality and Culture Studies."

In later years Hallowell's research involved the history of Native American-white relationships and the history of anthropology. Before Hallowell, little had been written on the impact of Native Americans on Euro-American culture. His ground-breaking studies in this area culminated in such publications as "The Backwash of the Frontier: The Impact of the Indian on American Culture." Hallowell's later studies also included the psychological dimension of human evolution, which brought together "as an integral whole the organic, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of the evolutionary process as they relate to the underlying conditions necessary for human existence." (See Series III, "On Being an Anthropologist: Some Autobiographical Reflections," p. 13.) His publications in this area include "Personality Structure and the Evolution of Man," and "Hominid Evolution, Cultural Adaptation, and Mental Dysfunction.

Except for three years (1944-1947) at Northwestern University, Hallowell spent his entire professional career at the University of Pennsylvania. Hallowell began there in 1922 as an instructor in anthropology, progressing to the the rank of professor in 1939 and chairman of the department in 1941. Between 1947 and 1971, Hallowell was professor of anthropology in psychiatry and curator of social anthropology at the University Museum. After his retirement, he remained active as a visiting professor at the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin, Bryn Mawr College, the University of Chicago, Temple University, and Chatham College. Throughout his career, Hallowell was an active member of professional societies, serving as president of the American Anthropological Association and the American Folklore Society, chairman of the Division of Anthropology and Psychology of the National Research Council; and a board member of the American Council of Learned Societies and the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. He was editor of the American Ethnological Society Monograph series, as well as of publications of the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

Hallowell's professional service and achievements have earned the deep respect of his colleagues and students. Two publications have been printed in his honor: 1) Culture and Experience, in honor of his sixtieth birthday; and 2) Context and Meaning in Cultural Anthropology, his festschrift edited by Melford E. Spiro. In 1976 Fogelson et al. published Contributions to Anthropology: Selected Papers of A. Irving Hallowell, a collection of Hallowell's later works that serves as a complementary volume to Culture and Experience . Hallowell's numerous awards include a Guggenheim fellowship (1940-1941) for studies of personality in primitive cultures; the Viking Medal (1956) for outstanding achievement in anthropology; and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences (1961) and the American Philosophical Society (1963).

Hallowell died, after a long illness, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, on 10 October 1974. He was survived by his wife, Maude Frame Hallowell.

From the guide to the Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers, 1892-1981, (American Philosophical Society)