Starr, Frederick, 1858-1933

Starr was born in Auburn, NY, Sept. 2, 1858; graduated from Lafayette College in 1882, and received his Ph. D in 1885; professor of biology, Coe College, 1883-87; Curator of Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1889-91; professor and Dean of the Science Dept., Pomona College, 1891; assoc. professor, Univ. of Chicago, 1895-1923; publications related to Mexico include: Some first steps in human progress (1895), American Indians (1898), Indians of Southern Mexico (1898), Readings from modern Mexican authors (1904), and In Indian Mexico (1908); died Aug. 14, 1933.

Anthropologist, author, editor, and educator.

Alumnus, Class of 1882.

African American anthropologist, college teacher, and author.

Anthropologist. S.B., Lafayette College, 1882; S.M. and Ph. D., 1885. Professor of biological sciences, Coe College, 1884-87. Head, Department of Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, 1889-91. Assistant professor of anthropology, University of Chicago, 1892-95; associate professor, 1895-1923. Curator of the anthropological section, Walker Museum, University of Chicago, 1895-1923.

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was an American anthropologist and ethnologist. He taught biology at Coe College and geography at Chautauqua University and worked as a classifier in the Dept. of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History. In 1891 he taught geology and anthropology at Pomona College and the following year organized the Anthropology Dept. at the University of Chicago where he taught until his retirement in 1923.

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago from 1892 until his retirement in 1923. Starr was born in Auburn, New York, the fourth son of a Presbyterian minister. He was educated at the University of Rochester and received a Ph.D. in geology from Lafayette College in 1885. He served in various academic posts including registrar and professor of geography at Chautauqua where he became acquainted with William Rainey Harper. In 1892, Harper asked Starr to help organize a program in anthropology at the new University of Chicago. Starr taught anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology under the leadership of Head Professor Albion W. Small. He was an active and popular lecturer throughout his tenure at the University, combining a heavy teaching load with extensive travel. He also served as curator of the Walker Museum from 1895 until retirement. Starr's reputation was not based on his scholarship, but on a popular and controversial lecture style which did much to create an interest in the study of culture. Fay-Cooper Cole, Starr's successor at the University, praised him in the Dictionary of American Biography for "The wide interest he personally created in the subject of anthropology, and the appreciation of other peoples which he engendered in his students." Starr retired from active teaching in 1923 His students gave him a sum of money, which he used to buy a house in Seattle. Starr remained active during the last ten years of his life, making a number of trips to the Orient and lecturing throughout the western United States. He died in Tokyo of bronchial pneumonia in August 1933.

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was an American anthropologist and ethnologist.

He taught biology at Coe College and geography at Chautauqua University and worked as a classifier in the Dept. of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History. In 1891 he taught geology and anthropology at Pomona College and the following year organized the Anthropology Dept. at the University of Chicago where he taught until his retirement in 1923.

Biography

Starr was born in Auburn, New York, September 2, 1858; graduated from Lafayette College in 1882, and received his Ph.D in 1885; professor of biology, Coe College, 1883-87; Curator of Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1889-91; professor and Dean of the Science Department, Pomona College, 1891; associate professor, University of Chicago, 1895-1923; publications related to Mexico include: Some first steps in human progress (1895), American Indians (1898), Indians of Southern Mexico (1898), Readings from modern Mexican authors (1904), and In Indian Mexico (1908); died August 14, 1933.

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) was professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago from 1892 until his retirement in 1923. Starr was born in Auburn, New York, the fourth son of a Presbyterian minister. He was educated at the University of Rochester and received a Ph.D. in geology from Lafayette College in 1885. He served in various academic posts including registrar and professor of geography at Chautauqua where he became acquainted with William Rainey Harper.

In 1892, Harper asked Starr to help organize a program in anthropology at the new University of Chicago. Starr taught anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology under the leadership of Head Professor Albion W. Small. He was an active and popular lecturer throughout his tenure at the University, combining a heavy teaching load with extensive travel. He also served as curator of the Walker Museum from 1895 until retirement.

Starr's reputation was not based on his scholarship, but on a popular and controversial lecture style which did much to create an interest in the study of culture. Fay-Cooper Cole, Starr's successor at the University, praised him in the Dictionary of American Biography for "The wide interest he personally created in the subject of anthropology, and the appreciation of other peoples which he engendered in his students." Starr retired from active teaching in 1923. His students gave him a sum of money, which he used to buy a house in Seattle. Starr remained active during the last ten years of his life, making a number of trips to the Orient and lecturing throughout the western United States. He died in Tokyo of bronchial pneumonia in August 1933.

Frederick Starr, Ph.D., was an anthropologist, college professor, writer and world traveler.

Born in Auburn, New York on September 2, 1858, Frederick Starr was the son of the Reverend Frederic and Helen Starr. He received both his Bachelor of Arts in Science and his Ph.D. degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Between 1883 and 1892, Starr taught at several colleges in the United States, and was employed for a time by the Museum of Natural History in New York City. In 1892 however, he was asked to organize the work of anthropology at the newly established University of Chicago. Thus began a thirty-one year relationship which benefited both the Department of Anthropology and Starr, who became a world-renown figure.

To further his anthropological work, Starr traveled widely. He visited various parts of the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and Africa; returning several times to the last three. His trips were often lengthy expeditions which enabled him to become totally immersed in the culture he was studying. At times his lack of communication during these sojourns resulted in his being reported "missing".

Starr wrote extensively about his travels and research. Some of his best known works are: Some Steps in Human Process (1895), American Indians (1895), Indians of Southern Mexico (1898), Philippine Studies (1909), Korean Buddhism (1918), Fujiyama, the Sacred Mountain of Japan (1924), The Truth About the Conao (1907), Congo Natives (1912) and Liberia (1913). The last three books can be found in the Library Division of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

According to biographical sources, Starr was a colorful personality who never wore an overcoat, never used the telephone, and created controversy by introducing his students to marijuana cigarettes. He generated strong emotions at both ends of the spectrum. His "frank and fearless" expression of opinion earned him enemies. To his students however, he was a revered and beloved figure. His classes were always crowded, a fact probably attributable as much to his popularity as to the lack of any competition. Preferring to be a "Lone Star", he would not hire additional faculty for the Anthropology Department.

As an indication of their esteem, former students presented Starr with a gift of money upon his retirement in1923, sufficient enough for him to purchase a house in Seattle, Washington. The location, it is said, was selected because it was geographically closer to Japan, a country which occupied his research and travel right up to the time of his death.

Frederick Starr is credited with fostering a wide interest in the subject of anthropology, and engendering in his students the appreciation of other people and cultures. In recognition of his work he received many decorations and honors during his lifetime, including: officer of the Order of Leopold; A Chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy; A Member of the Order of the Sacred Treasure of Japan.