Michelsen, Ralph C., 1913-1996
Name Entries
person
Michelsen, Ralph C., 1913-1996
Name Components
Surname :
Michelsen
Forename :
Ralph C.
Date :
1913-1996
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Michelsen, Ralph Copeland, 1913-1996
Name Components
Surname :
Michelsen
Forename :
Ralph Copeland
Date :
1913-1996
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
Genders
Male
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Ralph Copeland Michelsen (b.1913-d.1996) was an ethnologist whose work centered in Southern California and Baja. He began spending time with the local indigenous people of Baja California in the 1950s while he resided there for a mining job. This began a life-long connection with the area and its people.
Dr. Michelsen was a general contractor until the age of 55 when he enrolled in the University of California at Irvine. Because of his extensive avocational fieldwork in the Southwest and Mexico, he began teaching classes at Irvine while working towards his PhD, which he received in 1991.
He was widely traveled throughout the Southwest and Mexico and was fluent in Spanish. His wife and daughter characterize his field style as “very casual and non-confrontational”. He didn’t ask a series of questions; rather, he engaged in conversation and obliquely solicited information. His principle areas of fieldwork were in Desemboque among the Seri, in Santa Catarina among the Paipai, and among the Luiseno of San Diego County, California.
(Biographical note, Arizona State Museum)eng
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Languages Used
eng
Latn
spa
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Subjects
Ethnology
Indigenous peoples
Nationalities
Americans
Activities
Occupations
Contractors
Ethnologists
Legal Statuses
Places
Baja California
AssociatedPlace
Work
San Diego County
AssociatedPlace
Work