Garfield, Viola Edmundson, 1899-1983

Noted anthropologist and University of Washington faculty member, Viola Garfield (1899-1983) spent the majority of her professional life studying, promoting and trying to preserve the art and culture of Northwest Coast Indians.

Born Viola Edmundson in Iowa, she moved with her family to Whidbey Island, Washington in 1905. She entered the University of Washington in 1919, but, during her second year, transferred to the Bellingham Normal School. Shortly after earning a teaching certificate, she left for New Metlakatla, Alaska, where she would encounter the Tsimshian Indians. This initial immersion in Indian culture ended with the school year. She returned to Seattle and worked as a stenographer for the Chamber of Commerce, where she met Charles Darwin Garfield, whom she married on her twenty-fifth birthday. In 1927, she again began attending the University of Washington, where she majored in sociology. She also renewed her interest in the Tsimshian under the influence of Melville Jacobs. She returned to New Metlakatla to study Tsimshian marriage patterns for her Master's Degree, which she received in 1931. For the next several years, she would alternate between spending summers at Columbia University in pursuit of doctoral studies and the rest of the year teaching at the University of Washington. At Columbia, she studied under Franz Boas, officially receiving her degree in 1939, after the publication of her thesis, Tsimshian Clan and Society. Once she had the Ph. D., she joined the University of Washington as a full faculty member; she would teach until her retirement in 1970. Garfield formed a crucial part of the nucleus of a department internationally famous for its specialization in Northwest Coast Indian culture. Outside of academia, Garfield was most famous for her work on totem poles. Among many projects, she worked with the United States Forest Service (U.S.F.S.) to restore Alaskan totem poles.

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