Alice Dewey facts for kids

Alice Greeley Dewey (born December 4, 1928 – died June 11, 2017) was an American anthropologist. This means she was a scientist who studied people and their cultures. She spent many years studying the Javanese society, who live on the island of Java in Indonesia. From 1962 until 2005, she was a professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. One of her most famous students was Ann Dunham, who was the mother of former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Alice Dewey's Life and Studies

Early Life and Education

Alice Dewey was born in 1928. Her parents were Sabino L. Dewey and Edith Elizabeth Greeley. Her father was born in Italy and was adopted by the famous philosopher John Dewey and his wife Alice.

Alice grew up in Huntington, New York. When she was in high school, she worked at a science lab. Today, this lab is known as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

She later went to Radcliffe College, which is part of Harvard University. There, she became very interested in cultural anthropology. This field studies how different groups of people live, think, and behave. She earned her first degree (Bachelor of Arts) in 1950. She continued her studies and received her master's degree (Master of Arts) in 1955. Finally, she earned her highest degree (Doctor of Philosophy, or Ph.D.) in 1959.

Research in Java

From 1952 to 1954, Alice Dewey traveled to east central Java, Indonesia. She was part of a big research project called the Modjokuto Project. Other students from Harvard University were also part of this team.

The team studied different parts of daily life in a town called Pare. In their books, they used the made-up name "Modjokuto" for this town. Alice Dewey focused her research on rural markets. She wanted to understand how people bought and sold goods in villages. Her research paper was later published as a book in 1962. It was called Peasant Marketing in Java.

Teaching and Mentoring

In 1962, Alice Dewey started teaching at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She helped many students with their big research projects, called dissertations.

One of her most notable students was Ann Dunham. Ann Dunham was the mother of Barack Obama. Ann joined the university's graduate program in 1972. She had lived in Indonesia for five years before that. Alice Dewey was interested in Ann's experience in Indonesia. She was also interested in Ann's interest in how handicrafts were made there.

Ann Dunham earned her master's degree in anthropology in 1974. The next year, she went back to Indonesia for her own research. She studied how villagers made things from metal in Yogyakarta. Ann earned her doctorate (Ph.D.) in 1992, with Alice Dewey as her supervisor. After Ann Dunham passed away in 1995, Alice Dewey helped publish Ann's research paper as a book. It was called Surviving Against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia.

Besides her work in Java, Alice Dewey also studied the Māori people in New Zealand. She also looked at the Javanese community living in New Caledonia. She retired from teaching in 2005. Alice Dewey passed away on June 11, 2017, in Honolulu, after having a stroke.