Madeline Kneberg Lewis facts for kids

Madeline Kneberg Lewis (born 1903, died 1996) was an American archaeologist. She was also a professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee. She is best known for her archaeological digs in the Tennessee Valley, starting in the 1930s.

Madeline Lewis helped create the anthropology department at the University of Tennessee. She also helped start the Frank H. McClung Museum. She was the first female full professor at the University of Tennessee outside of home economics. She was also one of the first important female archaeologists in the United States.

Early Life and Education

Madeline Kneberg was born in 1903 in Moline, Illinois. Her father, Charles Kneberg, was an artist and interior designer. In 1924, she traveled to Italy to study art and music. She planned to become a musical performer.

After four years, she returned to the United States. She began training as a nurse in Chicago. Later, she studied sociology at the University of Chicago. There, she was encouraged to study physical anthropology. This is the study of human evolution and variation. She studied under Fay-Cooper Cole, who started the university's Anthropology Department.

She finished almost all the work for her PhD. She published research on hair differences in 1935 and 1936. In 1937, she taught at Beloit College in Wisconsin for one year. In 1938, she joined the staff of Thomas Lewis at the University of Tennessee. He was working on archaeological sites that were going to be covered by water from TVA projects.

Exploring Tennessee Valley Sites

Starting in 1933, major archaeological digs began across the region. These projects received money and workers from federal agencies. These agencies included the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was very important for archaeology in Tennessee. The TVA was created in 1933 to help with navigation, flood control, and electricity. Their dam projects threatened to flood many ancient sites. So, they agreed to support "salvage archaeology." This means digging up sites before they are destroyed. William Snyder Webb from the University of Kentucky led these efforts.

Archaeological projects in Tennessee were led by Tom Lewis at the University of Tennessee. He put together a team of archaeologists and physical anthropologists. Madeline Kneberg was part of this team. She took charge of the university's archaeology lab. She worked closely with Lewis on many important reports.

These reports included big studies of the Chickamauga Basin (1941) and Hiwassee Island (1946). The Hiwassee Island report, called Hiwassee Island: An Archaeological Account of Four Tennessee Indian Peoples, became a famous book in archaeology. It was seen as a great example for others to follow. Kneberg and Lewis also wrote a 2,000-page guide for the UT lab. This guide explained how to dig and analyze sites. It also described a detailed system for cataloging sites and artifacts.

Later Work and Contributions

In 1940, when federal funds ended, Kneberg became the second professor in the UT Division of Anthropology. This made her the first female professor at the university outside of home economics. In 1950, she became the first female full professor. In 1947, the division became a full department, thanks to the work of Kneberg and Lewis.

Kneberg continued to work on scientific reports, often with Lewis, through the 1950s and early 1960s. She also made big contributions to archaeology in Tennessee. Kneberg and Lewis helped start the Tennessee Archaeological Society in 1944. This group still supports archaeology in the state.

In 1950, she worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to rebuild an 18th-century Cherokee village. This village is in Cherokee, North Carolina. It is still an important place for historical re-enactments and tourism today.

Madeline Kneberg also wrote popular books that shared Tennessee archaeology with the public. Her most successful book was Tribes that Slumber: Indian Times in the Tennessee Region. She wrote and illustrated this book herself, using her art skills. It is still a bestseller for the University of Tennessee Press.

Perhaps her most lasting contribution was starting the Frank H. McClung Museum. This museum is now called the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. It opened on UT's Knoxville campus in 1961.

Marriage and Retirement

In 1961, when she was 65, Kneberg married her longtime colleague, Tom Lewis. She called it "the longest courtship on earth." The same year, they both retired from archaeology. They moved to Winter Haven, Florida. Madeline Kneberg Lewis passed away there in 1996 from heart failure. She was 93 years old.

Honors and Awards

In 1950, Kneberg was chosen as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1995, she received the Distinguished Service Award at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. The conference called her a "founding mother of Southeastern archaeology."