Ruth Underhill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ruth Murray Underhill
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Ruth Underhill photographed in June 1941
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| Born | August 22, 1883 |
| Died | August 15, 1984 (aged 100) |
| Education | Ph.D. in anthropology, Columbia University (1937) |
| Occupation | Anthropologist |
| Spouse(s) | Charles C. Crawford (divorced in 1929) |
| Parent(s) | Abram (Abraham) Underhill and Anna Taber Murray |
Ruth Murray Underhill (born August 22, 1883 – died August 15, 1984) was an American anthropologist. An anthropologist is a scientist who studies human societies and cultures.
Ruth was born in Ossining-on-the-Hudson, New York. She went to Vassar College and graduated in 1905. Later, she studied at the London School of Economics. During World War I, she helped children in an Italian orphanage with the Red Cross.
After the war, she wrote her first book, The White Moth. In 1929, her marriage ended. By 1930, she decided to go back to school. She wanted to learn more about how people behave. She studied anthropology at Columbia University and earned her doctorate in 1937. Ruth wrote many books about Native American tribes. She helped correct many wrong ideas about their cultures.
Contents
Ruth Underhill's Early Life and Family
Ruth Underhill was born in Ossining, New York, on August 22, 1883. Her father, Abram Sutton Underhill, was a lawyer. Her mother was Anna Taber Murray Underhill. Ruth was the oldest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother.
Her sister, Elizabeth, worked for women's voting rights. She was also one of the first female bank directors. Her brother, Robert, was a professor and loved mountain climbing. Ruth also enjoyed mountain climbing as a hobby. Her family often took trips to Europe for camping.
In 1919, Ruth Underhill married Charles Cecil Crawford. They divorced in 1929. Ruth Underhill passed away in Denver, Colorado, on August 15, 1984. She died just one week before her 101st birthday.
Ruth's Education Journey
Ruth went to Ossining School for Girls when she was young. She then attended Vassar College starting in 1901. She studied English and languages. She graduated with honors in 1905 and was a top student.
After Vassar, she traveled in Europe. She studied languages and social sciences. She went to the London School of Economics and the University of Munich. She learned to speak German, French, Italian, and Spanish very well.
Ruth decided to go back to school when she was 46. She later said she was looking for "something she could do to help humanity." She tried different subjects like economics and philosophy. Finally, she found anthropology. Ruth Benedict encouraged her to study it. The head of the anthropology department, Franz Boas, gave her money for her studies. This helped her study the Tohono O’odham people in Arizona. Her Ph.D. paper, Social Organization of the Papago Indians, was published in 1937.
Ruth's Many Careers
Social Worker
In 1905, Ruth became a social worker in Massachusetts. She helped Italian families. During World War I, she worked for the American Red Cross. She helped set up orphanages in Italy in 1919. After the war, she looked into child labor in Italy. Then she returned to New York.
Writer
After college, Ruth started writing for newspapers and magazines. In 1920, her first novel, The White Moth, was published. One of her most famous books was Red Man’s America. It came out in 1953.
In 1956, a TV station made 30 documentary films based on her book. These films were also called Red Man’s America. Each film looked at a different area in North America. They showed the native peoples and their cultures from those regions.
Anthropologist
Her graduate studies led her to study the Tohono O’odham people of Arizona. This work made her well-known in anthropology. Because of her age, the Tohono O’odham allowed her to live with them for several summers. During this time, she could learn a lot about the women in their community. She later wrote a book called Autobiography of a Papago Woman. This book told the life story of Maria Chona, an elderly Tohono O’odham woman.
Government Worker
After finishing her studies, Ruth worked for the U.S. government. She worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and then the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). From 1934 to 1942, she was an Assistant Supervisor of Indian Education in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1942 to 1948, she was a Supervisor in Denver, Colorado.
In this job, she traveled a lot. She worked with teachers on reservations. She helped them create school lessons for Native American schools. These lessons included Native American culture. She also helped with talks between the BIA and Native American groups.
Retirement and Teaching
Ruth retired from her government job in 1948. In 1949, she became a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Denver. She taught there for four years. After her second retirement, Ruth traveled the world and wrote. She also taught at other colleges.
In the 1970s, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science began recording her life story. They used audio and video to capture her experiences.
Awards and Honors
In 1979, the Tohono O’odham Nation honored Ruth Underhill. They thanked her for helping to save their history. She also received honors from other Native American groups. In 1981, the Colorado River Indian Tribes gave her an award. They thanked her for her hard work in learning about their culture. She also received a Friendship Award.
She received honorary degrees from the University of Denver in 1962 and the University of Colorado in 1965. In 1983, on her 100th birthday, the Governor of Colorado declared August 22 as Ruth Underhill Day. In 1984, the American Anthropological Association honored her. They recognized her teaching and research. This included her efforts to make anthropology popular and to study the roles of women.
Ruth Underhill's Books
- The White Moth (novel), 1920
- Autobiography of a Papago Woman, 1936
- Social Organization of the Papago Indians, 1937
- Singing for Power, 1938
- First Penthouse Dwellers of America, 1938
- Hawk Over Whirlpools (fiction), 1940
- The Papago Indians of Arizona and their Relatives the Pima, 1941
- Pueblo Crafts, 1946
- Papago Indian Religion, 1946
- Workaday Life in the Pueblos, 1946
- Indians of the Pacific Northwest, 1946
- Red Man’s America, 1953
- The Navajos, 1956
- Beaverbird (fiction), 1959
- Antelope Singer (fiction), 1961
- Red Man’s Religion, 1965
- First Came the Family, 1967
- So Many Kinds of Navajo, 1971
- The Papago and Pima Indians of Arizona, 1979
Images for kids
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Ruth Underhill photographed in June 1941
