Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin
Encyclopedia
Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin (born April 2, 1903 and died July 10, 1988) was an anthropologist, folklorist, and ethnohistorian.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1923, and returned there after working for a newspaper in Florida, to pursue a master's degree in anthropology (1930). Her master's thesis was entitled "Mythological Elements common to the Kowa and Five Other Plains Tribes." She married linguistic anthropologist Carl Voegelin, with whom she jointly conducted fieldwork among Native American tribes. In 1938, fieldwork among the Tübatulabal people
of northern California led to her first book, Tübatulabal Ethnography published by the University of California Press
in 1938. She holds the distinction of being the first woman to receive a doctoral degree in anthropology from Yale University
when she received her degree in 1939 with a dissertation entitled "Shawnee Mortuary Customs," published five years later by the Indiana Historical Society. In the 1940s, she worked in the upper Great Lakes conducting linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork among the Ottawas and Ojibwas living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
. A specialist in Native American
folklore
, she founded the American Society for Ethnohistory in 1954 and was its first editor of the journal Ethnohistory until 1964. In 1982, the Society created its Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize for best book-length work in the field of ethnohistory. She taught in anthropology, history, and folklore at Indiana University
, Bloomington
, beginning in the fall of 1943. There she also directed the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Research Project from 1956 to 1969, the date of her retirement. The research reports on tribes of the region are now housed as the Ohio Valley-Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archive in the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1947 to pursue comparative studies of the folklore and mythology of American Indians and Eskimos. In 1948, she became president of the American Folklore Society
, and from 1949 to 1951, she served as secretary for the American Anthropological Association
. . She edited the Journal of American Folklore from 1941 to 1946. She was one of the original inductees into the Fellows of the American Folklore Society in 1960. Upon retirement, she moved to Great Falls, Virginia
, to live with her daughter and son-in-law. In the fall of 1985 she gave her Shawnee
field notes and remaining professional books and papers to the Newberry Library
in Chicago
. She died of cardiac arrest on July 10, 1988.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1923, and returned there after working for a newspaper in Florida, to pursue a master's degree in anthropology (1930). Her master's thesis was entitled "Mythological Elements common to the Kowa and Five Other Plains Tribes." She married linguistic anthropologist Carl Voegelin, with whom she jointly conducted fieldwork among Native American tribes. In 1938, fieldwork among the Tübatulabal people
Tübatulabal people
The Tübatulabal are Native Americans whose ancestral home was in the Kern River basin, in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California.Their traditional culture was similar to that of the Yokuts, who occupied most the of the southern half of the California's Central Valley. Acorns, piñon...
of northern California led to her first book, Tübatulabal Ethnography published by the University of California Press
University of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
in 1938. She holds the distinction of being the first woman to receive a doctoral degree in anthropology from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
when she received her degree in 1939 with a dissertation entitled "Shawnee Mortuary Customs," published five years later by the Indiana Historical Society. In the 1940s, she worked in the upper Great Lakes conducting linguistic and ethnographic fieldwork among the Ottawas and Ojibwas living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. A specialist in Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, she founded the American Society for Ethnohistory in 1954 and was its first editor of the journal Ethnohistory until 1964. In 1982, the Society created its Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Prize for best book-length work in the field of ethnohistory. She taught in anthropology, history, and folklore at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Bloomington
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
, beginning in the fall of 1943. There she also directed the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley Research Project from 1956 to 1969, the date of her retirement. The research reports on tribes of the region are now housed as the Ohio Valley-Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archive in the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1947 to pursue comparative studies of the folklore and mythology of American Indians and Eskimos. In 1948, she became president of the American Folklore Society
American Folklore Society
The American Folklore Society is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world. It was founded in 1888 by William Wells Newell, who stood at the center of a diverse group of university-based scholars, museum anthropologists, and men...
, and from 1949 to 1951, she served as secretary for the American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
. . She edited the Journal of American Folklore from 1941 to 1946. She was one of the original inductees into the Fellows of the American Folklore Society in 1960. Upon retirement, she moved to Great Falls, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, to live with her daughter and son-in-law. In the fall of 1985 she gave her Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
field notes and remaining professional books and papers to the Newberry Library
Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. She died of cardiac arrest on July 10, 1988.
Books
- Tubatulabal Ethnography, 1938. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Shawnee Traditions: C.C. Trowbridge's Account, 1939, (with Vernon Kinietz) . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
- Map of North American Indian Languages, 1941, (with C.F. Voegelin). American Ethnological Society.
- Culture Element Distributions 20: Northeast California, 1942. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Mortuary Customs of the Shawnee and Other Eastern Tribes, 1944. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society.