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- Creator
- Peirce, John, Smith, Winifred, Brooks, Richard
- Date
- [After 1959]
- Text
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78 MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH 1871 - 1959 Martha Warren Beckwith, Research Professor Emeritus of Folklore at Vassar College since 1938, died at her home in Berkeley, California, on January 28, 1959. Born in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1871, Miss Beckwith spent her childhood in Hawaii ("the blessed islands," as Padraic Colum called them in his book ded- icated to her) and early became interested in the folklore and folk tales of Polynesia, a field which she made her...
Show more78 MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH 1871 - 1959 Martha Warren Beckwith, Research Professor Emeritus of Folklore at Vassar College since 1938, died at her home in Berkeley, California, on January 28, 1959. Born in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1871, Miss Beckwith spent her childhood in Hawaii ("the blessed islands," as Padraic Colum called them in his book ded- icated to her) and early became interested in the folklore and folk tales of Polynesia, a field which she made her own after graduating from Mount Holyoke College in 1893 and taking a doctorate at Columbia University in 1912. After teaching at Mount Holyoke, Elmira, and Smith, Martha Beckwith was Instructor of English at Vassar from 1909 to 1913. She joined the faculty again in 1920 as Research Professor on the Folk~lore Foundation and as Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, the latter title be- ing dropped in 1929. Her chair as Research Professor of Folk-lore was probably unique in the history of American college education - and perhaps is even to this day. It was made possible by the generosity of a Mr. and Mrs. Alexander of Hawaii, was arranged by them anonymously through a lawyer so that even President MacCracken did not know the identity of the donors until fter Miss Beckwith's retirement, and was given solely for Miss Beckwith. Even in this day of giving to colleges and universities by foundations we might remark this practice for serious consideration. After her return to Vassar Martha Beckwith gradually built up courses in folklore, greatly encouraged by President MacCracken, who also raised funds for field work by Vassar students to collect folklore in Dutchess County. The Vassar College Folk-lore Foundation published fourteen numbers be- tween 1922 and 193M» and of these the first ten have the subtitle, "Vassar College field work in folk-lore." Martha Beckwith wrote nine of these monographs, four of which were reprinted by the American Folk-lore Society; her students wrote the others, sometimes in collaboration with her. These studies and her other monographs ranged over a wide field, for in her several leaves of absence Martha Beckwith collected tales, riddles, and songs from Hawaii, Jamaica, Cuba, the Mandan and Hidatsa Sioux, and the Kwakiutl Indians. She published a translation of the Hawaiian romance of Laieikawai in 1918, an edition and translation of Kepe1ino's 79 MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH (Continued) Traditions of fiawaii in 1932, and six books of scholar- ship on folfilore Between l92h and 1951. Three of these dealt with Jamaican folklore and tales, one with Mandan and Hidatsa myths and ceremonies, and two with Hawaiian mythology. The crown of these and of her scholarship is The Kumuli 05 A Hagaiian Creation Chant, which she trans- lated, ediied, and wroF3_a pene€ratTEg_Eomment on, and which was published by the University of Chicago Press in 1951. Reviewing this book in the Journal of American Folk-lore, LXIV (1951), h29-h32, Katharihe Luomala of-the University of Hawaii described Miss Beckwith as "the author of several major works on Hawaiian mythology and its relationship to that of the rest of Polynesia" and said of the book, 'the publication of her translation is a milestone in Polynesian research, and for folklorists and anthropologists who wish to learn of Polynesian chants and their function in cul- ture, this book on the most famous chant of all, is a fas- cinating introduction to the subject." She was an inspiring teacher of the comparatively few students she recognized as promising, but she was no more interested in the average student than she was interested in the politi- cal and social problems of modern life. She had many warm friends, however, who appreciated her single-minded devotion to scholarship and her courage in the many difficulties of research in her chosen field. She was a charming and beauti- ful woman, the best type of Victorian lady and scholar. John Peirce Winifred Smith Richard Brooks, Chairman XV - 86
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- Creator
- Fahnestock, Edith, Smith, Winifred, Brooks, Richard, Sague, Mary Landon, Kempton, Rudolf T.
- Date
- [After 1955]
- Text
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coma JIPSON sscxwma 1375 — 1955 Members of the college comunity were saddened to learn of the death of Cora Jipson Beckwith, profes- sor emeritus of Zoology. Following a number of years of flail health she died in Washington on January 9. 1955, in her eightieth year. Miss Beckwith joined the Zoology Department as an assistant in 1900, upon her graduation from the University of Michigan. With the aid of leaves she completed her graduate study while serving at Vassar College, receiving the...
Show morecoma JIPSON sscxwma 1375 — 1955 Members of the college comunity were saddened to learn of the death of Cora Jipson Beckwith, profes- sor emeritus of Zoology. Following a number of years of flail health she died in Washington on January 9. 1955, in her eightieth year. Miss Beckwith joined the Zoology Department as an assistant in 1900, upon her graduation from the University of Michigan. With the aid of leaves she completed her graduate study while serving at Vassar College, receiving the doctorate of philosophy frm Columbia University in l9lh. She was chairman of the department at the time of her retirement in l9hO. Throughout her career Cora Beckwith was an outstanding teacher and member of the college community. She was quiet, dignified and unassuming. She was interested in people. Her lifelong tenure at Vassar was devoted to the well-being of the college in all its aspects. She expected, and obtained, precise thoughtful work from her students; she herself was capable of careful detail, prodigious amounts of work, and withal showed nice qualities of judgment. She contributed much to important comittees, notably those on the curriculum and research. In addition, for three years in her earlier days she served as an associate warden in Strong House. The teaching of histology, embryology and cytology, which she carried on over a long period of years, calls for the training of students in precise and delicate techniques, and at the same time for the development of difficult concepts. »Her natural qualities of dexterity, easiness of movement, and clarity of thought contributed to her success as a teacher. Her own shinin example was frequently the light which illuminated difficulties for the students. Her research was along cytological lines, especially associated with the lateral line organs of Amia calva and the cytology of the germ cells of the hydroids. She was elected to many scientific societies, and was a life member of the corporation of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, where in her younger days she CORA JIPSON BECKWITH (Continued) spent many summers. While in he later years research and visits to Woods Hole were not feasible, she always retained her interest. She encouraged and aided members of her department to share these interests. After her retirement from teaching in l9h0 she con- tinued to live in Williams Hall, and during this period was deeply concerned with the welfare and interests of her friends and associates. Later, in 1950, she moved to Washington to be with her two sisters who had retired also. Those who were able to visit her there sensed her solicitude for her sisters, and realized that this was another manifestation of a principle which had guided her throughout her life. The people with whom she came in contact, the college and the department of zoology particularly, owe her a deep debt of gratitude. Edith Fahnestock Mary Landon Sague Rudolf T. Kempton XIV - 31
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