Cora Du Bois
Subtitle: anthropologist, diplomat, agent
By: Susan C. Seymour
Series: Critical studies in the history of anthropology; Critical studies in the history of anthropology
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 423
ISBN-13: 9780803262959
Subjects: Biography; Women anthropologists
Description: Cora Du Bois's intellect and curiosity propelled her into a remarkable life as an anthropologist and diplomat in the vanguard of social and academic change. Du Bois studied with Franz Boas, a founder of American anthropology. During World War II, she served as a high-ranking officer for the Office of Strategic Services. After the war she joined the State Department as chief of the Southeast Asia Branch of the Division of Research for the Far East. She was also the first female full professor, with tenure, appointed at Harvard University and became president of the American Anthropological Association. Du Bois worked to keep her public and private lives separate, especially while facing the FBI{u2019}s harassment as an opponent of U.S. engagements in Vietnam and as a "liberal" lesbian during the McCarthy era. This biography weaves together Du Bois's personal and professional lives to illustrate this exceptional "first woman" and the complexities of the twentieth century that she both experienced and influenced.--Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 383-392) and index.
Table of contents: title: Tomgirl; title: Escape and resolve; title: Becoming an anthropologist; title: Culture and personality; title: A pioneer in culture and personality research; title: World War II and the OSS; title: Disillusionment in the Cold War era; title: Harvard, crown of roses or thorns?; title: Sociocultural change in India; title: Looking inward.