Alfred L. Kroeber

@Cultural Anthropologist, Family and Family

Alfred Kroeber was an American cultural anthropologist

Jun 11, 1876

AmericanColumbia UniversityIntellectuals & AcademicsAnthropologistsGemini Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: June 11, 1876
  • Died on: October 5, 1960
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Cultural Anthropologist, Columbia University, Intellectuals & Academics, Anthropologists
  • Spouses: Henrietta Rothschild, Theodora Krakow Brown
  • Known as: Alfred Louis Kroeber
  • Childrens: Clifton Brown Kroeber, Karl, Ted, Ursula Kroeber

Alfred L. Kroeber born at

Hoboken, New Jersey

Unsplash
Birth Place

He married Henrietta Rothschild in 1906. Unfortunately his wife contracted tuberculosis and suffered several years of ill health before succumbing to her illness in 1913.

Unsplash
Personal Life

Several years after his first wife’s death he married Theodora Kracaw Brown, a widow, in 1926. Theodora had two sons from her previous marriage whom Kroeber adopted. The couple had a happy marriage that produced two more children.

Unsplash
Personal Life

He died on October 5, 1960, at the age of 84.

Unsplash
Personal Life

He was born on June 11, 1876, in New Jersey, to a German immigrant father, Florence Kroeber and his wife Johanna Muller. He was the eldest of their four children. The family moved to New York when Alfred was young.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

When he was around seven years old he was tutored by Dr. Bamberger whom he later credited to be a brilliant teacher who instilled in his students a great curiosity for learning.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

He went to Sachs’ Collegiate Institute, a grammar and high school, modeled on German gymnasium. This institute prepared boys for college.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

He went to Columbia College in 1892 when he was 16 and received his A.B. in English in 1896 and an M.A. in Romantic drama the following year. However, he decided to change his field to anthropology.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

In 1901, he received his doctorate degree in Anthropology from the Columbia University for his thesis on decorative symbolism on his field work among the Arapaho. His guide for Ph.D had been Franz Boas.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

In 1901, he embarked on his professional career at the University of California, Berkeley, where he would spend most of his career. He would eventually serve as both, a Professor of Anthropology and the Director of the then University of California Museum of Anthropology (now the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology).

Unsplash
Career

Anthropology at that time was an emerging field and thus Kroeber and his contemporaries were assigned to vaguely defined academic positions that offered uncertain financial support. However, with his dedication and hard work he eventually succeeded in popularizing the field of anthropology.

Unsplash
Career

For the first five years of his career at the university his salary was fixed at $1200 per annum. Along with teaching semesters, he investigated the little-known languages and cultures of native California along with P.E. Goddard.

Unsplash
Career

In 1923, he published the book ‘Anthropology’ which was one of the most influential books on the subject during that time. Since anthropology was an emerging field, his book was the only textbook available for aspiring anthropologists.

Unsplash
Career

Kroeber was aided by his students in research and together they did significant works in studying the western tribes of Native Americans. The data collected by them and the research they conducted was published in the ‘Handbook of the Indians of California’ (1925).

Unsplash
Career

He was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1912 in recognition of his contributions to the field of anthropology.

Unsplash
Awards & Achievements

He is the recipient of several honorary degrees from reputed institutions like Yale University, Columbia University and Harvard.

Unsplash
Awards & Achievements