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Franz Boas and the Progressive Spirit

Article · July 2011

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Alan McGowan

Franz Boas and the Progressive Spirit

How the “Father of Anthropology” Fought Social Darwinism

W
hen Franz Uri Boas (1858-1942) emi- end of his career, practically every department of
grated to the United States from Ger- anthropology in the country was headed or strongly
many in 1886, Social Darwinism was influenced by one his students, who included Ruth
at its peak and anthropology was Benedict, Margaret Mead, Zora
largely a racist discipline devoted Neale Hurston, Melville Herskov-
to sanctioning colonialism. “Ex- itz, and Vernon J. Williams. His
perts” portrayed European civili- first Columbia University doctoral
zation and its peoples as superior student was Alfred L. Kroeber,
to all others, and few questioned who started the anthropology
the inferiority of “primitive races” program at University of Califor-
of man. “Culture” was what Eu- nia, Berkeley (along with Robert
ropeans (including Euro-Ameri- Lowie, also a Boas student). Boas
cans) had, no one else. also trained William Jones, one of
By the time Boas died in late the first Native American anthro-
1942, anthropology was firmly pologists. Others of his students
established as an academic, pro- started programs at the University
fessional discipline that had of Pennsylvania, University of
thrown off its racist mantle and Chicago, and the New School for
dramatically changed its concept Social Research.
of “culture.” As an early biogra- Boas was unrelenting in his
pher of Boas wrote: “Both the insistence on accurate measure-
theories of cultural and racial in- ments and fieldwork, on taking
feriority, implicitly questioned by nothing for granted, and on the
Boas in his earliest anthropologi- fundamental dignity of man. His
cal writings and later challenged most important book, The Mind
by him with the rich documenta- of Primitive Man (1911), coun-
tion he was to bring to bear in tered the denigrating picture of
support of his position, have, “savages” put forward by Herbert
certainly in no small measure Spencer, Frederick L. Hoffman,
because of his work, come under Franz Boas doing field work on and other apologists for Social
severe attack.” Baffin Island, Canada (bottom). Darwinism and eugenics, and
It is hard to overestimate the impact Boas had became a classic in the field.
as the “Father of American Anthropology.” By the It was at the American Museum of Natural His-
tory in New York, from 1888 to 1906, that Boas
Alan McGowan wrote “Jews and Genes” in our
fought the battles that defined much of his anthro-
Autumn, 2009 issue. He is associate professor of in- pology. Boas believed that abstract classification
terdisciplinary science in the Department of Natural schemes largely reflected the mind of the classifier
Science and Mathematics at Eugene Lang College, rather than any qualities inherent in the objects
The New School for Liberal Arts, and an executive being classified. “Like effects do not necessarily
editor of Environment magazine. have like causes,” he observed, and therefore did

26 Jewish Currents

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1879504

not feel that objects ought to be grouped together in their personalities and ways of life that consti-
in museums — knives with knives, pots with pots, tuted a challenge he would devote the rest of his
as was the style at that time — but rather should life to meeting.” The experience led him not only
be grouped in historical settings. Today, visitors to change his career but to believe strongly in the
to any serious natural history museum can see the importance of doing actual field work.
impact of his work. The Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer, the
Boas’ grandparents on both sides were Orthodox very influential philosopher and self-taught scholar,
Jews, and his parents followed the form of the had been influenced by tales he had heard from
religion but did not indoctrinate their children. travelers to Africa and elsewhere, not his own
Nevertheless, Boas and his siblings were deeply direct observations. Similarly, the racist views of
influenced by the liberal Jewish thought of the time. Frederick L. Hoffman, the statistician whose very
One of his biographers suggests that “his life was influential report, “Race Traits and Tendencies of
molded by the social and cultural values of eman- the American Negro,” landed him a job with the
cipated German Jewry.” Boas also experienced Prudential Life Insurance Company (where he
instances of fairly vicious anti-Semitism — many eventually became vice-president), were buttressed
of his facial scars from duels, which were common by data collected by others, not by himself. Boas
in Germany at the time, may have been the results was deeply suspicious of such reports, especially
of reacting to anti-Semitic remarks — and this led since the “categories” into which people assigned
to his life-long hatred of prejudice. information were formed before the data were col-
The failed German socialist revolution of 1848 lected, instead of being inferred from the data, as
was also a strong influence in Boas’ life. Although most scientists do today.
it preceded his birth by a decade, a number of As George W. Stocking has written, the “inner
“forty-eighters,” as its supporters were called, consistency” of Boas’ anthropology is sometimes
would play a role in his life, including Carl Schurz, difficult to determine because of his wide range of
who became treasurer of the American Germanistic activities. He did ground-breaking work in physical
Society, of which Boas was the corresponding sec- and cultural anthropology, and his detailed study
retary; Felix Adler, the founder of Ethical Culture; of languages launched a new academic field, lin-
and Abraham Jacobi (for whom Jacobi Hospital guistics. Boas spent long periods of time record-
was named), who married Boas’s aunt, served two ing and translating the languages of indigenous
years in a German prison for radical activities, and peoples. His work on the languages and folktales
then moved to the U.S. and established a very suc- of the Kwakiutl tribes, for example — in which he
cessful medical career. was often aided by members of these tribes, whom
Boas’s mother was substantially involved in he trained and taught the techniques to assist him
these revolutionary ideals, although she chided the — led to many important observations, including
leaders for not paying enough attention to women the fact that their tales and myths were extremely
and women’s issues. Boas would later write to his sophisticated and worthy of significant analysis.
older sister Toni: “I am and remain an unregener-
ate idealist — and for that you and I have our One of his most important legacies was in the area
mother to thank.” of race. Here we see all the hallmarks of his ap-
After getting a degree in physics from Kiel Uni- proach: the emphasis on data, not generalizations;
versity in Germany, Boas traveled to Baffin Island attention to the individual, not only the group in
to study Eskimo perceptions of their environment; which the individual was placed; and attention to
his degree had a minor in geography, and he was the fundamental dignity of the human being. Upon
especially interested in their understanding of the retiring from Columbia University in 1936 at age
color of water. “[I]n the hard Arctic winter [of 81, he told The New York Times: “With the present
1883-84] he was to spend with the Eskimos,” one condition of the world I consider the race question
biographer writes, “Boas was to discover values a most important one. I will try to clean up some of

Autumn 2010 27
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1879504
the nonsense that is being spread about race these Boas also attributed to “native invention . . . the
days.” Although Boas has been criticized for not extended early African agriculture, each village be-
taking the final step in his thought and declaring ing surrounded by its garden patches and fields in
the totally equal potential of human beings of all which millet is grown. Domesticated animals were
races, his “struggle to understand the saliency of also kept in the agricultural regions . . . while in the
race in the U.S. at the beginning of the century,” arid parts of the country where agriculture is not
writes another biographer, Lee Baker, “defined the possible, large herds of cattle were raised . . . The
parameters from which we still grapple with racial existence of all these arts of life points to an early
issues” to this day. and energetic development of African culture.”
On May 31st, 1906, Boas gave the commence- This “evidence of African ethnology,” Boas
ment address to the graduating class of Atlanta Uni- continued, “. . . should inspire you with the hope
versity, a struggling Black college where W.E.B. of leading your race from achievement to achieve-
DuBois was professor of history. The leading Black ment. Shall I remind you of the power of military
scholar of his day (and the first to earn a Ph.D. from organization exhibited by the Zulu, whose kings
Harvard), DuBois issued the invitation primarily and whose armies swept southeastern Africa. Shall
to have Boas speak at the annual Atlanta Confer- I remind you of the local chiefs, who by dint of
ence, for which DuBois was constantly having to diplomacy, bravery and wisdom united the scattered
raise money. tribes of wide areas into flourishing kingdoms, of
Boas took some risks — intellectual, political, the intricate form of government necessary for
and physical — in coming to Atlanta, where Jim holding together the heterogeneous tribes.”
Crow was in full strength. In September of that He continued: “Nothing, perhaps, is more en-
year, a race riot had left at least seventeen Blacks couraging than a glimpse of the artistic industry
dead. Atlanta University was reviled by whites, as of native Africa. I regret that we have no place in
it allowed the races to mix on its campus and in its this country where the beauty and distinctiveness
buildings; African-Americans and whites ate and of African work can be shown; but a walk through
studied together. the African museums of Paris, London and Berlin
In his speech to the Atlanta Conference, Boas said is a revelation.” Indeed, Boas tried for many years
that there is no direct proof of the inferiority of the to raise money for an American museum devoted
Negro, and that therefore there is no reason that the to African art and culture, feeling that it would set
Negro cannot participate fully in American civili- many myths of Black inferiority aside.
zation. He also claimed, however, that the brain He cautioned that Black progress would be slow,
of the Negro was slightly smaller and structured but pointed to his own ethnic group as a reason to
slightly differently than that of the white. This hope: “The best example, however, is that of the
would probably lead, he believed, to fewer men Jews of Europe, a people slightly distinct in type,
of “high genius” coming from the black race than but originally differing considerably in customs
the white race. Understandably, the audience was and beliefs from the people among whom they
a bit miffed at this. lived. The separation of the Jew and . . . gentile
His commencement address, to an audience that was enforced for hundreds of years and very slowly
included the Black elite of Atlanta, drew inspiration only were the various occupations open to him; very
from African history. “The fundamental require- slowly only began to vanish the difference.” There
ment for useful activity on your part is a clear are still difficulties for Jews in many countries, he
insight into the capabilities of your own race,” said, but the Jewish experience should give hope
Boas told his listeners. “To . . . early advances the to Blacks that although it will take some time, they,
Negro race has contributed its liberal share. . . . it too, will see barriers begin to fall.
seems likely that at a time when the European was
still satisfied with rude stone tools, the African had Starting with the 1898 Spanish-American War,
invented or adopted the act of smelting iron.” Boas became increasingly involved in politics. In a

28 Jewish Currents
letter to the New York Times dated January 7th, 1916, was the protection of free speech, particularly of
he wrote in protest of anti-German sentiment during those who spoke for a world free of prejudice and
World War I: “At the time of my arrival here, more oppression. Although often criticized for his support
than thirty years ago, I was filled with admiration of leftists, Boas insisted that they were the ones
of American political ideals . . . I thought of it as who needed defending. A personal statement dated
a country that would not tolerate interference with November 20th, 1939, contains the following: “The
its own interests, but that would also refrain from present hysterical search for Communist activities
active interference in the affairs of others . . . A and the increasing tendency to denounce liberal
rude awakening came in 1898, when the aggressive groups as dominated by Communists requires a
imperialism of that period showed that the ideal had remark. . . . At present such methods are almost al-
been a dream . . . The America that had stood for ways direct[ed] against radicals, hardly ever against
right, and right only, seemed dead . . .” un-American reactionary minorities . . .”
Strongly worded protests like these would lead The ACDIF was founded, he continued, “to rally
to accusations (some by his fellow professors at scientists and educators to active participation in
Columbia, as shown in his FBI file) that he was a the struggle to preserve and extend our academic
Communist. Boas nevertheless increased his po- freedoms . . . The outbreak of the second world war
litical activism as he got older. He was one of the has given this general statement of principles new
first scientists to realize that the positive attitude meaning. The signs are already visible of a con-
of the public toward science gave its practitioners certed drive against civil liberties. Attacks against
immense prestige and influence, and he was willing the alien and other minority groups are becoming
to speak out on issues of the day, particularly when increasingly frequent and they seek to destroy the
he thought science was relevant. unity of the American people. There is a great
Boas was particularly concerned about the rise of danger of a repetition of the war hysteria of 1917
fascism, which represented everything he abhorred when the schools and colleges became propaganda
in society and politics, so it was perhaps natural centers for war and witch hunting. There must be no
that a committee formed to oppose a particularly recurrence of the subjection of science and culture
obnoxious piece in Nature magazine — which its to a propaganda of hatred. . . .”
editors criticized but published so that Nazi views
on science would be known — chose him as its Boas had good reason to be fearful. Redbaiting
spokesperson. An anti-Nazism manifesto was is- was rampant. In 1940, when British philosopher
sued, signed by twelve hundred and eighty-four and mathematician Bertrand Russell was appointed
scientists, including Albert Einstein and J. Robert to a position at City College, a media frenzy en-
Oppenheimer, three Nobel Laureates, sixty-four sued, ending with the New York Supreme Court
members of the National Academy of Sciences, determining that Russell was morally unfit to
and eighty-five college presidents, deans, direc- teach philosophy. (On the title page of a book of
tors of industrial laboratories and experiment lectures given at Harvard, An Inquiry into Meaning
stations. “We firmly believe,” it said in part, “that and Truth, Russell included in his list of academic
in the present historical epoch democracy alone can honors: “Judicially pronounced unworthy to be
preserve intellectual freedom. . . . When men like Professor of Philosophy at the College of the City
James Franck, Albert Einstein, or Thomas Mann of New York.”)
may no longer continue their work, whether the The New York State Legislature soon established
reason is race, creed, or belief, all mankind suffers the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the
the loss…” Educational System of the State of New York,
The manifesto’s success led Boas to organize known as the Rapp-Coudert Committee, to examine
the American Committee on Democracy and Intel- the extent of subversive activities in New York’s
lectual Freedom (ACDIF), which lasted until just high school and collegiate systems. One person
before his death in 1942. ACDIF’s primary goal → page 32

Autumn 2010 29
Franz Boas . . .
→ from page 29
investigated was Morris U. Schappes, former long-
time editor of Jewish Currents. In the archives
of the American Philosophical Society, where most
of Boas’ papers are archived, there is a wonderful
letter from J. Robert Oppenheimer, dated October tists should speak out: “Since the foregoing dicta
27th, 1941 — one year before he was to become enjoy the imprimatur of highly informed scientific
the scientific director of the Manhattan Project opinion in this country, it is important that we pay
— which says, in part: “I think that a man like heed.”
Schappes might find this investigation committee For the first time in American history, organized
in New York almost as inimical to the welfare of scientific opinion weighed in against the shameful
this country as the Gestapo to that of Germany.” “scientific” racism that for so long had gone unchal-
The ACDIF did not limit itself to fighting red- lenged. This alone should be enough to generate
baiting, however. Boas, who never lost his focus awe at Boas’ work. The world had changed.
on the issue of race in America, became concerned On December 21st, 1942, after delivering a talk
about the misinformation contained in textbooks, at the Columbia University Faculty Club honoring
which bandied about the term “race” without preci- Paul Rivet, who in 1940 organized the anti-fascist
sion or accuracy. ACDIF examined one hundred resistance network at the Musée de l’Homme
and sixty-six high school textbooks and mailed (which Rivet had founded in 1936), Franz Boas,
its report to newspapers around the country. An 84, sat down and died of a heart attack in the arms
editorial in the Richmond Times-Dispatch made of Claude Levi-Strauss, who was on the platform
the point that vindicated Boas’ belief that scien- with him. JC

32 Jewish Currents

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