Samuel Alfred Barrett was born on November 12 in Conway, Alaska. His professional career was long lived. He died on March 9, at his home in Santa Rosa, California. Barrett attended the University of California, Berkeley and obtained his Ph.D. in anthropology in 1908. He was the first student to receive his Ph.D. under Alfred Kroeber. After graduating with honors, Barrett served as an ethnologist for the George G. Heye Expedition. For little over a year, Barrett engaged in ethnological and linguistic research among the Cayapa Indians of Ecuador. He held his position at the Milwaukee Public Museum for eleven years before becoming the director of the museum, a job he held until the 1940's. During this same year, Barrett was called to direct the Exhibit of Aboriginal Cultures of the Western Hemisphere in San Francisco. He served as the director of the Army Specialized Training Program at Berkeley for about a year and then becoming the research associate of the Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley. In 1960, Barrett became the director and principle investigator of American Indian Films.
From his research, Barrett was most recognized for his efforts in ethnography of California. From 1903 to 1907 he undertook fieldwork among the Pomp, Miwok, Maidu, Yokuts, Yuki and Wintun for the Department of Anthropology at Berkeley. He soon left Berkeley and became the curator of anthropology at the Milwaukee Public Museum. This gave him the opportunity to study the tribes of Northern Wisconsin and the Hopi of Arizona. Barrett's most famous work of museology anthropological research is best viewed in Wisconsin. The Barrett era at the Milwaukee Public Museum was characterized by the implementation of projects along the lines of improving the museums' anthropological department. His techniques for the settings of lost cultures or remaining ones were astounding, allowing the public to glimpse into the life and culture of these people.
Near the end of his career, Samuel Barrett and Alfred L. Kroeber established the American Indian Films. The primary goal of this film company was to educate people on how Indians lived and the hardships they endured. By the time of his death, there were over twenty documentation's among Indian groups. American Indian Films represents Barrett's final contribution to his field of study and it's probably his most recognized.
International Dictionary of Anthropologist, Garland Publishing, NY, 1991
Former link, http://www.qal.berkeley.edu/~kroeber/barrbio.htm, (2006)
Written By: Jim Laszewski