Ruth Benedict was
born on June 5, 1887 in New York City. A year and a half later her sister,
Margery, was born. When Ruth was nearly two years old her father passed away
from a severe fever. As a result, she developed a keen awareness of the facts
of life and death. While he was sick, Ruth and her family were forced to move
into her maternal grandparent's house. They remained there for seven years
while her mother took care of Ruth and her sister. They then moved around the
country so Ruth's mother could work as a teacher.
When Ruth and Margery were in their last year of high school, they won
scholarships to attend Vassar College. Their mother had graduated from Vassar
College years before. While at Vassar from 1905 - 1909, Ruth won prizes for
essays she had written, which gave her a chance to see "worth in her purposes."
She took a year off to travel overseas and upon returning home she was unsure
of what she wanted to do with her life. Years later, she married Stanley
Benedict, a Biochemistry Professor at Cornell Medical School.
Ruth went back to school in the fall of 1919 and began to focus more on
anthropology. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University
in 1922. While there, Ruth became friends with Elsie Clews Parsons and together
they became anthropologists. She studied under the famous
Franz Boas and eventually became his assistant
and taught Margaret Mead. Ruth and
Margaret became good friends and developed a mutual dependence on one another.
Ruth concentrated most of her efforts on researching and studying
different cultures on which many of her writings were based. She wrote of the
differences between the cultures around the world and talked about different
patterns related to culture and behavior.
Ruth taught at Columbia
University from 1923-1948. Her students reacted differently to her
deafness, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on her discussions or her
abilities. Ruth Benedict was very talented in summarizing and effectively
arranging facts which were characteristic of her writings and ultimately her
approach to anthropology; this, perhaps, may be the reason many of her reviews
were published in professional papers and magazines throughout her career.
Ruth
Benedict was a very important figure in early anthropology and even more-so in
cultural anthropology. She was one of the first female anthropologists of her
time. Her books serve as reference points of humanistic thought in the
20th century. She helped to shape the discipline of anthropology not
only in the United States, but also for the rest of the world. Ruth died in New
York City in 1948.
Some of her publications include:
Patterns of Culture. Houghton, Mifflin Company,
Boston, 1934
Zuni Mythology, AMS Press, NY, 1935
Race, Science, and Politics, Viking Press, New York,
1940
The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Houghton,
Mifflin Company, Boston, 1946
References:
Modell, Judith S. Ruth Benedict: Patterns of Life, University of Pennsylvania Press,
1983
Written By: Anthropology Students at Minnesota
State University, Mankato, 1998
Ruth Benedict was
born on June 5, 1887 in New York City. A year and a half later her sister,
Margery, was born. When Ruth was nearly two years old her father passed away
from a severe fever. As a result, she developed a keen awareness of the facts
of life and death. While he was sick, Ruth and her family were forced to move
into her maternal grandparent's house. They remained there for seven years
while her mother took care of Ruth and her sister. They then moved around the
country so Ruth's mother could work as a teacher.