Lee Allen Parsons was born on June 15, 1930 in Wausau, Wisconsin. Parsons attended Beloit College, receiving his Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology in 1954. He joined the Peabody Museum (Harvard)-Beloit Expedition to Quemado, New Mexico. Once graduated, Parsons attended Harvard and received his Ph.D. in 1964. There, under the supervision of Gordon Willey, Parsons wrote his doctoral dissertation called “Middle American Co-Tradition.” While working on the Peabody Museum in Quemado, New Mexico, he met his wife, Moreau. In 1956, they married and later had two daughters Karla and Pamela.
Parsons was an outstanding field archaeologist, student of Pre-Columbian cultural materials, and a museum Curator. His specialty was in the civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica with an emphasis on the Pacific Coast and highlands of Guatemala. Parsons did definitive monograph works on civilizations that lead up to the Classic Mayans, the enigmatic Cotzumalhoapan culture, and also the Pre-classic sculpture of Kaminaljuyu.
Throughout his life, Parsons had several jobs, but instead of teaching,
he decided to spend his life in the museum. He curated collections, set up exhibitions, prepared catalogues, and
more. Next, Parsons took a position as Associate Curator of Archaeology
at the Milwaukee Public Museum. The Museum’s director, Stephen F de Borhegyi,
held much interest in the prehistory of Guatemala’s Pacific piedmont. With
Borhegyi's interest and sponsorships by the National Geographic Society and the
Natural Science Foundation, Parsons began a program of excavation.
He excavated at Bilbao, one of the most important Cotzumalhuapan sites. And also at the Late Pre-classic site of Monte Alto. Parsons
wrote a two-volume final report on Bilbao. Today, it remains to be one of the
key publications in the field. However, Parsons believed that much still remained
to be learned about the Mexican influenced culture.
In 1968 Parsons was promised a position as assistant director at Harvard’s Peabody
Museum, unfortunately, a lack of funds caused the position to
materialize. Parsons was not happy with his job as Curator of Collections, so he left in 1970.
Parsons returned to the Milwaukee Public Museum. There, he made a tribute to Berhegyi, (who formerly had a strong influence on Parsons). The tribute was a design of a permanent Pre-Columbian exhibit.
Later, Parsons then went to work at the St. Louis Art Museum for 8 years. At St. Louis, he worked on an art collection of Morton May and prepared an intensive catalogue of its Pre-Columbian holdings. In 1986 Parsons resigned from St. Louis so he could work on his monograph, “The Origins of Maya Art.”
In 1987, Parsons held his last position as a Curator at the Jay Kislak
Foundation in Miami. He was able to work on the Mesoamerican art, manuscripts,
and books relating to early exploration of the New World.
In
1990 Parsons was stricken with a serious illness that would stay with him until he died.
The illness caused him to resign from his last job.
On October 2,
1996 Lee Parsons passed away in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Throughout his life, Parsons has made many lasting contributions to Mesoamerican research. The latter included the making of many catalogues and exhibitions. Including not only Non-Western peoples, but Pre-Columbian art, cultural traditions from Africa, Oceania, and the Northwest Coast.
References
Coe, Michael D.
Obituaries of Anthropologists,
(2003)
Truxal, John G. American Men and Women of Science (Vol.2 L-Z), 1973 Ed.,R.R. Bowker Company: New York & London
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006