Stuart Struever

1931- Present

    Stuart Struever was born in 1931 in Illinois. He spent his youth collecting Indian artifacts that he found on his family's farm. His collecting was not the idle pastime of a young boy picking up a few projectile points. Struever not only catalogued the artifacts he found but he also found his calling. Archeology became a lifelong passion for him. In 1953 he graduated from Dartmouth College with an A. B. degree. While in college he directed an archaeological program in the Mississippi and Illinois Valleys.

    Struever continued his education at Northwestern University where he earned his M.A. degree in 1960.  Struever focused on the time period that started with the Eurasian immigrants that arrived in North America 12,000 years ago to the late 1800's. His main interest was the pre-rural American history of that time period.

    Struever founded The Center for American Archeology in 1964 and remained its Director for 20 years. As an independent research center, The Center was affiliated with Northwestern University. Located in Kampsville, Illinois, it became a permanent research and education campus. He was instrumental in breaking the age barrier by inviting junior and senior high school students to participate in formal archeological excavations, starting in 1970. He also invited adults and lay persons to become involved in digs. Over 3000 students and adults participate in digs at Crow Canyon on an annual basis. On average, about 350 of those students are American Indian.

      Stuart started the first magazine about modern archaeology, Early Man, to help with his desire to educate the public about new archaeological discoveries. In 1968 he received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

    The Crow Canyon Archeological Center was founded by Struever in 1983. From the very beginning, Struever has been instrumental in the continuing development of that institution. Struever was also an early proponent of the use of flotation, which is a process by which small particles and plant material are removed from soil deposits. When the soil is placed in a container of water, the small artifacts and plant material float to the top.  Another site that Struever played an important role in is the Koster Site along the Illinois River.

            In 1984 Stuart Struever received a Humanities Fellow of the Year Award. He was listed in Who's Who in America and in 1995 was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Society for American Archeologists. He has been asked to share his vast knowledge by serving as consultant for many museums and television documentaries.  Many scientific publications have also benefited by his editorship.

    Stuart Struever is married to Martha (Marti) Hopkins Struevers, who has also made a name for herself through her knowledge, promotion, and support of American Indian Art, especially in the field of pottery.

    Some of Stuart Struever's publications include:

Koster: Americans in Search of Their Prehistoric Past with Felicia Antonelli Holton  (1979)

Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville with Vincas P. Stepanatis (1982)

References:

http://www.atada.org/ATADA_News2-07.html

http://history.fnal.gov/archaeology.html

Written by: Lillian Dolentz, 2009