John F. Szwed

1936-

John F. Szwed was born in Eutaw, Alabama in 1936. He was born to Victor and Virginia Szwed, and attended public school in Alabama and New Jersey until the age of seventeen, when he was entered Marietta College. His graduate studies were at Ohio State University, where he earned an M.A. in Communications and a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology.   His major interests were ethnomusicology and creolization, and he studied Anglo-French peasants in Newfoundland, and later, Afro-Americans in Trinidad and the Georgia Sea Islands. 

Szwed published his first book in 1966, "Private Cultures and Public Imagery: Interpersonal Relations in a Newfoundland Peasant Society." In 1970, he published "Afro-American Anthropology: Contemporary Perspectives." The work that John Szwed did with Afro-Americans earned him national recognition and he soon became a prominent writer. Over the next decade, Szwed wrote several other books including "Afro-American Folk Culture: An Annotated Bibliography," which was written in 1978, and "After Africa: Extracts from British Travel Accounts" in 1983. Aside from his own books, Szwed had many articles published in journals such as Ethnology, Phylon, The Journal of American Folklore, and Trans-action.

For a time John Szwed was the director of the Center for Urban Ethnography as well as the Associate Professor of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1982, he began teaching at Yale, where he served as the Director of Graduate studies in Anthropology as well as Acting Chair of African-American Studies. He has remained at Yale ever since, but has also become the president of the non-profit music production company Brilliant Corners, which is based in New York City.

Szwed taught as the University of Cincinnati, Lehigh University, Temple University, and then was director of the Center for Urban Ethnography, and Professor of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1982, he began teaching at Yale, where he has served as Director of Graduate Studies and Acting Chair in Anthropology, as well as Acting Chair of African-American Studies. He has also served as Louis Armstrong Visiting Professor at Columbia University.

In recent years John F. Szwed has published several other books: "Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra" in 1997; "So What: The Life of Miles Davis" was published in 2002; "Jazz 101" in 2000; "Crossovers: Essays on Race, Music, and American Culture" in 2005; "Blues for New Orleans: Mardi Gras and America's Creole Soul" in 2006; and "Doctor Jazz," a book included with the CD set, "Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax," 2005, for which he was awarded a Grammy in 2006.

References:

Black America. John F. Szwed. Basic books Inc. New York, NY. 1970

Afro-American Folk Culture: An anointed Bibliography. John f. Szwed. Basic Books Inc. New York, NY. 1978

Written by Caleb Tyner