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{{Short description|American anthropologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Roland Burrage Dixon
|name = Roland Burrage Dixon
|image = Roland Burrage Dixon.png
|image = Roland Burrage Dixon.png
|image_size =
|caption = Roland Burrage Dixon
|caption = Roland Burrage Dixon
|birth_date = November 6, 1875
|birth_date = {{birth date|1875|11|6}}
|birth_place = [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts|Mass]]
|birth_place = [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts|Mass]]
|death_date = {{death-date and age|December 19, 1934|November 6, 1875}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1934|12|19|1875|11|6}}
|death_place =
|death_place =
|residence = |citizenship =
|residence =
|citizenship =
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
|ethnicity =
|ethnicity =
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|doctoral_students =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for =
|known_for =
|author_abbrev_bot =|author_abbrev_zoo =
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|influences =
|influences =
|influenced =
|influenced =
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}}
}}


'''Roland Burrage Dixon''' (November 6, 1875 – December 19, 1934) was an [[United States|American]] [[anthropology|anthropologist]].
'''Roland Burrage Dixon''' (November 6, 1875 – December 19, 1934) was an American [[anthropology|anthropologist]].


==Early life and education==
==Life==
Born at [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts|Mass]], in 1897 he graduated from Harvard University, where he remained as an assistant in anthropology, taking the degree of [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph. D.]] in 1900 and then serving as instructor and after 1906 as an assistant professor. He was vice president of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1910-11 and president of the [[American Folklore Society]] from 1907 to 1909. He was [[professor]] at [[Harvard University|Harvard]] after 1916 and member of the [[American Commission to Negotiate Peace]] (1916–18) in [[Paris]]. Professor Dixon was a contributor to [[anthropology|anthropological]] and [[ethnology|ethnological]] [[Academic journal|journals]].
Born at [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]], [[Massachusetts|Mass]], in 1897 he graduated from [[Harvard University]], where he remained as an assistant in anthropology, taking the degree of [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph. D.]] in 1900 and then serving as instructor and after 1906 as an assistant professor, rising to professor in 1915.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Collection: Roland B. Dixon lecture notes and class materials {{!}} HOLLIS for |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/11649 |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu}}</ref> Dixon spent his entire career at Harvard.


== Peabody Museum ==
⚫
Dixon was [[Franz Boas]]'s first doctoral student at Harvard, and Dixon's early papers represent some of the earliest work inspired by Boas' views on culture. However, Boas did not fully articulate his views on culture until 1911, thus Dixon's work is less influenced by Boasian views than that of many of Boas' later students. Indeed, Boas and Dixon's views of culture clashed in numerous instances, in particular, over whether modern 'Stone Age' cultures could be used as analogs for prehistoric archaeological cultures. Boas was strongly opposed to this view. Dixon's approach towards cultures was geographic in orientation, and generally viewed cultures as static entities, with change primarily being induced by migration. Dixon's geographical-historical approach was not taken up by any later anthropologists.
In 1904, Dixon became Librarian of Harvard's [[Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology|Peabody Museum]] and has been credited for creating one of the most "comprehensive and functional anthropological libraries in the world".<ref name=":0" /> In 1909 he became the Peabody Museum's Secretary and in 1912 its Curator of Ethnology.


== Influence of Franz Boas ==
⚫
Dixon was fellow Boas student [[Alfred Kroeber]]'s closest professional colleague from 1897 until about 1906. They coordinated closely, published a number of papers jointly, and had an explicit agreement not to duplicate one another's work, Dixon working on languages and cultures in northeastern California and the northern Sierra Nevada, Kroeber in the remainder of the state.<ref name=Golla>{{cite book
⚫
Dixon studied linguistics and ethnology under [[Franz Boas]] after working with [[Frederic Ward Putnam|Fredric Ward Putnam]] to obtain his PhD at Harvard.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bernstein|first=Bruce|date=1993|title=Roland Dixon and the Maidu|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1525/mua.1993.17.2.20|journal=Museum Anthropology|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=20–26|doi=10.1525/mua.1993.17.2.20|issn=1548-1379}}</ref> Dixon worked as a member of Boas's Jesup North Pacific Expedition, more specifically with the Huntington Expedition during the 1899-1905 field seasons with Native American groups in northeastern California. Dixon's early papers represent some of the earliest work inspired by Boas' views on culture. However, Boas did not fully articulate his views on culture until 1911, thus Dixon's work is less influenced by Boasian views than that of many of Boas' later students. Indeed, Boas and Dixon's views of culture clashed in numerous instances, in particular, over whether modern 'Stone Age' cultures could be used as analogs for prehistoric archaeological cultures. Boas was strongly opposed to this view. Dixon's approach towards cultures was geographic in orientation, and generally viewed cultures as static entities, with change primarily being induced by migration. Dixon's geographical-historical approach was not taken up by any later anthropologists.

== Collaboration ==
⚫
Dixon was fellow Boas student [[Alfred Kroeber]]'s closest professional colleague from 1897 until about 1906. They coordinated closely, published a number of papers jointly, and had an explicit agreement not to duplicate one another's work, Dixon working on languages and cultures in northeastern California and the northern Sierra Nevada, Kroeber in the remainder of the state.<ref name="Golla">{{cite book
| last =Golla
| last =Golla
| first =Victor
| first =Victor
| authorlink =
| title =California Indian Languages
| title =California Indian Languages
| publisher =University of California Press
| publisher =University of California Press
| edition =
| date =2011
| date =2011
| location =Berkeley and Los Angeles
| location =Berkeley and Los Angeles
| pages =38–39
| pages =38–39
| language =
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn =978-0-520-26667-4
| isbn =978-0-520-26667-4
⚫
}}</ref>
| mr =
| zbl =
⚫
| jfm = }}</ref>


== Travel and field work ==
⚫
Obituaries by fellow anthropologists ascribed to Dixon an icy and demanding personality, with an attitude of "unsympathetic impartiality, of ruthless condemnation, or of detached approval."<ref name=kroeber1936obit>{{cite journal|last=Tozzer|first=A.M.|title=Roland Burrage Dixon|journal=American Anthropologist|series=New Series|year=1936|volume=38|issue=2|pages=291–300|doi=10.1525/aa.1936.38.2.02a00100}}</ref>
Dixon later travelled to . He also carried out ethnographic research in Siberia and Mongolia (1901); New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, and Fuji (1909); Mexico (1910); Himalayas, Assam and Upper Burma, the Malay Peninsula and Java, China and Japan (1912-13).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1935 |title=Obituary - Roland Burrage Dixon |url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/proceedings/44806912.pdf |journal=The Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=13–14}}</ref>


==Works==
== Ideas on race ==
Dixon was influenced in his ideas about race by his mentor, Putnam, who had been trained by [[Louis Agassiz]] and both of these 19th century anthropologists handed down a tradition of viewing the races as separate species. In his 1923 book, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wdcDAAAAMAAJ The Racial History of Man]'', Dixon disavowed earlier creationist [[polygenism]] while embracing a new evolutionary view of the races as coming from different fossil ancestors giving rise to different species of humans.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wolpoff|first1=Milford|title=Race and human evolution|last2=Caspari|first2=Rachel|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1997|isbn=9780684810133|location=New York|pages=142–143}}</ref>

== Recognition ==
In 1910, Dixon was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Roland+B.+Dixon&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was vice president of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1910–1911 and president of the [[American Folklore Society]] from 1907 to 1908.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past AFS Presidents |url=https://americanfolkloresociety.org/about/board/past-afs-presidents/ |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=The American Folklore Society |language=en-US}}</ref> He was [[professor]] at [[Harvard University|Harvard]] after 1916 and member of the [[American Commission to Negotiate Peace]] (1916–1918) in [[Paris]].<ref name=":0" /> Professor Dixon was a contributor to [[anthropology|anthropological]] and [[ethnology|ethnological]] [[Academic journal|journals]].

== Reputation ==
⚫
Obituaries by fellow anthropologists ascribed to Dixon an icy and demanding personality, with an attitude of "unsympathetic impartiality, of ruthless condemnation, or of detached approval."<ref name="kroeber1936obit">{{cite journal|last=Tozzer|first=A.M.|title=Roland Burrage Dixon|journal=American Anthropologist|series=New Series|year=1936|volume=38|issue=2|pages=291–300|doi=10.1525/aa.1936.38.2.02a00100|doi-access=}}</ref>

==Selected works==
* ''Maidu Myths'' (1902)
* ''Maidu Myths'' (1902)
* ''The Chimariko]Indians and Language'' (1910)
* ''The Chimariko Indians and Language'' (1910)
* ''Maidu Texts'' (1912)
* ''Maidu Texts'' (1912)
* ''Oceanic Mythology'' (myths of the [[Indonesia]]n, [[Oceania]]n, [[Australia]]n region, published in 1916)
* ''Oceanic Mythology'' [https://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/om/index.htm] (myths of the [[Indonesia]]n, [[Oceania]]n, [[Australia]]n region, published in 1916)
* ''Racial History of Man'' (1923)
* ''Racial History of Man'' (1923)

== Archive ==
Dixon's ethnology and also his lecture notes and class materials are held at the [[Harvard University Archives]].<ref name=":0" />


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
<references />


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/dixon_roland.html Profile (Minnesota State University eMuseum)]
* http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1936.38.2.02a00100/pdf
* http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1936.38.2.02a00100/pdf

* {{NIE}}
* {{NIE}}


{{American Anthropological Association presidents|state=uncollapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:Linguists of Algic languages]]

[[Category:Linguists of Hokan languages]]

[[Category:Linguists of Penutian languages]]
{{US-academic-scientist-stub}}
[[Category:Linguists of Maiduan languages]]
[[Category:Linguists of Chimariko]]
[[Category:Historical linguists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Folklore Society]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]

Latest revision as of 01:06, 28 May 2024

Roland Burrage Dixon
Roland Burrage Dixon
Born(1875-11-06)November 6, 1875
Worcester, Mass
DiedDecember 19, 1934(1934-12-19) (aged 59)
NationalityAmerican
Scientific career
Fieldsanthropologist

Roland Burrage Dixon (November 6, 1875 – December 19, 1934) was an American anthropologist.

Early life and education

[edit]

Born at Worcester, Mass, in 1897 he graduated from Harvard University, where he remained as an assistant in anthropology, taking the degree of Ph. D. in 1900 and then serving as instructor and after 1906 as an assistant professor, rising to professor in 1915.[1] Dixon spent his entire career at Harvard.

Peabody Museum

[edit]

In 1904, Dixon became Librarian of Harvard's Peabody Museum and has been credited for creating one of the most "comprehensive and functional anthropological libraries in the world".[1] In 1909 he became the Peabody Museum's Secretary and in 1912 its Curator of Ethnology.

Influence of Franz Boas

[edit]

Dixon studied linguistics and ethnology under Franz Boas after working with Fredric Ward Putnam to obtain his PhD at Harvard.[2] Dixon worked as a member of Boas's Jesup North Pacific Expedition, more specifically with the Huntington Expedition during the 1899-1905 field seasons with Native American groups in northeastern California. Dixon's early papers represent some of the earliest work inspired by Boas' views on culture. However, Boas did not fully articulate his views on culture until 1911, thus Dixon's work is less influenced by Boasian views than that of many of Boas' later students. Indeed, Boas and Dixon's views of culture clashed in numerous instances, in particular, over whether modern 'Stone Age' cultures could be used as analogs for prehistoric archaeological cultures. Boas was strongly opposed to this view. Dixon's approach towards cultures was geographic in orientation, and generally viewed cultures as static entities, with change primarily being induced by migration. Dixon's geographical-historical approach was not taken up by any later anthropologists.

Collaboration

[edit]

Dixon was fellow Boas student Alfred Kroeber's closest professional colleague from 1897 until about 1906. They coordinated closely, published a number of papers jointly, and had an explicit agreement not to duplicate one another's work, Dixon working on languages and cultures in northeastern California and the northern Sierra Nevada, Kroeber in the remainder of the state.[3]

Travel and field work

[edit]

Dixon later travelled to . He also carried out ethnographic research in Siberia and Mongolia (1901); New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, and Fuji (1909); Mexico (1910); Himalayas, Assam and Upper Burma, the Malay Peninsula and Java, China and Japan (1912-13).[1][4]

Ideas on race

[edit]

Dixon was influenced in his ideas about race by his mentor, Putnam, who had been trained by Louis Agassiz and both of these 19th century anthropologists handed down a tradition of viewing the races as separate species. In his 1923 book, The Racial History of Man, Dixon disavowed earlier creationist polygenism while embracing a new evolutionary view of the races as coming from different fossil ancestors giving rise to different species of humans.[5]

Recognition

[edit]

In 1910, Dixon was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[6] He was vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1910–1911 and president of the American Folklore Society from 1907 to 1908.[7] He was professor at Harvard after 1916 and member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace (1916–1918) in Paris.[1] Professor Dixon was a contributor to anthropological and ethnological journals.

Reputation

[edit]

Obituaries by fellow anthropologists ascribed to Dixon an icy and demanding personality, with an attitude of "unsympathetic impartiality, of ruthless condemnation, or of detached approval."[8]

Selected works

[edit]
  • Maidu Myths (1902)
  • The Chimariko Indians and Language (1910)
  • Maidu Texts (1912)
  • Oceanic Mythology [1] (myths of the Indonesian, Oceanian, Australian region, published in 1916)
  • Racial History of Man (1923)

Archive

[edit]

Dixon's ethnology and also his lecture notes and class materials are held at the Harvard University Archives.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Collection: Roland B. Dixon lecture notes and class materials | HOLLIS for". hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  2. ^ Bernstein, Bruce (1993). "Roland Dixon and the Maidu". Museum Anthropology. 17 (2): 20–26. doi:10.1525/mua.1993.17.2.20. ISSN 1548-1379.
  3. ^ Golla, Victor (2011). California Indian Languages. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-520-26667-4.
  4. ^ "Obituary - Roland Burrage Dixon" (PDF). The Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. 45 (1): 13–14. 1935.
  5. ^ Wolpoff, Milford; Caspari, Rachel (1997). Race and human evolution. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 142–143. ISBN 9780684810133.
  6. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  7. ^ "Past AFS Presidents". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  8. ^ Tozzer, A.M. (1936). "Roland Burrage Dixon". American Anthropologist. New Series. 38 (2): 291–300. doi:10.1525/aa.1936.38.2.02a00100.
[edit]
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