David Park McAllester (6 August 1916 – 30 April 2006) was an American

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

and Professor of Anthropology and Music at Wesleyan University, where he taught from 1947–1986. He contributed to the development of the field of

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

through his studies of Navajo and Comanche musics, and he helped to establish the ethnomusicology department and the World Music Program at Wesleyan. His recordings of

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

and

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

music led to the establishment of the World Music Archives at the University.

Biography

He was born on 6 August 1916 in Everett, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1938 and entered the Juilliard School. However, he was doing anthropological field work during the summers at the same time and in 1940 decided not to pursue a career in music, instead enrolling in a Ph.D. program in anthropology at Columbia University. While in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, he joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and remained a member for his entire life. In the Second World War, as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, he applied for and received exemption from military draft, and worked with the Civilian Public Service. After the war, he returned to Columbia. He accepted a teaching position at Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1947, while still working on his degree. He was awarded the Ph.D. in 1950. Along with Alan Merriam,

Willard Rhodes Willard Rhodes (1901 – May 15, 1992) was an American Ethnomusicology, ethnomusicologist. He is known for his extensive recording of Native Americans in the United States, American Indian music between 1939 and 1952. Rhodes grew up in Dunkirk, ...

, and Charles Seeger, he founded the Society for Ethnomusicology in 1955. He specialized in Native American music, and did field work on the

reservation for many years in the summer. He partially retired in 1979 and retired fully in 1986 to a home in the Berkshires. He died on 30 April 2006 in Monterey, Massachusetts.

External links

Guide to the David McAllester Papers, 1940 - 1996

''Behind the Scenes of the Ethnomusicology Dept.,'' by Justin Pottle, September 22, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAllester, David P. American ethnomusicologists 1916 births 2006 deaths Harvard College alumni Columbia University alumni Wesleyan University faculty American conscientious objectors Members of the Civilian Public Service Juilliard School alumni 20th-century American musicologists