Isabel Truesdell Kelly (1906–1982) was an American

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

known for her work with the members of the Coast Miwok tribe, members of the

Chemehuevi The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute.

people in the 1920s and 1930s, and her work later in life as an archaeologist working in

Sinaloa, Mexico Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

. She was trained by anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Kelly was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships for the academic years 1940–1941 and 1941–1942. In 1946 she was appointed Ethnologist-in-Charge of the Mexico city office of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's Institute of Social Anthropology (ISA). She taught at the ISA and, with the assistance of students, did research among the

Totonac The Totonac are an indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a city wh ...

in the Mexica state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. The ISA was started in 1943 and disbanded at the end of 1952 — at that time Kelly and the ISA's other remaining anthropologists were transferred to the Institute of Inter-American affairs. Her papers are on file today in the DeGolyer Library at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Publications

Most widely held works by Kelly:https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80106725/ * ''The carver's art of the Indians of northwestern California'', 1930 * ''Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute'', 1932 * ''Excavations at Culiacán, Sinaloa '', 1945 * ''The archaeology of the Autlán-Tuxcacuesco area of Jalisco'', 1945 * ''Excavations at Apatzingan, Michoacan'', 1947 * ''The Tajin Totonac'', 1952 * ''Folk practices in north Mexico; birth customs, folk medicine, and spiritualism in the Laguna Zone'', 1965 * ''The Hodges Ruin : a Hohokam community in the Tucson Basin'', 1978 * ''Ceramic sequence in Colima : Capacha, an early phase'', 1980 * ''Isabel T. Kelly's Southern Paiute Ethnographic Field Notes, 1932-1934, Las Vegas'', 2016

References

External links

Isabel T. Kelly Ethnographic Archive digital collection
Southern Methodist University

Isabel T. Kelly's Southern Paiute Ethnographic Field Notes, 1932-1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Isabel 1906 births 1982 deaths American women anthropologists 20th-century American anthropologists American women archaeologists 20th-century American archaeologists University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century women writers 20th-century American women