Luther Sheeleigh Cressman (October 24, 1897 – April 4, 1994) was an American field archaeologist, most widely known for his discoveries at Paleo-Indian sites such as

Fort Rock Cave Fort Rock Cave was the site of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the US state of Oregon before the excavation of Paisley Caves. Fort Rock Cave featured numerous well-preserved sagebrush sandals, ranging from 9,000 to 13,000 years old. ...

and Paisley Caves, sites related to the early settlement of the Americas.

Early years

Cressman was born outside of

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

, the son of a physician. He was ordained an

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

priest in 1923. Majoring in Classics, he graduated with a B.A. degree from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in 1918. Feeling doubts about his vocation, he began studying sociology and anthropology at Columbia University in New York. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1928, and that same year, he left the priesthood.

Career

In 1929, he took a position as Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon. The Department of Anthropology was founded by him six years later. His first hire for the department was

Homer Barnett Homer Garner Barnett (1906 in Bisbee, Arizona – May 9, 1985) was an American anthropologist and teacher. Education He began his studies at Stanford in civil engineering but soon quit to rethink his major. When he returned to Stanford it wa ...

. Cressman was the chair of the department from 1935 until his retirement in 1963. He was the first professional archaeologist to excavate the Paisley Caves in 1938 and this research became his most significant discovery, when at the same year he discovered a pair of perfectly preserved shredded sagebrush bark sandals at Fort Rock in Oregon that were radiocarbon dated from 10,500 to 9,300 years old, making them the oldest footwear ever discovered. As late as 1962 he taught an Introduction to Anthropology course with another professor. At the first lecture the younger professor said he struggled with how to address Dr. Cressman. They were peers by PhDs so it would have been all right to use his first name but since Cressman was greatly senior he said it didn't seem right to call him Lou, and left it there. Dr. Cressman pointed out he didn't tell us what he called him. Dr. Cressman said, "He calls me, 'Doc'." Fort Rock Sandals OHS

His autobiography ''A Golden Journey: Memoirs of an Archaeologist'' was awarded the 1989

Oregon Book Award The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts to honor the "state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers. ...

for literary nonfiction.

Personal life

Cressman married anthropologist Margaret Mead in 1923; the couple divorced in 1927. He married Dorothy Cecelia Loch in 1928. They had one daughter and were married for 49 years, until her death in 1977. Cressman died on April 4, 1994, in Eugene, Oregon. A memorial service was held at

Gerlinger Hall Gerlinger Hall is a historic building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon as part of the Women's Memorial Quadrangle. For the first time, enough women were attending the University that they could occupy their own full quadrangle ...

on the UO campus on April 21 of that year.

Selected publications

*''Klamath Prehistory'' (1956, OCLC 1574790) *''The Sandal and the Cave'' (1962; 1981 reprint, ) *''Prehistory of the Far West: Homes of Vanished Peoples'' (1977, ) *''A Golden Journey: Memoirs of an Archaeologist'' (1988, )

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

John Alsop King John Alsop King (January 3, 1788July 7, 1867) was an American politician who was Governor of New York from 1857 to 1858. Life John Alsop King was born in the area now encompassed by New York City on January 3, 1788, to U.S. Senator Rufus King ...

Fellowship * Charles E. Johnson Memorial Award

References

Specific citations General references
Luther Cressman
at the Minnesota State University, Mankato *Bishop B. "Northwest Archaeologist Luther Cressman, 96, Dies". ''Eugene Register Grand'' 7 April 1994. *Dana T. " Oregon’s Luther Cressman Harbors no Regrets from Archaeological Storm". ''Oregonian'' 19 March 1987. *Ellis B., Dank H., "Anthropologist Luther Cressman Dies at age 96". ''Oregonian'' 8 April 1994. *Travis–Cline, S. "Remembering the Golden Journey". ''Oregon Heritage'' 1994.

External links

Guide to the Luther Cressman papers
at the University of Oregon {{DEFAULTSORT:Cressman, Luther 1897 births 1994 deaths University of Oregon faculty 20th-century American archaeologists People from Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania State University alumni Columbia University alumni