Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge II (December 19, 1901 – August 2, 1963) was an American writer and

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 ...

. In 1925 he explored early Olmec sites in Mexico, and later studied additional sites in Central America and the American Southwest. In addition to more than 15 scholarly works, mostly about Native Americans, he wrote several novels, including the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning, '' Laughing Boy'' (1929). La Farge also wrote and published short stories, in such leading magazines as ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. His more notable works, both fiction and non-fiction, emphasize Native American culture. He was most familiar with the

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 ...

people, had a speaking knowledge of their language, and was nicknamed by them 'Anast'harzi Nez', i.e. "Tall Cliff-Dweller".

Early life and education

Oliver La Farge was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

but grew up in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. He was the son of

Christopher Grant La Farge Heins & LaFarge was a New York-based architectural firm composed of the Philadelphia-born architect George Lewis Heins (1860–1907) and Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), the eldest son of the artist John La Farge. They were respons ...

, a noted Beaux-Arts architect, and Florence Bayard Lockwood. His older brother

Christopher La Farge Christopher Grant La Farge Jr. (December 10, 1897 – January 5, 1956) was an American novelist and poet known for writing verse novels that chronicled life in Rhode Island. Early life and education Christopher Grant La Farge was born in New Y ...

became a writer and was a novelist. La Farge and his paternal uncle, architect Oliver H. P. La Farge, were both named for a great-great-grandfather, Oliver Hazard Perry. La Farge received both his Bachelor of Arts degree (1924) and his master's degree (1929) from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

La Farge worked as a writer and an

. In 1925, he traveled with the Danish archeologist Frans Blom, who taught at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, to what is now known as the

Olmec heartland The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest. It i ...

. He (re)discovered San Martin Pajapan Monument 1 and, more importantly, the ruins of La Venta, one of the major Olmec centers. La Farge devoted considerable study to Native American peoples and issues, especially after relocating to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, in 1933. He became a champion for American Indian rights and was president of the

Association on American Indian Affairs The Association on American Indian Affairs (originally the American Indian Defense Association) is a nonprofit human rights charity located in Rockville, Maryland. Founded in 1922, it is dedicated to protecting the rights of Native Americans in ...

for several years.. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, La Farge served with the U.S. Air Transport Command, ending service with the rank of major. He participated with the Battle for

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, commanded by Colonel

Bernt Balchen Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Distingu ...

. Balchen, together with Corey Ford and La Farge, wrote ''War Below Zero: The Battle for Greenland'' (1944) about the actions to defend Greenland.

Marriage and family

La Farge married heiress Wanden Matthews and had two children with her: a son, Oliver Albee La Farge (b. 1931, later known as

Peter La Farge Peter La Farge (born Oliver Albee La Farge, April 30, 1931 – October 27, 1965) was a New York City-based folk music, folksinger and songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s. He is known best for his affiliations with Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Early l ...

and a daughter, Povy. They relocated to Santa Fe in 1933, but Wanden disliked the area and they eventually divorced in 1937. Their first son, Oliver Albee, became estranged from his father and changed his name to

. He relocated to New York City, where he became a well-known folksinger and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, performing during the 1950s and 1960s. Some of his most successful songs have Native American themes including a famous one, "As Long As The Grass Shall Grow", which takes its name from the title of one of his father's books. La Farge married a second time, to Consuelo Otile Baca, with whom he had a son, John Pendaries "Pen" La Farge. La Farge's non-fiction book ''Behind The Mountains'' (1956) is based on his memories of Consuelo's family, the

Baca family of New Mexico The progenitors of the Baca family of New Mexico were Cristóbal Baca (Vaca) and his wife Ana Ortiz. Cristóbal was a military captain from Mexico City, who arrived in 1600 with his family to help reinforce the Spanish colonial Santa Fe de Nuevo ...

who were ranchers in northern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. He wrote a regular column for the Santa Fe newspaper, ''The New Mexican.'' Some of his columns were collected and published as ''The Man With the Calabash Pipe'' (1966). La Farge died in Santa Fe in 1963, at the age of 61.

Legacy and honors

for fiction for '' Laughing Boy'' (1929). *Dedicated "Oliver La Farge" branch of the Santa Fe Public Library system.

Works

Non-fiction

* ''Tribes and Temples'' (with Frans Blom) 1926-27 * ''The Year Bearer's People'' (with Douglas Byers) 1931 * ''Introduction to American Indian Art'' (with John Sloan) 1931 * ''An Alphabet for Writing the Navajo Language'', 1940 * ''As Long As The Grass Can Grow - Indians Today'', with photographs by Helen M. Post, 1940 * ''The Changing Indian'' (editor) 1942 * ''War Below Zero: The Battle for Greenland'' (Colonel

, with Major Corey Ford), 1944 * ''Santa Eulalia: The Religion of a Cuchumatan Indian Town'' (1947) * ''The Eagle in the Egg'', 1949 * ''Cochise of Arizona'', 1953 * ''The Mother Ditch'', 1954 * ''A Pictorial History of the American Indian'' (1956) * ''Behind the Mountains'' (1956) * ''Santa Fe: The Autobiography of a Southwestern Town'' (with Arthur N. Morgan) 1959

Fiction and personal

* '' Laughing Boy'' (1929), novel; it was adapted for the 1934 motion picture of the same name. * ''Sparks Fly Upward'' (1931), novel. *''Long Pennant'' (1933), novel. * ''All the Young Men'' (1935), collection of short stories. * ''The Enemy Gods'' (1937), novel. *''The Copper Pot'' (1942), novel. * ''Raw Material'' (1945), a memoir. * ''A Pause in the Desert'' (1957), collection of short stories. *''The Door in the Wall'' (1965), collection of short stories. * ''The Man With the Calabash Pipe'' (collected columns, edited by

Winfield Townley Scott Winfield Townley Scott (April 30, 1910 – April 28, 1968) was an American poet and diarist. He also worked as a newspaperman and book reviewer. Biography Scott was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, seven days after the arrival of Halley's Co ...

), 1966

Translation

*''A Man's Place'' (1940), translation of ''El lugar de un hombre,'' by

Ramón J. Sender Ramón José Sender Garcés (3 February 1901 – 16 January 1982) was a Spanish novelist, essayist and journalist. Several of his works were translated into English by the distinguished zoologist, Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, including ''Seven ...

References

External links

An Inventory of the Oliver La Farge Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Excerpts from ''Tribes and Temples''
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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Farge, Oliver 1901 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Mesoamericanists 20th-century American novelists American columnists American Mesoamericanists American short story writers Harvard University alumni Mesoamerican anthropologists Olmec scholars Writers from Newport, Rhode Island Perry family Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners Writers from New York City American male novelists American male short story writers Novelists from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century American male writers La Farge family Burials at Santa Fe National Cemetery Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters