Ruth Sawtell Wallis (15 March 1895 – 21 January 1978) was an American academic and

physical anthropologist Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...

Biography

Wallis was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, to Joseph Otis Sawtell and Grace Quimby. She graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

in 1919 with a bachelor's degree in English. She then attended the school's graduate program in anthropology, traveling to Europe on a science fellowship to do research. She was the first to discover Azilian remains in France, uncovering two at Montardit, Ariège. Upon her return to the United States, Wallis switched to the anthropology program at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

under

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

. She assisted in one of Boas's most famous studies, an examination of head circumference and changes in head shape among immigrants. She then began studying growth and anthropometrics of young children; her doctoral thesis on that topic "remains a standard study widely quoted today". She was hired by the anthropology department at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1930. She married Wilson Dallam Wallis, a professor of anthropology at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, in 1931, and took an assistant professorship in sociology at

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...

. Ruth was later dismissed because "it was unthinkable to have two employed academics in one family during the Depression". On behalf of the

Bureau of Home Economics The Bureau of Home Economics, later known as the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, was a division of the US Department of Agriculture that supported homemaker activities in the early 20th century. The bureau developed recipes, collec ...

, she undertook the largest ever study of children's growth, which resulted in the standardization of sizing for children's clothes. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, Wallis examined labor statistics for the War Manpower Commission and helped coordinate the Japanese Language and Culture Program for the Army. She also began writing mystery novels. She helped create an ethnography of the Micmac in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in the 1950s, and studied other native peoples in both Canada and the United States. After moving to Connecticut with her family, Ruth became a sociology lecturer at

Annhurst College Annhurst College was a private American Catholic college in South Woodstock, Connecticut, which operated from 1941 to 1980. The school was founded and administered by the Daughters of the Holy Spirit (at that time known as the Daughters of the Ho ...

in 1956; she eventually became a full professor before retiring in 1974.

Works

* ''Primitive Hearths in the Pyrenees'' (1927) (with Ida Treat) * "Ossification and Growth of Children from One to Eight Years of Age". ''American Journal of Diseases of Children'' 37:61-87 (1929) * ''Azilian Skeletal Remains from Montardit (Ariege) France'' (1931) * ''Too Many Bones'' (1943), Dodd Mead; Dell

mapback Mapback is a term used by paperback collectors to refer to the earliest paperback books published by Dell Books, beginning in 1943. The books are known as mapbacks because the back cover of the book contains a map that illustrates the location ...

#123 (1946) * ''No Bones About It'' (1944), Dodd Mead; Bantam #72, 1946 (series character Eric Lund) * ''Blood from a Stone'' (1945), Dodd Mead, Bantam #109, 1947 * ''Cold Bed in the Clay'' (1947), Dodd Mead (Eric Lund) * ''Forget My Fate'' (1950), Dodd Mead (Eric Lund)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Ruth Sawtell 1895 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American novelists American mystery writers American women novelists Writers from Springfield, Massachusetts Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers Radcliffe College alumni Columbia University alumni Novelists from Massachusetts 20th-century American anthropologists