Sarah Roberts "Sallie" Wagner (June 7, 1913 – August 20, 2006) was an American anthropologist, businesswoman, activist, filmmaker, and arts patron. She was one of the founding members of the
Society for American Archaeology
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is a professional association for the archaeology of the Americas. It was founded in 1934 and its headquarters are in based in Washington, D.C. , it has 7,500 members. Its current president is Deborah L. ...
in 1934.
Early life and education
Sarah Roberts "Sallie" Wagner was born in
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...
, the daughter of Dwight Wagner and Elsie Whitaker Wagner. She began amateur archaeological explorations in her youth, collecting artifacts from her family's farm and along the
Ohio River. She attended boarding school in Washington, D.C., and earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
in 1936.
Career
While she was still a student, Wagner became one of the founding members of the Society for American Archaeology.
After college, she worked in Arizona at the
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting on ...
, with her husband. From 1938 to 1950, the couple ran the Wide Ruins Trading Post north of
Chambers, Arizona
Chambers is an unincorporated community in Apache County, Arizona, United States. Chambers is located at the junction of Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 191, northeast of Holbrook. Chambers has a post office with ZIP code 86502.
History
Chambe ...
. She made 16mm films documenting their lives at the trading post. They sold the post to the Navajo Tribal Government in 1950. She wrote a memoir of those years, ''Wide Ruins: Memories from a Navajo Trading Post'' (1997).
After 1950, Wagner was associated with the
Museum of International Folk Art
The Museum of International Folk Art is a state-run institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It is one of many cultural institutions operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
History
The museum was founded by Flore ...
in Santa Fe. She promoted and supported the work of local and indigenous artists, including Navajo painter
Beatien Yazz
Beatien Yazz (born March 5, 1928), also called Jimmy Toddy, is a Navajo American painter born near Wide Ruins, Arizona. He exhibited his work around the world and is known for his paintings of animals and people and for his children's book illu ...
, composer
Lucia Dlugoszewski, and dancer
Erick Hawkins
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univer ...
.
She served on boards of trustees and boards of directors for many cultural and educational organizations based in Santa Fe, including the
Santa Fe Preparatory School
Santa Fe Preparatory School is a private school located in Santa Fe, New Mexico The school provides grades 7-12 with an enrollment of 340 students. It was founded in February 1961.
History
The school was founded in February 1961. The school op ...
, the
Historic Santa Fe Foundation, the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs, the International Folk Art Foundation,
and the
School of Advanced Research.
She organized the photograph files of the
Museum of New Mexico The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions : the Palace of the Governors state history museum, the New Mexico Museum o ...
and the New Mexico State Records Center.
She helped establish the Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center,
St. John's College, and the Santa Fe Animal Shelter. She created a 19-acre easement called "Sallie's Hill", and donated the land to the Santa Fe Conservation Trust.
In 1990 Wagner was honored as a Guardian of Cultural Heritage by Santa Fe Living Treasures. In 1998 she gave an oral history interview to the United Indian Traders Association Oral History Project at
Northern Arizona University. Also in 1998, the School for Advanced Research named a visiting scholar residence after her.
Homes
At least two of Wagner's homes were recognized for their architectural significance. The 1951 Lippincott-Wagner home in
Williams, Oregon
Williams is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,072.
There were three different post offices in the area named for their proxi ...
, designed by Winfield Scott Wellington, is "considered one of the finest examples of post-World War II Contemporary architectural design in Southern Oregon"; musician
Steve Miller owned in the house from 1976 to 1986, and it was registered with the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2015.
Her Spanish pueblo-style home in Santa Fe was designed and built by aviator
Katherine Stinson
Katherine Stinson (February 14, 1891 – July 8, 1977) was an aviation pioneer who in 1912 became the fourth woman in the United States to earn the FAI pilot certificate. She set flying records for aerobatic maneuvers, distance, and endurance. ...
in 1929.
Personal life and legacy
Wagner married archaeologist William Julian Lippincott in 1936. During World War II, Wagner lived in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
, while her husband was serving in the United States Navy.
[National Register of Historic Places Registration Form]
William J. Lippincott and Sarah Wagner House
(May 18, 2015). They divorced in the 1960s. She died from cancer in 2006, aged 93 years, in Santa Fe.
The
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
has a small collection of Wagner's papers, mostly involving her support for the dance company run by Erick Hawkins.
The Indian Arts Research Center at the School of Advanced Research established the Sallie R. Wagner Indigenous American Fellowship in her honor in 2004; winners have included musician
Robert Mirabal
Robert Mirabal (born October 6, 1966) is a Pueblo musician and Native American flute player and maker from Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.
His flutes are world-renowned and have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Ind ...
and Guatemalan ceramicist Carlos Chaclán.
References
External links
A Woman's Manta/Dressby Margaret L. Jojola, purchased from Sallie R. Wagner in 1961 for the
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
, Smithsonian Institution
"Jimmy Toddy (Beatien Yazz) and Sallie Lippincott at Four Corners marker, New Mexico" a 1940s photograph, in the New Mexico Digital Collections
Photo albumsmaintained by Sallie Wagner at the Wide Ruins trading post between 1938 and 1950, in the collection of the Cline Library,
Northern Arizona University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Sallie
1913 births
2006 deaths
People from Wheeling, West Virginia
American anthropologists
American women writers
People from Santa Fe, New Mexico
University of Chicago alumni