Sol Tax (30 October 1907 – 4 January 1995) 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 ...
. He is best known for creating action anthropology and his studies of the
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...
, or Fox, Indians, for "action-anthropological" research titled the Fox Project, and for founding the academic journal ''
Current Anthropology
''Current Anthropology'' is a peer-reviewed anthropology academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press for the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Founded in 1959 by the anthropologist Sol Tax1907-1995. ''Current A ...
.'' He received his doctorate from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1935 and, together with
Fred Eggan
Frederick Russell Eggan (September 12, 1906 in Seattle, Washington – May 7, 1991) was an American anthropologist best known for his innovative application of the principles of British social anthropology to the study of Native American tribes. ...
, was a student of
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA (born Alfred Reginald Brown; 17 January 1881 – 24 October 1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped further develop the theory of structural functionalism.
Biography
Alfred Reginald Radcli ...
.
Early life
Tax grew up in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
. During his formative years he was involved in a number of social clubs. Among these was the Newsboys Republic with which his first encounter was when he was "arrested" for breaking their rules. Tax began his undergraduate education at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
but had to leave for lack of funds. He returned to school at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
, where he studied with
Ralph Linton
Ralph Linton (27 February 1893 – 24 December 1953) was an American anthropologist of the mid-20th century, particularly remembered for his texts ''The Study of Man'' (1936) and ''The Tree of Culture'' (1955). One of Linton's major contributio ...
. He later earned a doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1935.
He joined the faculty of that institution in 1940 where he spent several decades teaching.
Tax was a mentor to noted anthropologist Joan Ablon at the University of Chicago.
Career
He was the main organizer for the
1959 Darwin Centennial Celebration held at the University of Chicago. He was an organizer, along with the National Congress of American Indians, including Native American organizer
Willard LaMere
Willard LaMere (1918 – November 29, 1990) was a Native American community organizer and educational leader in Chicago, Illinois in the mid twentieth century, a period when the US government's Indian termination policy encouraged Native American ...
,
of the 1961 American Indian Chicago Conference. He assisted in authoring the resultin
Statement of Indian Purpose the first major statement of the policy of tribal self-determination.
Honors
The
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...
presented to him and
Bela Maday its
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 ...
award for exemplary service to
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
in 1977. He was the association's president in 1959.
Action Anthropology
Sol Tax is known as a founder of "Action Anthropology", a school of anthropological thought that forwent the traditional doctrine of non-interference in favor of co-equal goals of "learning and helping" from studied cultures.
As an example, he was a lead organizer of the influential 1961 American Indian Chicago Conference (AICC).
The meeting brought together 460 American Indians from 90 tribes from June 13 to June 20, 1961 at the University of Chicago to help "all Indians of the whole nation to express their own views" and draft a shared "Declaration of Indian Purpose." President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
received the declaration in a ceremony at the White House in 1962. The spirit of self-determination expressed in the document became a cornerstone of Native activism in the years that followed, including the
Red Power movement
The Red Power movement was a social movement led by Native American youth to demand self-determination for Native Americans in the United States. Organizations that were part of Red Power Movement included American Indian Movement (AIM) and N ...
and the expansion of
Native American gaming
Native American gaming comprises casinos, bingo halls, and other gambling operations on Indian reservations or other tribal lands in the United States. Because these areas have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling th ...
.
When in 1974, the Chicago
Native American Committee
The Native American Committee (NAC) was an educational group in Chicago, Illinois, that created life-long learning programs and institutions for Native Americans. It was most notable for founding the Native American Educational Services College, ...
established the
Native American Educational Services College, (NAES College) Tax served on the original Academic Review Committee. As the college grew, the Academic Review Committee was converted into a Board of Directors in 1978. Tax accepted an invitation to join, and he served on the committee until 1993, not long before his death. NAES credited Tax with playing a "key role in helping define a vision of Indian higher education as the basis for community development in culturally relevant terms." Tax's particular contribution was the core idea of field projects in the NAES curriculum.
Works
*(1937, revised 1955) contributions to ''Social Anthropology of North American Tribes,'' ed. by Fred Eggan. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...
.
Robert A., ed. 2001. ''Doing Fieldwork: The Correspondence of Robert Redfield and Sol Tax,'' New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.*(1953, revised 1972) ''Penny Capitalism; a Guatemalan Indian economy'' . Tax is said to have coined the term '
Penny capitalism'.
*(1988
and Puzzlement: A Retro-introspective Record of 60 Years of Anthropology''Annual Review of Anthropology
The ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' is an academic journal that publishes review articles of significant developments in anthropology and its subfields. First published by Stanford University Press in 1959 under the name the ''Biennial Review of ...
See also
*
Bronislaw Malinowski Award The Bronislaw Malinowski Award is an award given by the US-based Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) in honor of Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942), an original member and strong supporter of the Society. Briefly established in 1950, the awar ...
*
Sol Tax Distinguished Service Award
References
External links
Sol Tax - Fort Berthold Action Anthropology Project National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sol Tax - Fox field notes and Fox Project records 1932–1959 National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Obituary: Sol Tax, Anthropology* Tax, Sol. 1963
Penny Capitalism: A Guatemalan Indian Economy The University of Chicago Press.
Guide to the Sol Tax Papers 1923-1989at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research CenterGuide to the Native American Educational Services Sol Tax Papers 1908-1993at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tax, Sol
1907 births
1995 deaths
Scientists from Milwaukee
Presidents of the American Anthropological Association
University of Chicago faculty
University of Chicago alumni
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Writers from Chicago
Writers from Milwaukee
20th-century American anthropologists
American Anthropologist editors