Franz Boas, An Anthropological Pioneer

Franz Boas: An Anthropological Pioneer
Often referred to as the “father of modern anthropology”, Franz Boas is best known for establishing the area of cultural anthropology. Having possessed a scientific background with a doctorate in physics, he was one of the first scientists of his day to question the beliefs behind social Darwinism and scientific racism, and try to come to an understanding regarding the differences among people and their cultures. Boas dedicated his life to the study of anthropology, and he used his knowledge and drive to establish anthropology at academic institutions such as Columbia University. Here, Boas helped shape the minds of many of his students who would soon become very influential anthropologists. Born into …show more content…
The goals of the revolution, which were strong liberal ideals, were very prominent in Boas. However, due to an unsuccessful revolutionary movement, many German nationals, including some of Boas’s family, immigrated to America in search of the ideals that were a living force within his world. The ideals of freedom of speech, religion, and press were prominent with the Boas family. Boas’s family were very influential on his way of thinking starting at a young age. In Herbert Lewis’s article titled, “Franz Boas: Boon or Bane?” Lewis quotes a young Boas telling his mother, “And what I want, what I will live and die for, is equal rights for all, equal opportunities to [work] and strive for poor and rich!” (186). Even from a young age, Boas expressed his ambitions to do something positive for humanity. Known primarily for is ideas of cultural relativism and equality is what drove Boas to become known across the world. Being brought up in a time of cultural suppression that opposed freethinking individuals greatly contributed to Boas’s thinking towards racism and ethnocentrism. Strongly believing in the ideas of human rights and equal rights, Boas often undertook many projects to confront these issues. His ideals that surrounded him in his childhood home carried his drive for equality even into his last …show more content…
His mother, who was an educator and a feminist, was especially influential on the shaping of Boas’s future thinking (Lewis). Boas, unlike many other scientists of his time, was advanced in his thinking about gender, women specifically. In his article titled, “Franz Boas: The anthropologist as Public Intellectual”, Stephen Whitfield states, “probably more women anthropologists were trained at Columbia under Boas during the first 20 years of the new century than at any other university in the country” (432). Women played a powerful role in Boas’s life. His mother, along with other women in his life, shaped his ideas of equality and common humanity. Boas also had many other influences as he was maturing through life. Dr. Mary Putnam was a strong advocate for the suffragist movement. Carl Schurz was an advocate of voting rights for Negroes and he worked on the Reform for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Lewis states, “It is apparent that he gathered around him individuals who held similar values, and this set the tone for a field which was remarkable, in its time, for its rejection of “scientific” racism and ethnocentrism” (186). Boas’s idea of cultural relativism and his fight for equality was strongly influenced by the people in his