Anthony Wallace
Anthony F. C. Wallace was a Canadian-American anthropologist and historian recognized for his extensive work on American Indian culture, particularly focusing on the Iroquois and the Seneca. Born in Toronto in 1923, he was deeply influenced by his father's academic background in history and ethnology from a young age. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he pursued higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, eventually earning a PhD. Wallace's notable contributions include his influential book, *The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca*, the result of two decades of research.
Throughout his career, Wallace explored various anthropological themes, notably developing the theory of "revitalization movements," which examines the conscious efforts of societies to regenerate their cultures. He also investigated the societal impacts of housing and technology, earning accolades such as the Bancroft Prize for his psychoanthropological study, *Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village in the Early Industrial Revolution*. Active in academic circles, he served as the president of the American Anthropological Association in the early 1970s before retiring in 1987. Wallace continued to engage with local history until his passing in 2015, leaving behind a significant legacy in cultural anthropology through his publications and teachings.
Subject Terms
Anthony Wallace
Anthropologist
- Born: April 15, 1923
- Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario
- Died: October 5, 2015
Contribution: Anthony F. C. Wallace was a Canadian-American anthropologist and historian. A specialist in American Indian culture, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania and was the author of numerous published works. One of his most renowned works was The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca, a twenty-year research project.
Early Life and Education
Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 15, 1923, to Dorothy E. Wallace and Paul A. W. Wallace. His father was a well-known historian and ethnologist who studied cultural differences. At a very young age, Wallace began to help his father with his research. He briefly studied at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, before enlisting in the US Army. During his World War II stint in the military, he spent some time overseas in 1945 assisting his division in the freeing of Dachau, the Nazis’ first concentration camp in Germany.
Directly following his time in the army, Wallace attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he focused on history and physics. His graduate studies focused on the Delaware and Tuscarora people, leading to a plethora of research in the 1950s and 1960s that would result in The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca (1969). Wallace received his PhD in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught from 1951 until 1988; he eventually became the chair of the anthropology department.
Anthropological Career
Throughout his life, Wallace has studied a number of different anthropological topics. His earlier research focused on American Indian culture, particularly that of the Iroquois. He was considered such an expert on the topic that he was asked to consult at different trials regarding land rights and jurisdiction of the federal government. At one point, he even became involved in the Joseph McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, during which time his assistant’s father was accused of being a communist.
In 1956, Wallace published a paper on his “revitalization movement” theory, which he describes as a “deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture.” This theory would be adapted by a number of anthropologists. During the 1960s and 1970s, Wallace participated in a number of committees while continuing to write about his anthropological findings. One study, “Housing and Social Structure,” brought to light the effects caused by living in high-rise public housing. This issue would become a popular topic of concern, but not until much later.
In the early 1970s, Wallace served as the president of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). It was during this period that Wallace temporarily ceased his American Indian studies. Instead, he began to focus on social change and its relationship to technology. The research on this topic resulted in Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village in the Early Industrial Revolution (1978), a psychoanthropological study that won the Bancroft Prize (awarded annually by the trustees of Columbia University). In this work, Wallace discussed how technology had a direct effect on social organization.
Wallace officially retired in 1987 but continued to write and speak about local history. He died on October 5, 2015, at the age of ninety-one.
Wallace’s Works
Wallace was a cultural anthropologist who conducted research for a large part of his life. This research was published in a number of works. King of the Delawares: Teedyuscung (1949) was written based on Wallace’s master’s thesis; Culture and Personality (1961) focused on cultural evolution, how psychology has an impact on culture, and how members of certain cultures perceive and interpret certain events; and St. Clair: A Nineteenth-Century Coal Town’s Experience with a Disaster-Prone Industry (1987) uncovered the truth about coal mines in Pennsylvania and revealed that many coal mines in St. Clair had not implement new technology, resulting in poor ventilation, accidents, and explosions.
Bibliography
“Anthony F. C. Wallace, Anthropology." University of Pennsylvania, 12 Jan. 2016, almanac.upenn.edu/articles/anthony-f.-c.-wallace-anthropology. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Darnell, Regna. “Keeping the Faith: A Legacy of Native American Ethnography, Ethnohistory, and Psychology.” New Perspectives on Native North America: Cultures, Histories, and Representations. Ed. Sergei A. Kan and Pauline Turner Strong. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 2006. 3–16. Print.
Grumet, Robert S. “An Interview with Anthony F. C. Wallace.” Ethnohistory 45.1 (1998): 103–27. Print.
Hosmer, Brian C., and Larry Nesper, eds. Tribal Worlds: Critical Studies in American Indian Nation Building. Albany: State U of New York P, 2013. Print.
Russell, Will G., Nanebah Nez, and David Martinez. “Indigenous History, Religious Theory, and the Archaeological Record.” Journal of Religion, Conflict, and Peace 4.2 (2011), www.manchester.edu/docs/default-source/academics/by-major/philosophy-and-religious-studies/journal/volume-4-issue-2-spring-2011/indigenous-history-religious-theory-and-the-archaeological-record.pdf?sfvrsn=cb618962‗2. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Whitsel, Bradley C. “Anti-Government Movements and the Revitalization Process.” Journal of Conflict Studies 25.1 (2005): 72–100. Print.