Franz Boas
Arturo Martinez
Anthropology
2014 Franz Boas - The Ellis Island Research. Franz Boas is known as the founder of American anthropology and he dedicated his life to anthropology. Boas is recognized for some early work but mainly for the research he conducted in Ellis Island, New York. Boas once said “No culture is inferior to another. No language is inferior to another. No race is inferior to another.” (1848 – 1942) With the Ellis Island project, he found that exactly. Immigrants coming into Ellis Island aren’t inferior or primitive to US citizens, they just weren’t well-fed or had the same surroundings as a child born in the United States. Boas later tracked down the children of these immigrants and saw that they were growing like any other normal baby in the US. Not just that but they also became taller than their parents. With this evidence concluded that it had to do with environment and diet of the immigrants rather than race. (Franz Boas (1848 – 1942))
Boas first began with the idea that native cultures aren’t as primitive as people from the European world set them to be. He found this out while on his trip to Baffin Island in the Artic, prior to his trip to Ellis Island. When he asked a native for directions, Boas was amazed in the intelligence of the native who gave him detailed directions and drew drawings in the snow. He was amazed again separate occasion when he got lost in a blizzard. Boas was confused and exhausted. He collapsed on the ground he was sure to die if it weren’t for some locals who found him. The locals took him to an igloo and treated him for hyperthermia and frostbite. Yet again, he was astonished at their knowledge which inspired his obsession to prove to the Europeans that natives aren’t primitive and senseless as they are set out to be.
As the years went by from the research he conducted on Baffin Island, he decided to make a similar point on Ellis Island. The assumption was that Americans developed more rapidly than
Anthropology
2014 Franz Boas - The Ellis Island Research. Franz Boas is known as the founder of American anthropology and he dedicated his life to anthropology. Boas is recognized for some early work but mainly for the research he conducted in Ellis Island, New York. Boas once said “No culture is inferior to another. No language is inferior to another. No race is inferior to another.” (1848 – 1942) With the Ellis Island project, he found that exactly. Immigrants coming into Ellis Island aren’t inferior or primitive to US citizens, they just weren’t well-fed or had the same surroundings as a child born in the United States. Boas later tracked down the children of these immigrants and saw that they were growing like any other normal baby in the US. Not just that but they also became taller than their parents. With this evidence concluded that it had to do with environment and diet of the immigrants rather than race. (Franz Boas (1848 – 1942))
Boas first began with the idea that native cultures aren’t as primitive as people from the European world set them to be. He found this out while on his trip to Baffin Island in the Artic, prior to his trip to Ellis Island. When he asked a native for directions, Boas was amazed in the intelligence of the native who gave him detailed directions and drew drawings in the snow. He was amazed again separate occasion when he got lost in a blizzard. Boas was confused and exhausted. He collapsed on the ground he was sure to die if it weren’t for some locals who found him. The locals took him to an igloo and treated him for hyperthermia and frostbite. Yet again, he was astonished at their knowledge which inspired his obsession to prove to the Europeans that natives aren’t primitive and senseless as they are set out to be.
As the years went by from the research he conducted on Baffin Island, he decided to make a similar point on Ellis Island. The assumption was that Americans developed more rapidly than
References: MLA Style "Franz Uri Boas." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 11 Sep. 2014. "Franz Boas (1848 – 1942)." Rantin And Rovin. N.p., 2013. Web. Sept. & Oct. 2014. <http://www.rantinandrovin.com/2013/08/29/franz-boas-1848-1942/>. Book: LEWIS, HERBERT S. The Passion of Franz Boas. 1982. Web. Sept. & Oct. 2014. <http://www.anthropology.wisc.edu/pdfs/passion_of_franz_boas.pdf>.