Father Franz Boas--Father of American Anthropology Franz Boas is often referred to as the father of American anthropology because of the great influence he had in the lives and the careers of the next great generation of anthropologists in America. He came at a time whenanthropology was not considered a true science or even ameaningful discipline and brought an air of respectabilityto the profession, giving those who followed a passion andan example of how to approach anthropology. Boas directedthe field studies and trained such prominent anthropologistsas Alfred Louis Kroeber, Robert Lowie, Margaret Mead, aswell as others. Although he did not leave as his legacy anyspecific line of thought, he left a pattern that wasfollowed by numerous scientists in the next generation.Franz Boas studied physics and geography in Germany andleft to pursue his hypothesis on was born and raised inGermany and studied physics and geography. After receivinghis doctorate in geography he left Germany and went toBaffin Island to test his hypothesis on Arctic geography. While he was there he became fascinated with the Eskimos andhow they lived. From then on he was no longer a geographerbut an Anthropologist. Boas was Jewish and was criticized all his life aboutbeing Jewish. His work showed his resentment ofAnti-Semitism, reflecting the belief that all men arecreated equal. At the time anthropology was based on thebeliefs of men like Tylor and Spencer who believed inevolutionary theories that stated that some people are moreevolved than others. They believed in categorizingdifferent cultures depending on how evolved they were. These men also did not do any field work, they receivedtheir information from missionaries, government officials,and other people who traveled the world. They categorizedcultures by putting them into a line starting withbarbarians and ending with white people. Anthropologiststhen ranked them depending on how civilized they thoug...
