Richard King Beardsley 1918–1978
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636 AMERICAN A NTHR 0POL OGIS T [81, 19791 American Indians in Historical Perspective. tion, a synthesis of fieldwork on the archaeology Eleanor Burke and Nancy Oestreich Lurie, of California Indians entitled Temporal and eds. pp. 29-63. New York: Random House. Areal Relationships in Central California Ar- 1974a The Clash of Cultures. In The World chaeology, contained sufficient creative insights of the American Indian. pp. 51 1-352. Wash- to generate requests for reprints or other in- ington: National Geographic Society. quiries that continued to the time of his death. 1974b The Surfacing of Native Leadership. The interests of the budding archaeologist, Paper read before Royal Society of Canada. however, were deflected to ethnology by his Amerindian Symposium, Quebec. wartime experience as a Japanese language of- 1978 Wind from an Enemy Sky. New York: ficer, which led to his association with a nucleus Harper and Row. composed largely of wartime language officers turned scholars in the nascent Center for Jap- anese Studies at the University of Michigan, where he had accepted an appointment in an- thropology in 1947. At that time, the depart- ment at Michigan was small but intellectually stimulating. In his early years there, Beardsley taught a variety of courses, giving careful preparation to his class lectures and generously of his time to students, as was his lifelong habit. In 1950, he made his first trip to Japan, par- ticipating there with Michigan scholars of other disciplines in an intensive study of a small farm- ing village in Okayama Prefecture. From that beginning, Beardsley developed into one of the nation’s outstanding ethnologists on Japan and a pioneer in multidisciplinary area studies. In collaboration with a historian, John W. Hall, and a political scientist, Robert E. Ward, Beardsley served as coauthor of Village Japan (1959), which remains a landmark in Japanese community studies. Attracting numerous readers among scholars and laymen alike, it was read as much in Japan, in translation, as in the RICHARD KING BEARDSLEY United States. 1918-1978 In collaboration with John W. Hall and others, Beardsley then wrote Twelve Doors to The death of Richard K. Beardsley on June 9, Japan (1965), a general introduction to Japa- 1978, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, brought to an nese society and culture. Over the years he has abrupt and untimely end the career of a distin- been the author of a succession of articles, guished anthropologist who pioneered in Japa- reviews, compilations, and editorial commen- nese community studies. A thoughtful, gentle taries. At the time of his death, he was engaged man of good will, Beardsley was a dedicated in writing a book on his restudy, in 1974, of the teacher and helper of younger scholars. He also farming village that formed the basis of Village performed ably in administrative roles, orga- Japan. As always, his fieldwork was conducted nized programs of scholarly interest, and parti- largely through interviews with village people, cipated actively in seeking funds for the study of with whom he established relations of friendship Japanese culture. and trust. Born on December 16, 1918, in Cripple Japan was not Beardsley’s sole anthropolog- Creek, Colorado, Dick Beardsley was brought ical interest. He conducted several studies of up in San Francisco and was graduated summa Japanese Americans in California. His interests cum laude in 1939 from the University of Cali- in Asia and Asiatics extended across Siberia and fornia in Berkeley. After four years in the U.S. led to his development of a hypothesis on Inner Navy, during which most of the time he was at- Asian pastoral nomadism (1953a). For many tached to the Marine Corps, he returned to years he taught a course on the peoples and cul- Berkeley to earn the Ph.D. in 1947. His disserta- tures of Soviet Asia. He was also long interested OBITUARIES 637 in the subject of culture change and in art. For Acknowledgment. We are greatly indebted to years he taught popular classes on the anthro- Richard Beardsley’s wife, Grace, for her role in pology of art and seminars on art and society. the preparation of this account. His considerable erudition and wide-ranging in- tellectual curiosity were ever apparent in the EDWARD NORBECK contrasts, parallels, and further details that he Rice University contributed to any theoretical discussion. HARUMI BEFU In the beginning stages of educational T.V. Stanford University programs, Beardsley was one of the first scholars to carry his knowledge to a wider audience through the University of Michigan Television BIBLIOGRAPHY OF Center. He helped to write and was the prin- RICHARD K. BFARDSLEY cipal actor in a number of taped programs on Asia (especially on the contemporary culture of 1942 (with Robert F. Heizer) Fired Clay Fig- Japan) which continue to be aired from time to urines in Central and Northern California. time; he also participated in preparing docu- American Antiquity 9(2): 199-207. mentary films of rural Japanese life. In recent 1943 (with Rosalie Hankey) A History of the years, he was active in the Project on Asian Vanishing Hitchhiker. California Folklore Studies in Education, a program aimed to pro- Quarterly 11(1): 13-25. mote Asian studies in colleges and secondary 1946 The Monterey Custom House Flag Pole: schools. In addition, he worked assiduously in Archeological Findings. California Historical behalf of the Michigan East Asian Capital Cam- Society Quarterly 25( 3):204-218. paign, particularly among Japanese donors. In 1948 Culture Sequences in Central California Japan, he was widely known and respected in Archeology. American Antiquity 14(1): academic and public circles and also in the cor- 1-28. porate and industrial world. 1949a Review of Reports of the California Archaeological Survey, by R. F. Heizer and Beardsley gave generous service to profes- Franklin Fenenga. American Antiquity 15(2): sional societies and to administrative positions 165. at the University of Michigan. He served as book 194913 Review ofKamisuki Chahuki (A Handy review editor of the American Anthropologtit, Guide to Papermaking), by Kunisaki Jihei. trustee and continental editor of the Council for Charles E. Hamilton, transl. Far Eastern Old World Archaeology, president of the Quarterly 9( 1):108- 109. American branch of the Far Eastern Prehistory 1949c Review of Island of Death, by Werner Association, program chairman and Asian Pre- Wolff. American Antiquity 15(1):72-73. history Committee chairman as well as director 1950 (with Edward Norbeck and John B. of the Association for Asian Studies, fellow and Cornell) Bibliographic Materials in the council member of the American Association Japanese Language on Far Eastern Archaeol- for the Advancement of Science, field reader for ogy and Ethnology. University of Michigan the U.S. Office of Education, and member of Center for Japanese Studies Bibliographical the American Advisory Committee of The Series No. 3. Japan Foundation. At the University of 1951a (with Grace Beardsley) Pottery of Two Michigan he served as a member of the Senate Traditions from an Iron Age Tomb in Oka- Assembly, acting chairman of the Department yama Prefecture, Japan. Far Eastern Ceramic of Anthropology, and director of the Center for Bulletin 3(1):10-19. Japanese Studies. 1951b The University of Michigan Center for Dick Beardsley was well known for his Japanese Studies. In Hachigakkai Tsushima warmth and kindliness and his gentle, balanced Kenkytikai. Jimbun (The Cultural Sciences) disposition. His calm, reasonable outlook 1(1):22-25. helped his colleagues and students weather 1951c The Household in the Status System of more than one crisis. The untiring concern that Japanese Villages. Occasional Papers, Uni- he showed for such matters, whether academic versity of Michigan Center for Japanese or personal, and the unsparing attention he Studies No. 152-74. gave to them will be remembered as essential 1951d Review of The Japanese Village in traits of this humane mentor, scholar, and Transition, by Arthur S. Raper et al. Pacific friend. Affairs 24(4):428-430. 638 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [81, 19791 1952 Review of The Prehistory of Japan, by 1959b (with John W. Hall and Robert E. Gerard J. Groot. American Anthropologist Ward) Village Japan. Chicago: University of 54( 1):91-92. Chicago Press. 1952-53 Progress of Mankind: Prehistoric to 1959c (ed. with Max Loehr and Kwang-chih Present. Telecourse Syllabus. University of Chang) Far East. COWA Bibliography, 1, Michigan Extension Service. Area 17. 1953a Hypotheses on Inner Asian Pastoral 1959d Review of The Jomon Pottery of Japan, Nomadism and Its Culture Area. American by J. Edward Kidder, Jr. American Antiquity Antiquity 18(3):24-28. 24(3):325-326. 1953b Retiew of Tsushima, by Mizuno Seiichi 1960a Japan: A Field Handbook. National et al., and Fukuoka-ken Itoshima-gun Ikisan- Academy of Sciences, National Research son Choshi-zuka Kofun Kenkyii, by Koba- Council, Publication 716 (Field Guide Series yashi Yukio. Far Eastern Quarterly 13(1): No. 3) Washington, D.C. 97-98. 1960b Shinto Religion and Japanese Cultural 195% Rezzew of The Sacred Scriptures of the Evolution. In Essays in the Science of Culture Japanese, by Post Wheeler. American An- in Honor of Leslie A. White. Gertrude B. thropologist 55(5):746. Dole and Robert L. Carneiro, eds. pp. 63-78. 1954a Review of Ningen Kagaku No Jiten New York: Crowell. (Dictionary for the Science of Man), by Hideo 1960c Anthropology in Area Training Pro- Aoyama et al., Minzokugaku Jiten (Dictio- grams. In Teaching Anthropology. Andrew nary of Folklore), Kunio Yanagita, ed., and H. Whiteford, ed. pp. 57-63. Beloit College: Nihon Shakai Minzoku Jiten (Dictionary of Logan Museum Publications in Anthropology Japanese Society and Folklore), by Nihon Bulletin, No. 8. Minzokugaku Kyckai. American Anthro- 1961 An Interpretation of Japanese Neolithic pologist 56( 1):120- 122.