Solon Toothaker Kimball
Encyclopedia
Solon Toothaker Kimball (August 12, 1909 - October 12, 1982) was a noted educator and anthropologist. Kimball was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas
. He graduated from Kansas State University
in 1930, then received a masters degree and Ph.D in social anthropology from Harvard
in 1933 and 1936.
Kimball did groundbreaking anthropology work concerning family and community in rural
Ireland
(with Conrad Arensberg) and on the Navajo reservation
in the American Southwest. Over the years, he was on the faculty of a number of universities, including the University of California
, Columbia University
(GSAS and Teachers College), the University of Alabama
, and the University of Florida
. While in Alabama
in the 1950s, Kimball studied social tension arising from racial segregation
and found himself labelled an "academic radical."
Kimball was a founding member of the Society for Applied Anthropology, president of the American Ethnological Society, and he was instrumental in the establishment in 1978 of the Zora Neal Hurston Fellowship Award Fund, which honors outstanding African-American graduates in the field of anthropology. Kimball was rewarded for his work with a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1966.
The American Anthropological Association
now administers a Solon T. Kimball Award every other year to an anthropologist that effects change in public policy. The Kimball Award was initiated by royalties from Applied Anthropology in America (1978), a volume dedicated to Kimball, "who taught that the study of human behavior should be of service to people."
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
. He graduated from Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
in 1930, then received a masters degree and Ph.D in social anthropology from Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1933 and 1936.
Kimball did groundbreaking anthropology work concerning family and community in rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
(with Conrad Arensberg) and on the Navajo reservation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
in the American Southwest. Over the years, he was on the faculty of a number of universities, including the University of California
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(GSAS and Teachers College), the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, and the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. While in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in the 1950s, Kimball studied social tension arising from racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and found himself labelled an "academic radical."
Kimball was a founding member of the Society for Applied Anthropology, president of the American Ethnological Society, and he was instrumental in the establishment in 1978 of the Zora Neal Hurston Fellowship Award Fund, which honors outstanding African-American graduates in the field of anthropology. Kimball was rewarded for his work with a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1966.
The American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
now administers a Solon T. Kimball Award every other year to an anthropologist that effects change in public policy. The Kimball Award was initiated by royalties from Applied Anthropology in America (1978), a volume dedicated to Kimball, "who taught that the study of human behavior should be of service to people."
External links
External links
- Solon Toothaker Kimball Papers at the Newberry Library