Frederick Starr

Frederick Starr (September 2, 1858 - August 14, 1933), also known as "Ofuda Hakushi" in Japan, [http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/misc/starr_fuji_1924.shtml Ofuda Hakushi, 1924.] ] was an American academic, anthropologist, and "populist educator"Parezo, Nancy J. and Don D. Fowler. (2007). [http://books.google.com/books?id=O8jBlLIznIAC&dq=frederick+starr+anthropology&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Taking Ethnological Training Outside the Classroom: the 1904 Louisiana Exposition as Field School,"] "Histories of Anthropology Annual," Vol. 2, p. 78.] ] born at Auburn, New York.

He earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Rochester (1882) and a doctorate in geology at Lafayette (1885). While working as a curator of geology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), he became interested in anthropology and ethnology; and Frederic Ward Putnam helped him become appointed as curator of AMNH's ethological collection. [see above] ]

In this period, he became active in the Chautauqua circuit as a popular professor and, in 1888-89, as registrar. When William Rainey Harper, president of the Chautauqua Institution was named President of the University of Chicago, he appointed Starr as an assistant professor of anthropology. [see above] ]

Starr was the curator in charge of ethnological subjects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (1889-91), until he accepted a faculty position at the University of Chicago where he remained for the next 31 years. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F0081FF63E551A7A93C7A81783D85F478385F9&scp=1986&sq=frederick+starr&st=p "Mourned in Chicago,"] "New York Times." August 15, 1933.] He was an Assistant professor (1892-95), and he gained tenure the next year. [see above] ]

In 1905-06 he made a careful study of the pygmy races of Central Africa, and made investigations in the Philippine Islands in 1908, in Japan in 1909-10, and in Korea in 1911.

Starr happened to be in Japan when the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 struck the main island of Honshu. In the absence of news from the devastated area, speculation about his safety was published in the New York Times. His plans to spend several months researching the vicinity of Mt. Fuji were not specific, nor was the extent of the quake area known. Reports that the area near Mt. Fuji were hard hit led to increased concerns. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C17FB3D5D15738DDDAD0894D1405B838EF1D3&scp=1236&sq=frederick+starr&st=p "Fear Dr. Starr Lost Near Mt. Fuji,"] "New York Times." September 4, 1923.] Worries were allayed when Dr. Starr's name was published amongst the list of survivors which was prepared by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B12F83D5D15738DDDAB0994D1405B838EF1D3 "Sixty American Dead Listed from Japan; Ambassador and Consuls Also Send Names of Others Known to Be Safe,"] "New York Times." September 12, 1923.] As chance would have it, Dr. Starr happened to be in Tokyo on September 1, 1923, when the earthquake struck; and he escaped to the relative safety of Zojo-ji, a famous Buddhist Temple in Tokyo's Shiba district in what is today Minato ward. A brief description from a letter to friends in Auburn, New York, was printed in the Times::"We went to the temple grounds, but at midnight, the priests took us up higher and higher to the innermost temple. Here on the topmost step, I sat till morning, watching the brazen sky beyond the slope meaning ruin to millions." [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00911F73D5D15738DDDA80894D8415B838EF1D3&scp=1242&sq=frederick+starr&st=p "Starr Tells of Escape; American Scientist Found Refuge in a Tokio Temple,"] "New York." October 1, 1923.]

Dr. Starr died of bronchial pneumonia at age 74 in Tokyo, August 14, 1933. Services were held at Trinity Cathedral in Tokyo. Amongst those attending was Japanese Premier Makoto Saito. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B13FA385C16738DDDAE0994DF405B838FF1D3&scp=1979&sq=frederick+starr&st=p "Service for Dr. Starr In Tokyo,"] "New York Times." August 17, 1933.]

Honors

* Order of Leopold (Belgium). [see above}]
* Order of the Crown of Italy (Italy). [see above}]
* Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan). [see above}]

* University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, Starr Lectureship. [ [http://anthropology.uchicago.edu/current/teaching_opportunities.shtml Starr Lectureship for graduate student teaching.] ]

elected works

* "Catalogue of Collections of Objects Illustrating Mexican Folklore" (1899)
* "Indians of South Mexico" (1900)
* "The Ainu Group of the Saint Louis Exposition (1904)
* "The Truth about the Congo" (1907)
* "In Indian Mexico" (1908)
* "Filipino Riddles" (1909)
* "Japanese Proverbs and Pictures" (1910)
* "Liberia" (1913)
* "Mexico and the United States" (1914)
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=zWVCAAAAIAAJ&q=starr+climbing+mount+fuji&dq=starr+climbing+mount+fuji&lr=&client=firefox-a&pgis=1 "Fujiyama, the Sacred Mountain of Japan."] (1924). [see above] ]

Notes

References

* Parezo, Nancy J. and Don D. Fowler. (2007). [http://books.google.com/books?id=O8jBlLIznIAC&dq=frederick+starr+anthropology&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Taking Ethnological Training Outside the Classroom: the 1904 Louisiana Exposition as Field School,"] "Histories of Anthropology Annual," Vol. 2, Regina Darnel and Frederic W. Gleach, eds. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 10-ISBN 0-803-26663-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-803-26663-6 (paper)
* cite news
author=
title=DR. STARR DIES, 74; NOTED SCIENTIST; Anthropologist of Chicago University Carried On His Research in Many Lands. EXPECTED TO LIVE TO 120 Spoke Once of Circumstances That 'Justify Cannibalism'uWas Honored by 3 Nations.
date=
work=New York Times
url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3081FF63E551A7A93C7A81783D85F478385F9&scp=1987&sq=frederick+starr&st=p
accessdate=2008-08-09 "New York Times." August 15, 1933.
* Gillis, Frank J. [https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/2022/1061/1/Archivist_10_3_gillis.pdf Starr Collection of Recordings from the Congo (1906) -- bio note.] Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University.
* [http://ead.lib.uchicago.edu/view.xqy?id=ICU.SPCL.STARR&q=anthropology&page=1 Starr papers -- bio note] . University of Chicago Library, Manuscripts and Archives.
* [http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!248699!0 Starr Photographs Collection, 1894-1910 -- bio note.] Smithsonian Institute Research Information Service (SIRIS).
* Gillis, Frank J. [https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/2022/1061/1/Archivist_10_3_gillis.pdf Starr Collection of Recordings from the Congo (1906) -- bio note.] Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University.

External links

* [http://www.calvin.edu/innercompass/media/ic712.mp4 Inner Compass] - "The New Central Asia" TV Interview
* [http://www.calvin.edu/innercompass/media/ic712.mp3 Inner Compass] - "The New Central Asia" audio mp3
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* [http://anthro.amnh.org/anthro.html Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History] - Objects and Field Notes from Starr Congo Expedition 1905-1906 (section Collections Online, option "Collections Highlights").

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