Biographical Sketches of RM-MLA Co-Presidents for 1947: Thomas Matthews Pearce and Francis Monroe Kercheville

Abstract

76 RM-MLA Bulletin September 1967 Biographical Sketches of RM-MLA Co-Presidents for 1947: THOMAS MATTHEWS PEARCE and FRANCIS MONROE KERCHEVILLE Professor Pearce—"Matt" to his many friends throughout the West and in national scholarly circles—has always been remarkable for the scope of his interests and the versatility of his achievement. As a scholar he has left his mark in linguistics, folklore, medieval and renaissance studies, and American regional literature. Over the years he has taught almost everything in the English curriculum but he is especially remembered by ten generations of university students for his courses on Shakespeare, Beowidf, history of the language, and Southwestem literature. Born in Kentucky sixty-five years ago, Dr. Pearce did his undergraduate work at the University of Montana and earned his master's and doctor's degrees at Pittsburgh . He came to the University of New Mexico in 1927 as an assistant professor of English and, except for sabbatical leaves and several summer visiting appointments, served there continuously until his voluntary early retirement in June, 1964. He was chairman of the department for twelve years, 1939-51, a crucial period during which doctoral programs in English and in American Studies were introduced at New Mexico and other decisions and appointments were made which have helped to shape the department ever since. It is not surprising that Professor Pearce was one of the founders of the RM-MLA, for he always recognized the importance of inter-institutional cooperation and the coordination of scholarly efforts. He had earlier helped to organize the New Mexico Folklore Society, and with Marjorie Kimmerle of Colorado he was one of the first collaborators in the Linguistic Atlas, a national project begun at the University of Michigan . In 1962, when Professor Pearce was Thomas Matthews Pearce selected by his colleagues to deliver the annual Faculty Research lecture, he chose as his subject "The Lure of Names," reflecting his lifelong interest in the linguistic, psychological, and social processes by which, like Adam and Eve in the garden, human beings invent terms to designate places, people, and things. Among scores of articles he has published in this field are such varied titles as "Trader Terms in Southwest English" (1941), "Weapons and Names" (1944), "Acronym Talk" (1947), "Rocky Mountain Isoglosses" (1958), "Names of Objects in Aerospace " (1962), and "Naming Customs among Southwest Indians" (1963). His most substantial contribution is his geographical dictionary, Neu; Mexico Place Names, published by the UNM Co-Presidents 77 Press a year after his retirement but based on collections begun under the New Mexico Writers' Project during the depression. On other subjects, Professor Pearce's publications include Southwest Heritage, a Literary History (1938), two anthologies of Southwestern writing, a biography of Mary Austin (The Beloved House, 1940), a later critical study of the same novelist (Mary Hunter Austin, Twayne, 1964), and numerous essays or notes on Gawain, Marlowe, Shakespeare , Frieda Lawrence, the Renaissance idea of the scholar-soldier, and many folklore items and themes. Today Matt's energy and vitality seem as unflagging as ever. He continues work on a series of articles on Romeo and Juliet, and he is also preparing a text of a Spanish shepherds' play, Los Pastores, helping to collect material on Southwestern folk medicine, and occasionally writing a letter to the newspapers. To him and his wife Helen, a fine painter and craftswoman, the good life is still a busy one. Professor Kercheville, one of the leaders in founding the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, served with Professor T. M. Pearce as co-president during the first year of its existence. He was and is a very humane and warmhearted man, with a strong belief in democratic values and processes, a generous interest in intercultural understanding , and a conviction that language and literature express the deepest impulses of national and individual character. He was born in Pearsall, Texas, in 1901. In the style of those days, he taught in rural schools for several years after finishing high school and before beginning his college education at the University of Texas. He later transferred to Abilene Christian, where he earned his baccalaureate degree. Proceeding immediately to advanced studies at the University of Wisconsin, he was...