Obituary for Raymond D. Fogelson

Abstract

Ray Fogelson passed away peacefully on January 20, 2020, near his Southern home in Blairsville, Georgia. A lifetime member of the American Society for Ethnohistory (ASE), he served as its president in 1987–88. He also served as president of the Central States Anthropological Association in 1982–83 and was the longtime book review editor for American Anthropologist. He was one of the foremost ethnohistorians of his time, and a leading expert in Southeast ethnology. He mentored several generations of graduate students, including many who have been active in the ASE.Ray received a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. While at Penn he held a fellowship at the Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, reflecting his own lifelong interest in psychoanalysis, and that of his mentors, A. Irving Hallowell and Anthony F. C. Wallace. He went on to teach at the University of Washington and University of California, San Diego, before moving to the University of Chicago, where he spent the bulk of his career. He held visiting positions at Princeton and the University of Texas.He conducted fieldwork initially with the Eastern Band of Cherokee under the tutelage of John Gulick at the University of North Carolina. He would later conduct research with the Shushwap, the Western Cherokee, and the Muskogee, where he was an adopted member. In addition to conducting research among these tribes, he practiced “action anthropology,” as an advocate. One example is his congressional testimony in favor of federal recognition of the Lumbee.Ray was dedicated to his students at all levels, including those who would not go on in anthropology. He was a raconteur, a bon vivant, someone possessed of a “wild sense of humor,” to quote his dean. He loved the city of Chicago and was a devoted fan of the Bears. He will be missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his wife, Karen Luckritz.