Martha Beckwith

Martha Beckwith was the first holder of a folklore chair in the United States at Vassar College. She established the Folklore Foundation in 1920 with support from naturalist Annie Alexander, pioneering the academic study of folk culture.

Education:

• PhD, Columbia University (1918)
• BS, Mount Holyoke College (1893)

Her research documented Hawaiian mythology and Polynesian oral traditions through extensive fieldwork. Publications include authoritative works on Hawaiian creation chants and mythology that remain reference texts. She emphasized that all cultures possess valuable folk traditions worthy of scholarly attention.

As educator, she trained students in ethnographic methods and supervised field research. Though her seminar classes were small, several students became noted anthropologists. The Folklore Foundation closed upon her 1938 retirement.