( 1911-1968)
James Alfred Ford, also known
as Jim by his colleagues, was a highly regarded archaeologist who made
many contributions to the field of archaeology. Ford was born
on February 12, 1911 and raised in Water Valley, a small town in rural
Mississippi. Ford's historical career began his last year of high
school where he and a fellow classmate worked for the Mississippi
Department of Archives and History studying Indian sites in the
areas surrounding Jackson, Mississippi . Ford gained a wider interest
in the subject after meeting Henry B. Collins, an archaeologist, who, at
the time, was studying the Choctaw area of Mississippi. Ford, along
with his classmate, Moreau Chambers, joined Collins in an excavation of
the Deasonville site in Mississippi at the age of 18. This event
helped to spark the many achievements that would result in later years
of James A. Ford's work.
In 1929, Ford began a higher
education at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. There,
he developed a critical scientific background majoring in physics (archaeology
was not offered as a major) which proved to be extremely significant in
his work and research. He continued to learn from Collins about specific
methods used in archaeology such as artifact typology. There were
many interruptions in Ford's early college career because of a few trips
that were taken to Alaska to study many Eskimo sites. Then, in 1933,
Ford received a grant from the National Research Council, which allowed
him to manage archaeological surveys in Mississippi and Louisiana.
The following year Ford was married to Ethel Campbell. In 1934,
he continued his education in the graduate program at Louisiana State University.
Ford continued to do various
archaeological projects in many different places. Out of all the
places, Alaska, Latin America, or Southeastern America, Ford seemed most
interested in the Southeastern American archaeology. In 1934, Ford
stumbled across other work, and briefly left archaeology.
One source stated (Evans 1968: 1162) he was "...alienated from 'action
anthropology' for the rest of his life," after the experience of having
worked for the Southeastern Fair Association, managing an American Indian
Exposition. During that time, he led the exposition and housed and
nursed close to 100 southeastern Indians native to the area. He then
returned to archaeology in the School
of Geology at Louisiana State University and proceeded with more study.
The years that followed
Ford's receiving a degree from Louisiana State University, were filled
with trips to the Arctic. He later attended the University of Michigan
in 1937. While he was at the university he studied the cultural evolution
theories of Leslie White. He found them very fascinating and was
interested in them mainly because his works could be integrated into the
theoretical issues and not just used for culture sequencing (Evans
1968: 1163) . While concenrating on those theories, Ford also
focused on the ceramic typology of the southeast. Ford avoided social
anthropology and took a more "systematic and scientific approach" (Willey
1988) toward archaeology.
After his work was done
at Louisiana State University, Ford continued his studies at Columbia
University, but in 1942 World War II interrupted his studies.
Ford served in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. He was a Senior
Design Specialist (Evans 1968: 1163) developing protective clothing
for troops and other important assignments. In 1945, Ford also had
many assignments in Peru and made a great impact in that area as well as
the others. He was said to have "revolutionized Peruvian archaeology
by classifying the plain pottery into types" and explaining their "utility
in the seriation of surface collections" (Evans 1968: 1164). Then,
in 1947 he became the Assistant Curator of North American Archaeology for
the American Museum of Natural History.
He worked there for 17 years and later worked for other associations in
Texas and Florida. He continued to write and publish his research
and was elected president of the Society
for American Archaeology in the early 1960's.
Throughout all those years
of hard work Ford published many popular works. His first paper was
published in 1936, Analysis of Indian Village Site Collections from
Louisiana and Mississippi . He was even awarded a Master of Arts
degree in 1938 ( Evans 1968: 1163) for his work entitled "An Examination
of Some Methods of Cultural Typology," while he was attending the University
of Michigan. His final work reflected upon his interest and beliefs
that dealt with the concepts of diffusion and culture evolution.
It was entitled A Comparison of Formative Cultures in the Americas:
Diffusion or the Psychic Unity of Man? and was published in 1969.
There is no doubt that
James Alfred Ford made a tremendous impact in his field of work as well
as on the people that had the opportunity to work with him. Ford
died of cancer on February 25, 1968 in Gainesville, Florida. He was
57 years old.
Sources:
Evans, Clifford
1968 "James A. Ford 1911-1968." American Anthropologist
V.70, p.1162-1167
Willey, Gordon Randolph
1988 "James A. Ford 1911-1968," Portaits In American Archaeology,
Mankato State
University's Anthro Bio Web. [ http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/bio/ford.html
]
A Few of Ford's Works:
Ford, James Alfred
1954 "The History of the Peruvian Valley [Viru Valley]."
Scientific American.--NY, v.191
no.2, p.28-34.
Ford, James Alfred
1961 "In Favor of Simple Typology." American Antiquity.--Salt
Lake City, v.27,no.1
p.113-114
Ford, James Alfred
1952 "Mound Builders of the Mississippi." Scientific American.--NY,
v.186, no.3, p.22-27
Ford, James Alfred
1954 "On the Concept of Types, an article by J.A. Ford with discussion
by J.H. Steward."
American Anthropologist.--Menasha, Wis., n.s., v.56, p.42-57
Ford, James Alfred
1952 "Reply to 'The Viru Valley sequence: a critical review'."
American Antiquity.--Salt Lake
City, v.XVII, p.250