Book
THE STORY OF THE BOOK
I first learned of “Papa Franz,” as Boas’ women students called him, from Margaret Mead, who chaired the board of an organization I ran, the Scientists’ Institute for Public Information. Then, upon becoming very interested in the racist idea of racial superiority, I ran into him again. On race, all roads lead to Boas.
I pursued the issue and wrote a few articles about Boas in both peer-reviewed and popular outlets. And then I began to realize what a fascinating person he was, having an impact not only on racial issues but on the politics of his era as well.
There are many books written about Franz Boas, but none that adequately weave his very active political career into his ground-breaking anthropology. I thought I would try to write a book interlacing the two. Fifteen years later, the book has appeared.