Sol Tax (30 October 1907 – 4 January 1995) was an American anthropologist. He is best known for creating action anthropology and his studies of the Meskwaki, or Fox, Indians, for "action-anthropological" research titled the Fox Project, and for founding the academic journal Current Anthropology. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1935 and, together with Fred Eggan, was a student of Alfred Radcliffe-Brown.
Early life
Tax grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During his formative years he was involved in a number of social clubs. Among these was the Newsboys Republic with which his first encounter was when he was "arrested" for breaking their rules. Tax began his undergraduate education at the University of Chicago but had to leave for lack of funds. He returned to school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Ralph Linton. He later earned a doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1935.[2] He joined the faculty of that institution in 1940 where he spent several decades teaching.[2] Tax was a mentor to noted anthropologist Joan Ablon at the University of Chicago.
An example of Action Anthropology: the 1961 American Indian Chicago Conference (AICC) at the University of Chicago. Tax helped bring together members of 90 tribes. Photo by F. Peter Weil, courtesy of the NAES College Collection at the Northwestern University Libraries
Sol Tax is known as a founder of "Action Anthropology", a school of anthropological thought that forwent the traditional doctrine of non-interference in favor of co-equal goals of "learning and helping" from studied cultures.[6] As an example, he was a lead organizer of the influential 1961 American Indian Chicago Conference (AICC).[3] The meeting brought together 460 American Indians from 90 tribes from June 13 to June 20, 1961, at the University of Chicago to help "all Indians of the whole nation to express their own views" and draft a shared "Declaration of Indian Purpose."[7] President John F. Kennedy received the declaration in a ceremony at the White House in 1962. The spirit of self-determination expressed in the document became a cornerstone of Native activism in the years that followed, including the Red Power movement and the expansion of Native American gaming.[8]
In 1974, when the Chicago Native American Committee established the Native American Educational Services College (NAES College), Tax served on its original academic review committee. As the college grew, the academic review committee was converted into a board of directors in 1978. Tax accepted an invitation to join, and he served on the committee until 1993, not long before his death. NAES credited Tax with playing a "key role in helping define a vision of Indian higher education as the basis for community development in culturally relevant terms." Tax's particular contribution was the core idea of field projects in the NAES curriculum.[9]
Works
(1937, revised 1955) contributions to Social Anthropology of North American Tribes, ed. by Fred Eggan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
^"Franz Boas Award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology". American Anthropological Association. 2008-10-27. Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-10-31. The Franz Boas Award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology, formerly the Distinguished Service Award, was established in 1976. This award is presented annually by the Association to its members whose careers demonstrate extraordinary achievements that have well served the anthropological profession. Service to the Association is commonly recognized, as are outstanding applications of anthropological knowledge to improving the human condition. Great teachers of anthropology at all levels have received this award. Although the activities of the recipients will vary from year to year, all awardees have made many sacrifices, usually without personal reward, and sometimes against personal safety. They have all used anthropology for the benefit of others.
