Renowned Western historian and author Alvin M. Josephy Jr., who divided his time between homes in Joseph and Greenwich, Conn., died Oct. 19, 2005, after suffering from failing health in recent months.
He was guest of honor at a belated 90th birthday party at the Coffin House in Enterprise this summer with many local friends in attendance. Josephy’s wife, Betty, preceded him in death in 2004 after 56 years of marriage.
Josephy is nationally recognized as a historian who specialized in works on the American Indians and the West, with more than a dozen authoritative books to his credit. They included “Patriot Chief,” “The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest,” “Red Power,” “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone,” “The Civil War in the American West,” The Indian Heritage of America,” and “500 Nations,” which accompanied Kevin Costner’s documentary television series on the American Indian.
“The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest,” a work published in 1967, is often credited with bringing the dramatic story of the Nez Perce Indians and Chief Joseph to the forefront of American history.
“Alvin changed the way history of American Indians and of the West is written,” said longtime friend Rich Wandschneider. “He mentored a new generation of Western historians — Robert White, Patricia Limerick and Sue Armitage, among others — and supported and encouraged a new generation of Indian leaders across the nation.”
Josephy’s 2000 memoir, “A Walk Toward Oregon,” which told the story of a life richly lived, received critical acclaim.
“... Josephy has been many things in his extraordinarily rich life: writer, advocate, soldier, politician, conservationist and civil servant. In all these roles, he has acquitted himself with honor and courage,” wrote Walter Bernstein in a New York Times review.
For the past two years Josephy worked on a project with friend and publisher Marc Jaffe close to his heart: compiling a work of contemporary Indian writers to tell the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition from the Indian point of view. The latest word is that “Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes” will be published next spring.
Josephy was a World War II correspondent, serving as a U.S. Marine, as well as a foreign correspondent in Guatemala and Mexico. He’d been a Hollywood scriptwriter, an associate editor of Time magazine and vice president and editor-in-chief of American Heritage.
For over 50 years Josephy also played a role in supporting Indians in their struggle for self-determination, treaty rights and sovereignty.
He was founding chairman of the Smithsonian’s new Museum of the American Indian, a vice chairman of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and a consultant to Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall (in 1963-64), as well as to many private, governmental and Indian organizations.
In 1969 Josephy authored a special report on a change in Indian policy for President-elect Richard Nixon, which ushered in the era of tribal self-determination.
His influence is credited with helping change U.S. policy in connection with a move to dissolve Indian reservations.
“Alvin M. Josephy was a valued friend for over 45 years,” said Udall, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. “From the late 1950s, in his books and articles beginning with his first book for American Heritage on American Indians and their history, until his masterful summation in ‘500 Nations,’ he was the most important creative interpreter of the history and culture of Native Americans. His authoritative voice influenced the opinions and actions of presidents and members of Congress. He was always in the forefront of the fight for Indian rights and justice. As a spokesman for native people, he had no peer.”
Wallowa County ranchers Jack and Margie McClaran maintained a close friendship with both Alvin and Betty Josephy for over 50 years.
“They loved Wallowa County. This was their second home,” Margie McClaran said.
“He was a very caring, nonjudgmental person,” Jack McClaran said about Alvin Josephy. He noted that, despite his Eastern upbringing and Harvard education, Josephy wasn’t impressed with ostentation or titles. “He preferred persons with individuality and who have basic ethical and social values. ... I think that’s what he saw in people here.”
McClaran said that Josephy always “championed people that he felt weren’t being treated fairly.” He added that one thing he especially valued in their friendship was Josephy’s way of “broadening the way you look at things.”
“Alvin listened to people’s stories, sought the quiet ones and those who had not been listened to and fought for their right to be heard,” Wandschneider said.
Josephy first heard the story of the Nez Perce Indian and discovered Wallowa County on a trip west he made in 1951 while an associate editor of Time magazine researching a story on the Inland Empire of the Northwest.
In a Chieftain interview in 1982, he said during that trip he heard several times about the beauty of Wallowa County and decided to take a side trip on a day off.
He and Betty had been thinking about buying property in the west and Josephy said when he arrived in the county “It was so beautiful. It was like something saying ‘this is the place.’ I felt like Brigham Young.”
The Josephys purchased land in 1962 near Joseph on the back side of the east moraine where they and their family spent part of every year.
Josephy was born May 18, 1915, in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., and was raised in New York City.
He was educated at Horace Mann School, where he began his journalism career on the school newspaper.
He attended Harvard University for two years but the Depression forced him to leave and accept a screenwriting offer from MGM in California. He returned to New York and in 1936 began work for the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter and several years later with WOR as director of news and special events.
With the onset of World War II, Mr Josephy moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Office of War Information as its radio bureau’s chief of special events.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 as a combat correspondent serving in the South Pacific with the 3rd Marine Division. Carrying heavy recording equipment, Josephy covered the battles in Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima. He received a Bronze Star for his work in Guam when he landed with the advance troops, recording for the first and only time an on-the-spot account of an amphibious assault in progress, called an “epic” by a later commentator.
In 1946 he wrote his first book “The Long, the Short and the Tall,” an account of his Marine Corps experiences published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Alvin Josephy Jr. is survived by his brother, Warren Josephy of New York City; his daughters, Diane Josephy Peavey of Carey, Idaho, Allison Wolowitz of Old Greenwich, Conn., and Katherine Josephy of Enterprise; and his son, Alvin M. Josephy III, of Olympia, Wash. He also leaves eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
An open house for friends and family will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the home of Mr. Josephy in Greenwich, Conn. Notes or cards can be sent to 4 Kinsman Lane, Greenwich, CT 06830.
Local friends expect that a gathering in his memory will be held in Wallowa County at some time in the future.
Wallowa County Chieftain October 20, 2005
He was guest of honor at a belated 90th birthday party at the Coffin House in Enterprise this summer with many local friends in attendance. Josephy’s wife, Betty, preceded him in death in 2004 after 56 years of marriage.
Josephy is nationally recognized as a historian who specialized in works on the American Indians and the West, with more than a dozen authoritative books to his credit. They included “Patriot Chief,” “The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest,” “Red Power,” “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone,” “The Civil War in the American West,” The Indian Heritage of America,” and “500 Nations,” which accompanied Kevin Costner’s documentary television series on the American Indian.
“The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest,” a work published in 1967, is often credited with bringing the dramatic story of the Nez Perce Indians and Chief Joseph to the forefront of American history.
“Alvin changed the way history of American Indians and of the West is written,” said longtime friend Rich Wandschneider. “He mentored a new generation of Western historians — Robert White, Patricia Limerick and Sue Armitage, among others — and supported and encouraged a new generation of Indian leaders across the nation.”
Josephy’s 2000 memoir, “A Walk Toward Oregon,” which told the story of a life richly lived, received critical acclaim.
“... Josephy has been many things in his extraordinarily rich life: writer, advocate, soldier, politician, conservationist and civil servant. In all these roles, he has acquitted himself with honor and courage,” wrote Walter Bernstein in a New York Times review.
For the past two years Josephy worked on a project with friend and publisher Marc Jaffe close to his heart: compiling a work of contemporary Indian writers to tell the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition from the Indian point of view. The latest word is that “Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes” will be published next spring.
Josephy was a World War II correspondent, serving as a U.S. Marine, as well as a foreign correspondent in Guatemala and Mexico. He’d been a Hollywood scriptwriter, an associate editor of Time magazine and vice president and editor-in-chief of American Heritage.
For over 50 years Josephy also played a role in supporting Indians in their struggle for self-determination, treaty rights and sovereignty.
He was founding chairman of the Smithsonian’s new Museum of the American Indian, a vice chairman of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and a consultant to Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall (in 1963-64), as well as to many private, governmental and Indian organizations.
In 1969 Josephy authored a special report on a change in Indian policy for President-elect Richard Nixon, which ushered in the era of tribal self-determination.
His influence is credited with helping change U.S. policy in connection with a move to dissolve Indian reservations.
“Alvin M. Josephy was a valued friend for over 45 years,” said Udall, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. “From the late 1950s, in his books and articles beginning with his first book for American Heritage on American Indians and their history, until his masterful summation in ‘500 Nations,’ he was the most important creative interpreter of the history and culture of Native Americans. His authoritative voice influenced the opinions and actions of presidents and members of Congress. He was always in the forefront of the fight for Indian rights and justice. As a spokesman for native people, he had no peer.”
Wallowa County ranchers Jack and Margie McClaran maintained a close friendship with both Alvin and Betty Josephy for over 50 years.
“They loved Wallowa County. This was their second home,” Margie McClaran said.
“He was a very caring, nonjudgmental person,” Jack McClaran said about Alvin Josephy. He noted that, despite his Eastern upbringing and Harvard education, Josephy wasn’t impressed with ostentation or titles. “He preferred persons with individuality and who have basic ethical and social values. ... I think that’s what he saw in people here.”
McClaran said that Josephy always “championed people that he felt weren’t being treated fairly.” He added that one thing he especially valued in their friendship was Josephy’s way of “broadening the way you look at things.”
“Alvin listened to people’s stories, sought the quiet ones and those who had not been listened to and fought for their right to be heard,” Wandschneider said.
Josephy first heard the story of the Nez Perce Indian and discovered Wallowa County on a trip west he made in 1951 while an associate editor of Time magazine researching a story on the Inland Empire of the Northwest.
In a Chieftain interview in 1982, he said during that trip he heard several times about the beauty of Wallowa County and decided to take a side trip on a day off.
He and Betty had been thinking about buying property in the west and Josephy said when he arrived in the county “It was so beautiful. It was like something saying ‘this is the place.’ I felt like Brigham Young.”
The Josephys purchased land in 1962 near Joseph on the back side of the east moraine where they and their family spent part of every year.
Josephy was born May 18, 1915, in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., and was raised in New York City.
He was educated at Horace Mann School, where he began his journalism career on the school newspaper.
He attended Harvard University for two years but the Depression forced him to leave and accept a screenwriting offer from MGM in California. He returned to New York and in 1936 began work for the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter and several years later with WOR as director of news and special events.
With the onset of World War II, Mr Josephy moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Office of War Information as its radio bureau’s chief of special events.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 as a combat correspondent serving in the South Pacific with the 3rd Marine Division. Carrying heavy recording equipment, Josephy covered the battles in Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima. He received a Bronze Star for his work in Guam when he landed with the advance troops, recording for the first and only time an on-the-spot account of an amphibious assault in progress, called an “epic” by a later commentator.
In 1946 he wrote his first book “The Long, the Short and the Tall,” an account of his Marine Corps experiences published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Alvin Josephy Jr. is survived by his brother, Warren Josephy of New York City; his daughters, Diane Josephy Peavey of Carey, Idaho, Allison Wolowitz of Old Greenwich, Conn., and Katherine Josephy of Enterprise; and his son, Alvin M. Josephy III, of Olympia, Wash. He also leaves eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
An open house for friends and family will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the home of Mr. Josephy in Greenwich, Conn. Notes or cards can be sent to 4 Kinsman Lane, Greenwich, CT 06830.
Local friends expect that a gathering in his memory will be held in Wallowa County at some time in the future.
Wallowa County Chieftain October 20, 2005
Renowned Western historian and author Alvin M. Josephy Jr., who divided his time between homes in Joseph and Greenwich, Conn., died Oct. 19, 2005, after suffering from failing health in recent months.
He was guest of honor at a belated 90th birthday party at the Coffin House in Enterprise this summer with many local friends in attendance. Josephy’s wife, Betty, preceded him in death in 2004 after 56 years of marriage.
Josephy is nationally recognized as a historian who specialized in works on the American Indians and the West, with more than a dozen authoritative books to his credit. They included “Patriot Chief,” “The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest,” “Red Power,” “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone,” “The Civil War in the American West,” The Indian Heritage of America,” and “500 Nations,” which accompanied Kevin Costner’s documentary television series on the American Indian.
“The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest,” a work published in 1967, is often credited with bringing the dramatic story of the Nez Perce Indians and Chief Joseph to the forefront of American history.
“Alvin changed the way history of American Indians and of the West is written,” said longtime friend Rich Wandschneider. “He mentored a new generation of Western historians — Robert White, Patricia Limerick and Sue Armitage, among others — and supported and encouraged a new generation of Indian leaders across the nation.”
Josephy’s 2000 memoir, “A Walk Toward Oregon,” which told the story of a life richly lived, received critical acclaim.
“... Josephy has been many things in his extraordinarily rich life: writer, advocate, soldier, politician, conservationist and civil servant. In all these roles, he has acquitted himself with honor and courage,” wrote Walter Bernstein in a New York Times review.
For the past two years Josephy worked on a project with friend and publisher Marc Jaffe close to his heart: compiling a work of contemporary Indian writers to tell the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition from the Indian point of view. The latest word is that “Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes” will be published next spring.
Josephy was a World War II correspondent, serving as a U.S. Marine, as well as a foreign correspondent in Guatemala and Mexico. He’d been a Hollywood scriptwriter, an associate editor of Time magazine and vice president and editor-in-chief of American Heritage.
For over 50 years Josephy also played a role in supporting Indians in their struggle for self-determination, treaty rights and sovereignty.
He was founding chairman of the Smithsonian’s new Museum of the American Indian, a vice chairman of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and a consultant to Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall (in 1963-64), as well as to many private, governmental and Indian organizations.
In 1969 Josephy authored a special report on a change in Indian policy for President-elect Richard Nixon, which ushered in the era of tribal self-determination.
His influence is credited with helping change U.S. policy in connection with a move to dissolve Indian reservations.
“Alvin M. Josephy was a valued friend for over 45 years,” said Udall, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. “From the late 1950s, in his books and articles beginning with his first book for American Heritage on American Indians and their history, until his masterful summation in ‘500 Nations,’ he was the most important creative interpreter of the history and culture of Native Americans. His authoritative voice influenced the opinions and actions of presidents and members of Congress. He was always in the forefront of the fight for Indian rights and justice. As a spokesman for native people, he had no peer.”
Wallowa County ranchers Jack and Margie McClaran maintained a close friendship with both Alvin and Betty Josephy for over 50 years.
“They loved Wallowa County. This was their second home,” Margie McClaran said.
“He was a very caring, nonjudgmental person,” Jack McClaran said about Alvin Josephy. He noted that, despite his Eastern upbringing and Harvard education, Josephy wasn’t impressed with ostentation or titles. “He preferred persons with individuality and who have basic ethical and social values. ... I think that’s what he saw in people here.”
McClaran said that Josephy always “championed people that he felt weren’t being treated fairly.” He added that one thing he especially valued in their friendship was Josephy’s way of “broadening the way you look at things.”
“Alvin listened to people’s stories, sought the quiet ones and those who had not been listened to and fought for their right to be heard,” Wandschneider said.
Josephy first heard the story of the Nez Perce Indian and discovered Wallowa County on a trip west he made in 1951 while an associate editor of Time magazine researching a story on the Inland Empire of the Northwest.
In a Chieftain interview in 1982, he said during that trip he heard several times about the beauty of Wallowa County and decided to take a side trip on a day off.
He and Betty had been thinking about buying property in the west and Josephy said when he arrived in the county “It was so beautiful. It was like something saying ‘this is the place.’ I felt like Brigham Young.”
The Josephys purchased land in 1962 near Joseph on the back side of the east moraine where they and their family spent part of every year.
Josephy was born May 18, 1915, in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., and was raised in New York City.
He was educated at Horace Mann School, where he began his journalism career on the school newspaper.
He attended Harvard University for two years but the Depression forced him to leave and accept a screenwriting offer from MGM in California. He returned to New York and in 1936 began work for the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter and several years later with WOR as director of news and special events.
With the onset of World War II, Mr Josephy moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Office of War Information as its radio bureau’s chief of special events.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 as a combat correspondent serving in the South Pacific with the 3rd Marine Division. Carrying heavy recording equipment, Josephy covered the battles in Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima. He received a Bronze Star for his work in Guam when he landed with the advance troops, recording for the first and only time an on-the-spot account of an amphibious assault in progress, called an “epic” by a later commentator.
In 1946 he wrote his first book “The Long, the Short and the Tall,” an account of his Marine Corps experiences published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Alvin Josephy Jr. is survived by his brother, Warren Josephy of New York City; his daughters, Diane Josephy Peavey of Carey, Idaho, Allison Wolowitz of Old Greenwich, Conn., and Katherine Josephy of Enterprise; and his son, Alvin M. Josephy III, of Olympia, Wash. He also leaves eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
An open house for friends and family will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the home of Mr. Josephy in Greenwich, Conn. Notes or cards can be sent to 4 Kinsman Lane, Greenwich, CT 06830.
Local friends expect that a gathering in his memory will be held in Wallowa County at some time in the future.
Wallowa County Chieftain October 20, 2005
He was guest of honor at a belated 90th birthday party at the Coffin House in Enterprise this summer with many local friends in attendance. Josephy’s wife, Betty, preceded him in death in 2004 after 56 years of marriage.
Josephy is nationally recognized as a historian who specialized in works on the American Indians and the West, with more than a dozen authoritative books to his credit. They included “Patriot Chief,” “The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest,” “Red Power,” “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone,” “The Civil War in the American West,” The Indian Heritage of America,” and “500 Nations,” which accompanied Kevin Costner’s documentary television series on the American Indian.
“The Nez Perce and the Opening of the Northwest,” a work published in 1967, is often credited with bringing the dramatic story of the Nez Perce Indians and Chief Joseph to the forefront of American history.
“Alvin changed the way history of American Indians and of the West is written,” said longtime friend Rich Wandschneider. “He mentored a new generation of Western historians — Robert White, Patricia Limerick and Sue Armitage, among others — and supported and encouraged a new generation of Indian leaders across the nation.”
Josephy’s 2000 memoir, “A Walk Toward Oregon,” which told the story of a life richly lived, received critical acclaim.
“... Josephy has been many things in his extraordinarily rich life: writer, advocate, soldier, politician, conservationist and civil servant. In all these roles, he has acquitted himself with honor and courage,” wrote Walter Bernstein in a New York Times review.
For the past two years Josephy worked on a project with friend and publisher Marc Jaffe close to his heart: compiling a work of contemporary Indian writers to tell the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition from the Indian point of view. The latest word is that “Lewis and Clark through Indian Eyes” will be published next spring.
Josephy was a World War II correspondent, serving as a U.S. Marine, as well as a foreign correspondent in Guatemala and Mexico. He’d been a Hollywood scriptwriter, an associate editor of Time magazine and vice president and editor-in-chief of American Heritage.
For over 50 years Josephy also played a role in supporting Indians in their struggle for self-determination, treaty rights and sovereignty.
He was founding chairman of the Smithsonian’s new Museum of the American Indian, a vice chairman of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and a consultant to Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall (in 1963-64), as well as to many private, governmental and Indian organizations.
In 1969 Josephy authored a special report on a change in Indian policy for President-elect Richard Nixon, which ushered in the era of tribal self-determination.
His influence is credited with helping change U.S. policy in connection with a move to dissolve Indian reservations.
“Alvin M. Josephy was a valued friend for over 45 years,” said Udall, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. “From the late 1950s, in his books and articles beginning with his first book for American Heritage on American Indians and their history, until his masterful summation in ‘500 Nations,’ he was the most important creative interpreter of the history and culture of Native Americans. His authoritative voice influenced the opinions and actions of presidents and members of Congress. He was always in the forefront of the fight for Indian rights and justice. As a spokesman for native people, he had no peer.”
Wallowa County ranchers Jack and Margie McClaran maintained a close friendship with both Alvin and Betty Josephy for over 50 years.
“They loved Wallowa County. This was their second home,” Margie McClaran said.
“He was a very caring, nonjudgmental person,” Jack McClaran said about Alvin Josephy. He noted that, despite his Eastern upbringing and Harvard education, Josephy wasn’t impressed with ostentation or titles. “He preferred persons with individuality and who have basic ethical and social values. ... I think that’s what he saw in people here.”
McClaran said that Josephy always “championed people that he felt weren’t being treated fairly.” He added that one thing he especially valued in their friendship was Josephy’s way of “broadening the way you look at things.”
“Alvin listened to people’s stories, sought the quiet ones and those who had not been listened to and fought for their right to be heard,” Wandschneider said.
Josephy first heard the story of the Nez Perce Indian and discovered Wallowa County on a trip west he made in 1951 while an associate editor of Time magazine researching a story on the Inland Empire of the Northwest.
In a Chieftain interview in 1982, he said during that trip he heard several times about the beauty of Wallowa County and decided to take a side trip on a day off.
He and Betty had been thinking about buying property in the west and Josephy said when he arrived in the county “It was so beautiful. It was like something saying ‘this is the place.’ I felt like Brigham Young.”
The Josephys purchased land in 1962 near Joseph on the back side of the east moraine where they and their family spent part of every year.
Josephy was born May 18, 1915, in Woodmere, Long Island, N.Y., and was raised in New York City.
He was educated at Horace Mann School, where he began his journalism career on the school newspaper.
He attended Harvard University for two years but the Depression forced him to leave and accept a screenwriting offer from MGM in California. He returned to New York and in 1936 began work for the New York Herald Tribune as a reporter and several years later with WOR as director of news and special events.
With the onset of World War II, Mr Josephy moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Office of War Information as its radio bureau’s chief of special events.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1943 as a combat correspondent serving in the South Pacific with the 3rd Marine Division. Carrying heavy recording equipment, Josephy covered the battles in Guadalcanal, Guam and Iwo Jima. He received a Bronze Star for his work in Guam when he landed with the advance troops, recording for the first and only time an on-the-spot account of an amphibious assault in progress, called an “epic” by a later commentator.
In 1946 he wrote his first book “The Long, the Short and the Tall,” an account of his Marine Corps experiences published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Alvin Josephy Jr. is survived by his brother, Warren Josephy of New York City; his daughters, Diane Josephy Peavey of Carey, Idaho, Allison Wolowitz of Old Greenwich, Conn., and Katherine Josephy of Enterprise; and his son, Alvin M. Josephy III, of Olympia, Wash. He also leaves eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
An open house for friends and family will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the home of Mr. Josephy in Greenwich, Conn. Notes or cards can be sent to 4 Kinsman Lane, Greenwich, CT 06830.
Local friends expect that a gathering in his memory will be held in Wallowa County at some time in the future.
Wallowa County Chieftain October 20, 2005
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