Anthropologist. She is considered by many to be one of the key voices in anthropology, along with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, to advocate for racial equality. In a pamphlet, "The Races of Mankind," published for the U. S. Government by Benedict and Weltfish, the authors pointed to a study showing that northern blacks outscored southern whites on intelligence tests. This caused the pamphlet to be characterized as subversive, and in the 1950s, the pamphlet was one of the main reasons, along with being Jewish, that resulted in Weltfish being accused of communist sympathies, fired from Columbia University, and blacklisted for years from college employment. Her notoriety also came from her fieldwork among the Pawnee Indians, which was of the highest caliber and led to many prestigious publications. She was married for a time to fellow anthropologist Alexander Lesser, and they became the parents of one daughter, Ann Lesser Margetson. Gene was one of two daughters of Abraham Saul Weltfish and Eva Furman Weltfish.
Anthropologist. She is considered by many to be one of the key voices in anthropology, along with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, to advocate for racial equality. In a pamphlet, "The Races of Mankind," published for the U. S. Government by Benedict and Weltfish, the authors pointed to a study showing that northern blacks outscored southern whites on intelligence tests. This caused the pamphlet to be characterized as subversive, and in the 1950s, the pamphlet was one of the main reasons, along with being Jewish, that resulted in Weltfish being accused of communist sympathies, fired from Columbia University, and blacklisted for years from college employment. Her notoriety also came from her fieldwork among the Pawnee Indians, which was of the highest caliber and led to many prestigious publications. She was married for a time to fellow anthropologist Alexander Lesser, and they became the parents of one daughter, Ann Lesser Margetson. Gene was one of two daughters of Abraham Saul Weltfish and Eva Furman Weltfish.
Bio by: Sharlotte Neely Donnelly
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