Living Memory: Milocca's Charlotte Gower Chapman

Although there are exceptions, the history of sociocultural anthropology has been traced through (1) a list of prominent individuals who have made significant theoretical, methodological, and ethnographic contributions to the discipline; (2) a critical discussion of the development of one or more theoretical orientations, or schools of thought, linked directly or indirectly with the ideas of certain key thinkers; and (3) the presentation of anthropological biographies, autobiographies, and related life documents (see, for example, Darnell 1990; Harris 1968; Kuper 1996; Mead 1977; Silverman 2004; Stocking 1995). What this process has led to is the creation and establishment of a line of disciplinary ancestors; individuals who become well known within—and sometimes outside—the discipline, and whose ideas are frequently discussed and cited in the anthropological literature. In the process, however, these "canonical" figures (to quote Stocking 2001:331) tend to overshadow many of their contemporaries. Many of the "lesser known" scholars, as a result, are relegated to the status of footnotes in the history of anthropology, or forgotten altogether.

In 2000 Richard Handler published an edited volume titled Excluded Ancestors, Inventible Traditions. The articles in this volume bring to light the work and achievements of a number of these "lesser known" anthropologists (and anthropological traditions). They also raise "questions about the processes of inclusion and exclusion that, over time, do much to constitute 'the history of anthropology'" (Handler 2000a:8). Maria Lepowsky's (2000) article deals specifically with the work of Charlotte Day Gower (who later became Charlotte Gower Chapman), and some of the problems Gower experienced in her attempts to establish herself in a career in anthropology.¹ Our aim is to build on Lepowsky's presentation to focus on Gower Chapman's work in south-central Sicily, and to examine her place in both the discipline of anthropology and Sicilian rural life and history. Although specific anthropologists may, for a variety of reasons, virtually disappear from "anthropological memory," they can have a significantly different, albeit ambiguous, fate in the communities where they conducted their research. This is the key theme we address in this chapter.

The Making of an Anthropologist

Charlotte Day Gower was "born in Kankakee, Illinois, a small city about 60 miles south of Chicago," on May 5, 1902 (Lepowsky 2000:126). She passed away as a result of a heart attack at the age of eighty, on September 21, 1982, in Washington DC ("Obituary—Charlotte Chapman" 1982; Anonymous 1983:3). During this eighty-year period, her life and career were marked by a number of changes and accomplishments.

Gower majored in psychology at Smith College, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1922 (Lepowsky 2000:126). Her intent, at the time, was to pursue a medical career (King and Patterson 1991:105). While at Smith College, however, she completed a course in anthropology with Harris Hawthorne Wilder (Lepowsky 2000:127). The course stimulated Gower's interest in anthropology. In 1923, with Wilder's support, she published a paper dealing with the morphology of the apertura piriformis (nasal aperture) in modern humans. Although written very early in her anthropology career, the article has been cited in a number of recent publications (e.g., Weinberg et al. 2005). Some scholars, as can be expected, simply make use of the work as a historical document. A number of scholars, in contrast, go beyond this to actually make use of certain aspects of the nomenclature and coding protocols Gower developed in the article (e.g., Franciscus 2003:712).

A year later, Gower enrolled in the MA in Anthropology program at the University of Chicago (Anonymous 1983:3). At Chicago she was exposed to the ideas of Fay-Cooper Cole, Edward Sapir and, through them, to both the Boasian tradition in anthropology and some of the innovative ideas being developed in the Chicago School of Sociology (Murray 1986; Schusky and Eggan 1989; Lepowsky 2000). Cole was one of Gower's strongest supporters during her stay at the University of Chicago, and for some time later.

Charlotte Gower was awarded a master's degree in 1926 for her thesis "The Origin...