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- Overgenomen van http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/obits/misc/anthro16.htm: ‘LAURA M THOMPSON, 95, distinguished sociocultural anthropologist who studied peoples and cultures in wide-ranging geographic locations and contributed significantly to the development of applied anthropology, passed away on January 29, 2000, in Honolulu, HI. Her husband Sam van Heemskerck Duker, a childhood classmate at Punahou School, died in 1978.
Thompson was born in Honolulu on January 23, 1905. She received her BA from Mills C, PhD in anthropology from the U of California, Berkeley, and an honorary LLD from Mills C. She also did graduate work at Radcliffe. Thompson was the 1979 recipient of the Bronislaw Mali now ski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Thompson published nine books and more than 70 articles in professional journals. She wrote in her autobiography, Beyond The Dream: A Search For Meaning (1991) that she was one of “Kroeber’s girls,” young women who became known for their “farflung explorations in various parts of the world.”
Thompson conducted fieldwork in Fiji and Guam in her earlier years and was on the staff at the Bernice P Bishop Museum in Honolulu (1929-34). In the late 1930s, Thompson lived in Germany with her first husband, where she experienced for herself something of National Socialism.
In the 1940s, while holding a research position via the U of Chicago’s Committee on Human Development, Thompson undertook research among Native Americans, particularly the Hopi, as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team. During this time, she was married to then Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier.
From the 1950s Thompson taught at the U of North Carolina, North Carolina State C, City College and Brooklyn C of CUNY, Southern Illinois U, San Francisco State U and the U of Hawaii. She also conducted fieldwork in Iceland.
Thompson maintained a lifelong interest in the people and culture of Guam. The Honorable Robert A Underwood of Guam introduced into the Congressional Record in the US House of Representatives (February 8, 2000) his lengthy accolade to Thompson. The opening paragraph of his tribute contains the following: “For the people of Guam and researchers everywhere, [Thompson’s book] Guam and Its People is the seminal work on the essence of the Chamorro culture. She was the first anthropologist to formally study the culture of the people of Guam and every student, researcher or any person interested in serious thinking about Guam must begin by reading and understanding her work.” Guam’s Governor Carl T C Gutierrez awarded Thompson posthumously the Ancient Order of the Chamorri.
In her autobiography, Thompson draws on her field research findings over the years to set forth creative and heartfelt responses to human problems of modern times: “An updated code of global ethics based on respect for nature’s laws could spark a unified, planet-spanning endeavor to regenerate and foster the Earth. The task would involve local, national and international cooperation in a pan-global endeavor to understand, explain and support the natural vibratory pro cesses that build, balance and uphold the living planet” (p 144).
Thompson is survived by nieces Laura Good and Alice Broderick, and granddaughter Marcella Moran.’
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1905 - 2000 (95 jaar)