Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Foster (Mary LeCron) Papers
BANC MSS 2012/225
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Mary LeCron Foster papers
creator:
Foster, Mary LeCron
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2012/225
Physical Description:
15 Linear Feet
(10 cartons, 16 card-file boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1934-2001
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. The copyright for unpublished
manuscript material in this collection is held by the donor. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Mary LeCron Foster papers were gifted to the Bancroft Library by Christy Burow in 2012.
Processed by Lauren Lassleben and Mimi Loran in 2015.
[Identification of item], Mary LeCron Foster papers, BANC MSS 2012/225, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Mary LeCron Foster, known as Mickie, was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on February 1, 1914. She studied anthropology with Melville
Herskovits at Northwestern University, where she received her B.A. degree in 1936. She studied with Ruth Benedict and Franz
Boas for one year at Columbia University. After marrying George M. Foster in 1938, the couple settled in Berkeley, California.
They conducted anthropological and linguistic field work in the State of Veracruz, Mexico and for many decades in Tzintzuntzán,
Michoacán, Mexico. They published a complete grammar of Sierra Popoluca in 1948.
After raising two children, Mickie returned to school, completing a Ph.D. in linguistics at Berkeley in 1965. In 1969, she
published a revised version of her dissertation, The Tarascan Language. She taught anthropology and linguistics at the California
State University, Hayward (now CSU East Bay) from 1966 to 1974. Beginning in 1975, she
was a research associate at Berkeley, specializing in comparative linguistic studies, especially the study and reconstruction
of the evolution of human spoken language. Another of her major interests was the anthropological study of peace and conflict.
Mickie Foster died in Berkeley on December 9, 2001.
Collection documents Mary LeCron's work as a linguistic anthropologist and teacher. It is divided into ten series: Correspondence;
Diary and Field Notes; Vocabulary Notes; Writings; Course notes; Research files; Database and indices; Notecards; Audio recordings;
and Biographical materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Foster, Mary LeCron--Archives
Mixe language
Proto-Indo-European language
Tarascan language
Zoque language
Women anthropologists
Women linguists
Peace -- Study and teaching
Mexico -- Languages