John Fee Embree (August 26, 1908 – December 22, 1950) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
and academic who specialized in the study of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. He was a professor at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
when he was struck and killed by a motorist.
Career
Born in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
, Embree received his
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
from the
University of Hawaiʻi
The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...
in 1931, his
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
from the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 1934 and his
Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in 1937. In 1935–36, as part of his doctoral thesis, he conducted field research in a rural area of
Kumamoto
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.
had a populat ...
on the southernmost Japanese island of
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...
. The study culminated in the seminal book ''Suye Mura: A Japanese Village'', published in 1939 by the
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
. His wife, Ella Lury Embree (later, Wiswell) conducted the research in Suye Mura alongside him, and subsequently published her own
ethnographical work on the subject, ''The Women of Suye Mura''.
John Embree served as Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii in 1937–41 and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1943–45. He was also associate professor of Anthropology and head of the Japanese area studies of the Civil Affairs Training School for the Far East which the
War Department set up at the University of Chicago for the training of military government officers for Japan and the Occupied Areas. He was associate professor of Sociology and Research Associate of Anthropology at Yale from 1948 to 1950 and, later in the year, was appointed the university's Director of Southeast Asia Studies.
Death
John Embree was 42 when, at year's end 1950, he and his only daughter, Clare, were struck and killed by a car in
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecti ...
.
Books
* ''Suye Mura: A Japanese Village '', 1939
in PDF at archive.org* ''Acculturation Among the Japanese of Kona, Hawaii'', 1941
* ''The Japanese'', 1943
* ''The Japanese Nation: A Social Survey'', 1945
* ''Ethnology: A Visit to Laos, French Indochina'', 1949
As editor:
* ''Japanese Peasant Songs'', compiled and annotated by Embree, with the assistance of Ella Embree and Yukuo Uyehara, 1944
* ''Bibliography of the Peoples and Cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia'' with Lillian Ota Dotson, 1950
As commentator:
* ''Togo-mura, a village in northern Japan'' by Hideo Nishikiori, translated by Toshio Sano, annotated by John Embree, 1945
Also, based on the author's work:
* ''Loosely Structured Social Systems: Thailand in Comparative Perspective'', edited by Hans-Dieter Evers, 1969, based on Embree's article ''Thailand - A Loosely Structured Social System'', ''American Anthropologist'', 1950
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embree, John
1908 births
1950 deaths
University of Chicago alumni
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Road incident deaths in Connecticut
20th-century American anthropologists