Mabel Cook Cole (April 18, 1880 – November 23, 1977) was an American writer and anthropologist. She specialized in the study of ancient humans, and in studying the people of the Philippines and Malaysia.

Early life and education

Mabel Elizabeth Cook was born in

Plano, Illinois Plano is a city near Aurora in Kendall County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 11,847 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, being about 55 miles (90 km) from Chicago. The city was home to the Pla ...

, the daughter of Amer Brewer Cook and Ella Augusta Webster Cook. She graduated from Plano High School, and in 1903 from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Career

Cole taught anthropology courses at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. She studied folk culture and stories in the Philippines and Malaysia, and made recordings of songs and spoken tales. She also assisted her husband

Fay-Cooper Cole Fay-Cooper Cole (8 August 1881 – 3 September 1961) was a professor of anthropology and founder of the anthropology department at the University of Chicago; he was a student of Franz Boas. Some argue that he, most famously, was a witness for th ...

in research, and in writing about their findings. She was a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood philanthropic organization, the Society of Women Geographers, and the National League of American Pen Women. The Coles retired to California in 1948.

Publications

Cole's ''Philippine Folk Tales'' (1916) were "literary retellings with the aim of making acceptable narratives", according to one review. * ''Philippine Folk Tales'' (1916) * "Homeless Husbands" (1924) * ''Savage Gentlemen'' (1929, memoir) * "The Island of Nias, at the edge of the world" (1931) * ''The Story of Man'' (1938, with Fay-Cooper Cole) * ''The Story of Primitive Man'' (1940, with Fay-Cooper Cole)

Personal life

Cook married fellow anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole. They had one child, Lamont. Her husband died in 1961, and Cole died in 1977, at the age of 97, in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Mabel Cook American women anthropologists People from Plano, Illinois 1880 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American anthropologists