Dee Ann Story

Dee Ann Story
Born12 December 1931 
Houston 
Died26 December 2010  (aged 79)
Wimberley 
Alma mater
OccupationArchaeologist 
Employer

Dee Ann Story (née Suhm; December 12, 1931 – December 26, 2010) was an American archaeologist. Story lived in Wimberley, Texas, and was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.[1] Story's best-known excavations were the George C. Davis and Deshazo sites.[2] Story's work with Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, took place in the 1960s and 1970s and pinpointed the timeline of the area.[3] She brought more advanced techniques to the dig, such as radiocarbon dating.[4] Story was also the first woman hired to work as a professional archaeologist for the state of Texas.

Biography

Story was born in Houston on December 12, 1931.[5] Story developed a love of nature as a child.[6] She attended Texas Women's University and then finished her bachelor's degree in anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin in 1953.[5] In 1956, she finished her master's degree at UT Austin.[5] Story attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where she earned her PhD in 1963.[5] She was one of the first women to earn an anthropology PhD from the University.[7]

She died on December 26, 2010, after a "lengthy battle with cancer."[8]

Career

Story's early work in archaeology began as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin where she sorted and organized artifacts uncovered by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).[7] While she was working towards her PhD, she became involved with the Glen Canyon Archaeological Project and worked with Jesse Jennings.[5] She was the only woman on an all-male field crew in Glen Canyon and was hired because of her extensive prior field experience.[7] She also ran the archaeological lab at the University of Utah to analyze the artifacts found in Glen Canyon.[7]

Story became Texas' first professional woman archaeologist when she was hired in 1962 as the assistant director of the Texas Archeological Salvage Project.[9] From 1963 to 1987, she served as the director of the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL), which is a research unit at the University of Texas at Austin.[10] In 1965, she was hired as a full professor at the University of Texas at Austin.[9]

Story started working at the George C. Davis site in 1968.[9] She had previous experience with Caddo artifacts, having found some while cataloging the WPA collection.[9] Story not only worked with Caddo history, but she was also interested in working with contemporary Caddo people.[9]

In 1987, she became a professor emeritus.[5]

Story was awarded the Curtis D. Tunnell Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Archeological Society.[8]

Story donated all of her grey-literature to the library at the Center for Archaeological Studies on the Texas State University campus prior to her death in 2010.[11]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Scientists Seek Clues From Caddo Burial Ground". The Paris News. 31 May 1995. Retrieved 12 October 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Guevara, Emily (11 February 2011). "East Texas Archeological Conference Set Saturday". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2016 – via EBSCOhost.
  3. ^ Burkett, Deborah (7 April 2015). "The Caddo Will Rise, Thanks to 'Friends'". Jacksonville Progress. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  4. ^ Goolsby, Dana (8 November 2010). "Caddo Mounds State Historic Site Caddo Indian Culture Day". Texas Escapes. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Shafer 2011, p. 13.
  6. ^ Ohlson 2011, p. 40.
  7. ^ a b c d Ohlson 2011, p. 41.
  8. ^ a b "Dee Ann Story". Austin American-Statesman. 29 December 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2016 – via Legacy.com.
  9. ^ a b c d e Ohlson 2011, p. 42.
  10. ^ Story, Dee Ann (15 June 2010). "Texas Archeological Research Laboratory". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Dee Ann Story Memorial Reports Library". Center for Archaeological Studies. Texas State University. Retrieved 12 October 2016.

Sources

  • Ohlson, Kristin (2011). "The Dean of Texas Archaeology" (PDF). American Archaeology: 39–43.
  • Shafer, Harry (2011). "Dee Ann Story" (PDF). Texas Archeology. 55 (2): 12–15.

External links

  • Image of the Dee Ann Story Preserve
  • Post about Dee Ann Story
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dee_Ann_Story&oldid=1191931801"