After third months of research for my biography of Marshall Sahlins, I have finally arrived at an important milestone: Sahlins’s birth! I’ve done a lot of work on his family, especially his father, as well as the broader history of the west side of Chicago. I’ve now begun writing about his life from birth to his matriculation at the University of Michigan. I’ll be doing archival work at Columbia, where he earned his Ph.D., in August and then I’ll be at Michigan in September (iirc) so those are the next big chunks of career to consider.
I’ve spent a lot of time on Sahlins’s father, who left a paper trace because of his career as a doctor. He also has a great story, preserved in family lore, about his escape from Russia during WWI — a story which appear to be largely true! I regret that I haven’t focused so much on his mother. I can’t tell whether this is some sort of unconscious sexism on my part, or the fact that the records of the time privilege male experiences, or that she had a relatively uneventful life after coming to the US. She as Latvian, and there is less in English (afaik) about Latvia than there is about Russia. But I will keep looking, even if my main focus shifts elsewhere.
One potential area of research is to begin boning up now on what might be called ‘contextual biographies’ from the period, such as Hortense Powdermaker’s Stranger and Friend. I’d also like to read some of the background literature on Robert Redfield — he was so central to American Anthropology but seems to me more like an eminence grise whose impact is under appreciated. Another area of weakness for me right now is the rise of the New Left and the anti-Vietnam side of Sahlins’s years at Michigan. More background reading will prepare me for forthcoming research in this regard.
Alex Golub 