A Life In and Out of Anthropology

Abstract

■ This article presents an interview with Jack Sargent Harris (1912—2008), an anthropologist who earned his PhD at Columbia University in 1940 and was one of the first US anthropologists to do fieldwork in Africa, showing an interest in materialistic theoretical approaches. As a merchant seaman before becoming an anthropologist he traveled the globe, including trips to the Soviet Union, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. During the Second World War, Harris became a clandestine operative engaged in counter-espionage for the United States' Office of Strategic Services in West Africa and in South Africa. Returning to the United States, he was hired by the fledgling United Nations as part of its decolonization efforts. However, Harris fell victim to the McCarthy-era witch hunt and was purged from the United Nations. He moved to Costa Rica in 1954 where he became a successful entrepreneur.