Du Bois, Cora (1903–1991)

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Du Bois, Cora (1903–1991)

American cultural anthropologist. Name variations: Cora DuBois. Born Cora Du Bois, Oct 26, 1903, in Brooklyn, NY; died April 7, 1991 in Brookline, Massachusetts; dau. of Jean Jules Du Bois and Mattie (Schreiber) Du Bois; University of California, Berkeley, PhD, 1932.

Served as teaching fellow in Department of Anthropology at University of California, Berkeley (1930–32), then research associate (1932–35); performed ethnographic research with Alfred Kroeber among Wintu Indians in northern California (1932–35); conducted most famous field work in Alor, Indonesia, researching problems in culture-and-personality (1937–39); published landmark study The People of Alor (1944); during WWII, served as chief of Indonesian Section of Research and Analysis Branch of Office of Strategic Services; taught at several US colleges, including 15 years at Harvard University; elected president of American Anthropological Association (1968) and of Association of Asian Studies (1969).