Robert Redfield (1897-1958)

In 1920 Robert Redfield married Margaret Park, the daughter of Robert Park, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. Unhappy in his law career, Redfield contemplated becoming an anthropologist, and his father-in-law offered to fund a trip to Mexico so that Redfield could get a taste of field work before committing to an academic career. Redfield accepted the offer and, following his trip to Mexico, pursued a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Chicago, which he completed in 1928.

By 1932, Redfield was an established professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago. In that year, he was invited to join the Carnegie Institution project at Chichen Itza in Yucatan. Redfield was pivotal in expanding the focus of the project, moving away from the history of ancient civilizations to study the lives of those contemporary indigenous people who lived in the area surrounding El Castillo, the pyramid of Chichen Itza. While in Mexico, Redfield wrote extensive letters to his wife Margaret, some of which are presented here. She served Redfield as a close personal confidant, but he also considered her an intellectual and professional peer, as evidenced by the amount of detail that he gives her about his work in this correspondence.

Mexicans in Chicago

While assisting the Department of Public Welfare to gather information about immigrant housing in Chicago, Robert Redfield interviewed people in small Mexican communities sprinkled throughout the southwest of Chicago in 1924.

Manuel Gamio, an archaeologist and former government official from Mexico, made Chicago his base in the 1930s, as he called attention to the lives of Mexican immigrants, the "forgotten minority," in the United States.

Robert Redfield (1897-1958)

En 1920, Robert Redfield, se casó con Margaret Park, la hija de Robert Park, un profesor de sociología de la Universidad de Chicago. Descontento con su carrera de leyes, Redfield contempló ser antropólogo, y su suegro le ofreció pagarle un viaje a México para que Redfield se diera la oportunidad de conocer el trabajo de campo antes de comprometerse con una carrera académica. Redfield aceptó la oferta, y después de su viaje a México, comenzó un doctorado en antropología en la Universidad de Chicago, el cual terminó en 1928.

En 1932, Redfield ya era profesor de antropología en la Universidad de Chicago. En ese año se le invitó a integrarse al proyecto del Instituto Carnegie de Chichén Itzá en Yucatán. Redfield fue fundamental para expandir el enfoque del proyecto, llendo más allá de la historia de las civilizaciones antiguas para estudiar las vidas de esos indígenas contemporáneos quienes vivían en el área alrededor de 'El Castillo', la pirámide de Chichén Itzá. Mientras estaba en México, Redfield escribió cartas extensas a su esposa Margaret, algunas de las cuales se presentan aquí. Ella fue su confidente, pero él también la consideraba como su colega intelectual y profesional, lo que es evidente por la cantidad de detalles que él le dá en sus cartas acerca de su trabajo.