Charles (Chuck) Frantz, 86, was born in Rocky Ford, CO on April 22, 1925, and died in Philadelphia on July 19, 2011. Chuck was classified as a conscientious objector during World War II and did alternative service in the US. Chuck graduated with a BA in sociology from Earlham College (1950), and an MA in sociology and anthropology from Haverford College (1951). He obtained a PhD in anthropology from the University of Chicago (1958 under the direction of Robert Redfield).
He was executive secretary of the AAA in the turbulent 1960s, where he worked for a strong code of ethics, befitting his Quaker upbringing. In 1968, he joined SUNY?Buffalo?s anthropology department where he was to be chair. Differences with members of the department over secret defense department research, a hot issue during the Vietnam War, led him to refuse to become chair. His class on ethics in anthropology was somewhat controversial?a surprise at the time. In addition to working at SUNY?Buffalo, Chuck also taught at Portland State University, University of Toronto and Howard University. On a sabbatical, he conducted significant work on Fulani migration at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.
Charles was a prolific writer and conducted research in Zimbabwe, Cameroun, Nigeria, Canada and the US. His major areas were the history of anthropology, theory, and pastoral societies but also had broad interests in physical anthropology, linguistics, and archeology. His major works were the Student Anthropologist?s Handbook,?Pastoral Societies, Stratification and National Integration in Africa and Racial Themes in Southern Rhodesia (co-authored with Cyril Rogers), and The Doukhobor Political System:?Social Structure and Social Organization in a Sectarian Society.
He published some articles on his doctoral research on the Doukhobor in Canada, a nudist group of immigrants from Russia, whom the Canadian government deemed terrorists while trying to stamp out their religious practices. The story of how Chuck protected his informants and smuggled his research into the US is an adventure story in itself. He never published the full text of his dissertation but was considering doing so at his death. For some time, Chuck also worked on a history of the AAA and had more than 60 tapes of his interviews with significant people in anthropology.
On a more personal note, Chuck was a diligent worker who passed his work ethic on to his students. He also protected his doctoral students, insisting that he convey the messages of other committee members to them. He married Charlotte Rae Stutzman on June 8, 1950, in Richmond, IN. He is survived by three children, Marina Belknap, Trevor, and Corrine; two grandchildren, Dylan and Caleb; a brother, Galen of Fort Collins, CO; and a sister, Dorothy Costopoulus of Fort Laramie, WY.
Without his aid, I never would have finished my own dissertation. As Dizzy Gillespie, the bop trumpet player, said of Louis Armstrong, the great progenitor of jazz trumpet, ?No him, no me.? The profession lost an important figure in Chuck?s death, and I lost a piece of my heart. He was a true and dear friend. (Frank A Salamone, with information from Polly Willman)
Source: http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2012/08/31/charles-chuck-frantz/
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