Martha Warren Beckwith Author

Martha Warren Beckwith (1871-1959) was an American folklorist and ethnographer. Born in Wellesley Heights, Massachusetts, Beckwith attended Mount Holyoke College before graduating with a Master’s degree in anthropology from Columbia University in 1906. In 1920, having earned her PhD, she became the chair of Vassar College’s Folklore program. Specializing in Hawaiian, Jamaican, and Native American cultures, Beckwith published numerous collections of proverbs, folk stories, myths, and ethnographies from her extensive research, often conducted with renowned ethnomusicologist Helen H. Roberts.