Margaret Mead

  • Birth

    Birth
    Margaret Mead was born on December 16, 1901 in Philidelphia Pennsylvania to her parents Edward Sherward Mead, a professor, and Emily Fogg Mead, a sociologist. She was the oldest of five children.
  • Graduation

    Graduation
    Margaret joined DePauw University in 1919 and later transfered to Branard College and graduated in 1923 with a B.A.
  • Fieldwork in Samoa

    Fieldwork in Samoa
    Margaret set out in 1925 to Ta'u, Samoa to study the life of adolescent girls despite the opposition from her collegues.
  • Curator at American Museum of Natural History

    Curator at American Museum of Natural History
    In 1926 Margaret was appointed the assistant curator of ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
  • Coming of Age in Samoa

    Coming of Age in Samoa
    Margaret published Coming of Age in Samoa, a book she had written on the field work she had conducted on adolescent females in Samoa.
  • Ph.D., Columbia University

    Ph.D., Columbia University
    Margaret earned her Ph.D at Columbia University on 1929, but the exact date of her graduation is unknown.
  • Arapesh

    Arapesh
    Margaret and Reo Fortune arrived in December 1931 to Arapesh but the exact date is unkown. She later published five technical volumes on the Arapesh people.
  • Birth of Mary Catherine Bateson

    Birth of Mary Catherine Bateson
    Despite many miscarriages Maragret became pregnant with her daughter Mary Catherine Bateson. Her daughter's father was Gregory Bateson.
  • Death

    Death
    Margaret died of pancreatic cancer on November 15, 1978 leaving behind the foundation for anthroplogy.
  • Presedential Medal of Freedom

    Presedential Medal of Freedom
    In 1979 Margaret Mead was awarded pothsumously the Presedential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter for bringing the central insight of cultural anthropology to millions.