William Bascom

Biography

William R. Bascom, an American folklorist, anthropologist, and museum director, got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and later earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Northwestern University in 1939 under Melville J. Herskovits. His doctoral work involved fieldwork among the Yoruba, making him the first American anthropologist to do so. He went on to teach at Northwestern and Cambridge University. During World War II, Bascom served in the O.S.S. and, with Ralph Bunche, co-wrote the unsigned 1943 book A Pocket Guide to West Africa.

After the war, he and his Cuban-born wife, Berta—who remained a lifelong collaborator—studied Yoruba-derived practices like the Shango cult and Santeria in Cuba and other locations. In 1957, Bascom moved from Northwestern to the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as the first director of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology until his 1979 retirement. He also contributed to establishing Berkeley’s master’s degree program in 1965. Many of his folkloristics articles are still used in graduate folklore courses and were frequently anthologized during his lifetime.

His posthumously published 1992 book African Folktales in the New World is noted for advancing discussions on diffusion versus independent invention.

Major works

Bascom's major works include: (1943) "The Relationship of Yoruba Folklore to Divining," The Journal of American Folklore, 56(220), 127–131; (1943) The Sociological Role of the Yoruba Cult-Group; (1947) Ponape: A Pacific Economy in Transition; (1954) "Four Functions of Folklore," The Journal of American Folklore, 67(266), 333–349; (1955) "Urbanization Among the Yoruba," American Journal of Sociology, 60(5), 446–454; (1955) "Verbal Art," The Journal of American Folklore, 68(269), 245–252; (1959, co-edited with Melville J. Herskovits) Continuity and Change in African Culture; (1964) "Folklore Research in Africa," The Journal of American Folklore, 77(303), 12–31; (1965) "The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives," The Journal of American Folklore, 78(307), 3–20; (1969) The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria; (1969) Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa; (1973) African Art in Cultural Perspective: An Introduction; (1973) "Folklore, Verbal Art, and Culture," The Journal of American Folklore, 86(342), 374–381; (1975, editor) African Dilemma Tales; (1977, editor) Frontiers of Folklore; (1980) Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World; (1992) African folktales in the New World.