Martha Beckwith

Martha Beckwith, a photo by vassarcollegearchives on Flickr.

In 1920, Martha Beckwith became the first person to hold a chair in Folklore at any college or university in the country. The Folklore Foundation, established at Vassar with an anonymous donation by the naturalist, Annie Alexander, was an unprecedented institution. With its establishment, Vassar College suddenly became a center of research in the almost entirely new field of folk culture.