Joe Ben Wheat papers

Joe Ben Wheat was born in Van Horn, Texas, in 1916 and had a prolific career as an archaeologist and anthropologist. He served as a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History for 33 years.

Joe Ben developed an interest in archaeology as a child while searching for arrowheads and other items in the hills surrounding Van Horn. He later reminisced that “I was interested in the people who made them as much as I was in the artifacts. What kind of people were they and how did they do this and so on. So [I] really got hooked on that.” Wheat pursued his undergraduate education at three different institutions as his dedication to the field opened up a progressively broader set of connections and opportunities. Wheat attended Sul Ross Teachers College, Texas Tech University, and finally the University of California at Berkeley before graduating from the latter in 1937.

Following graduation, he directed archaeological surveys for the WPA and Smithsonian Institution in addition to serving in the U. S. Army Air Force during WWII. He enrolled in the graduate program at University of Arizona in 1947 where he received his M.A. in Anthropology in 1949 and a Ph.D. in 1953 under Emil Haury and Edward Spicer. While a student, he worked as a graduate assistant, teacher, field foreman at the Point of Pines field school, and ranger/archaeologist at Grand Canyon National Park. The subject of his dissertation, published in two parts, was titled Mogollon Culture prior to A.D. 1000 and Crooked Ridge Village: Arizona W:10:15.

Wheat accepted a position at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History (CUMNH) in Boulder, CO in 1953 and became its first Curator of Anthropology. He would remain in this position until his retirement in 1986.

Wheat’s work at CUMNH is notable for its breadth. He continued his research into prehistoric cultures of the Southwest by conducting a field school at the Yellow Jacket complex near Cortez, CO from 1954 until 1991 with few interruptions. The field school at Yellow Jacket was notable not only for its archaeological significance but also for the opportunities it provided to members of its majority-female field crews during the 1960s and 1970s. Wheat also developed an interest in High Plains PaleoIndian culture, conducting studies of lithic analysis and bison butchering techniques at numerous excavations including the Olsen-Chubbuck bison kill site (1958, 1960) and the Jurgens site (1968, 1970). Heeding a call for archaeologists to come to Sudan ahead of construction of the Aswan Dam, Wheat conducted surveys and excavations in Sudan and also Tunisia in 1962, 1963, and 1966.

In the 1970s Wheat began a research project into Navajo and Pueblo textiles that would come to define a large part of his legacy. Possibly in connection with an effort to build out the ethnographic collections at CUMNH, he began investigating the subject in 1972 and found existing literature to be lacking. Seeing this gap, he designed a method for analyzing and photographing textiles and used a sabbatical to embark on a major research endeavor: in less than a year Wheat visited more than 50 museums and analyzed over 2,000 textiles. He analyzed the materials, dyes, and structure of these textiles to create a picture of how historical change and cultural exchange influenced their production. Subsequent research resulted in landmark publications including Navajo Blankets from the collection of Anthony Berlant (1954), The Gift of Spiderwoman: Southwest Textiles, the Navajo Tradition (1984) and Blanket Weaving in the Southwest (2003), published posthumously. Wheat was arguably the foremost academic expert on Navajo and Pueblo textiles of the 19th century and beyond.

During his career, Wheat also took part in significant collections development efforts at CUMNH that resulted in the creation of research-quality ethnographic and archaeological collections and diverse comparative collections. Collections housed at the museum from his excavations alone total more than 1,333,560 individual items. He also obtained both the Earl H. Morris and the Anna O. Shepard archives for the museum which continue to be sources of public interest and are integral to curation of museum collections.

Wheat’s contributions to his field are impressive both in terms of publications, of which there are approximately 78, and professional service. He was admired for his roles of teacher and mentor. He served on numerous graduate committees, worked with student interns in the museum, and remained accessible to his students even after his retirement.

Joe Ben Wheat died at the age of 81 in 1997. He was survived by his wife Barbara K. Wheat who subsequently donated many of their personal collections to the museum.

21 April 1916

Van Horn, TX

Born.

1929

Van Horn, TX

Informal archaeology training from Victor J. Smith (professor at Sul Ross Teachers College).

1933

Van Horn, TX

Graduates high school.

1933

Alpine, TX

Enters Sul Ross Teachers College.

Attends meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in in Alpine. Meets head of history department at Texas Tech at same meeting.

1934

Lubbock, TX

Begins sophomore year at Texas Tech.

1934

Mexico

Participates in student trip to Mexico under supervision of William Curry Holden.

Meets Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

Purchases first textiles in personal collection.

1935

Berkeley, CA

Begins junior year at the University of California, Berkeley.

1937-1939

Van Horn, TX

Works at family business to pay off college debts.

1939-1941

Texas

Serves as field director of a WPA archaeological project responsible for a district north of Lubbock to Abilene along the Brazos River.

1941-1945

Serves in the United States Army Airforce as an airman and intelligence officer. Spends over a year on Saipan in the Mariana Islands stationed with the 499 Bombing Group.

1946

Kansas City, MO

Completes a semester at the Kansas City Art Institute.

1946

Chicago, IL

Attends meeting of the American Anthropological Association.

6 April 1947

Texas

Marries Francis Irene "Pat" Moore

1947

Texas

Leads the Smithsonian River Basin Survey project in Texas after being given the position by Frank H. H. Roberts.

Receives invitation to to apply for a graduate assistantship at the University of Arizona.

1947

Tucson, AZ

Enrolls in graduate school at the University of Arizona.

Becomes field supervisor at the Point of Pines field school.

1949

Tucson, AZ

M.A. University of Arizona.

1953

Tucson, AZ

Ph.D. University of Arizona under Emil Haury and Edward Spicer.

1953

Boulder, CO

Professor of Natural History and first Curator of Anthropology at University of Colorado Museum of Natural History (CUMNH).

1954

Yellow Jacket, CO

Yellow Jacket field school begins.

1956

Boulder, CO

Arranges acquisition of the Earl Morris pottery collection for CUMNH.

1958, 1960

Kit Carson, CO

Excavations at the Olsen-Chubbuck bison kill site.

1960-1964

Secretary of the Society for American Archaeology.

1962, 1963, and 1966

Archaeological work in Sudan and Tunisia.

1963

Boulder, CO

Receives National Science Foundation grant to publish unpublished work from the Earl Morris archives with Roy Carlson.

1968, 1970

Greeley, CO

Excavations at the Jurgens Site.

1972

San Luis Valley

Excavations at Magna Site.

1972

Begins textile research project.

1976-1978

President of the Council for Museum Anthropology.

1981

Colorado State Archaeologists' award.

1982

Robert L. Stearns award.

1986

Boulder, CO.

Takes mandatory retirement at the University of Colorado.

1987

Death of wife Francis Irene Moore.

1990

Clarence T. Hurst award.

1991

Byron S. Cummings award.

End of Yellow Jacket field school.

1992

Marries Barbara Kile Zernickow (first met early 1940s).

12 June 1997

Boulder, CO

Date of death. Survived by wife Barbara K. Wheat and two brothers.