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Alvin M. Josephy Jr.

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Alvin M. Josephy Jr.
Born
Alvin M. Josephy Jr.

(1915-05-18)May 18, 1915
DiedOctober 16, 2005(2005-10-16) (aged 90)
NationalityAmerican

Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (May 18, 1915 – October 16, 2005) was an American historian who specialized in Native American issues. New York Times reviewer Herbert Mitgang called him in 1982 the "leading non-Indian writer about Native Americans".[1]

Early life

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Josephy was born in Woodmere, New York. His mother was a daughter of publisher Samuel Knopf and a sister of Alfred A. Knopf.[1]

Career

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Early career

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Early in his career, Josephy worked as a Hollywood screenwriter, New York City newspaper correspondent, radio station news director, the Washington Office of War Information, and in the Pacific theater as United States Marine Corps combat correspondent, where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "heroic achievement in action... [making] a recording of historical significance" during the U.S. invasion of Guam.[2] After the war, Josephy returned to Hollywood where he wrote for the movies, for a local newspaper, and for veterans groups.[3] There he married his second wife, Elizabeth Peet. Josephy's reporting on organized crime in Santa Monica was the basis for the film The Captive City, which he co-wrote.[4]

Time magazine

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Around 1952, the Josephys moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, when Alvin joined Time magazine as photo editor. One assignment sparked his interest in the history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially the Nez Perce people, who lived primarily in Oregon and Idaho. He developed that interest largely in his free time.[1][5]

American Heritage magazine

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In 1960, he joined the American Heritage Publishing Company as a senior editor of American Heritage books, and in 1976, became editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine, a position he served in until 1978.[1][5][6]

Literary works

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Josephy's works include The Patriot Chiefs (1961); Chief Joseph's People and Their War (1964); The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest (1965); The Indian Heritage of America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968); Red Power: The American Indians' Fight for Freedom (1971); and Now That the Buffalo's Gone (1982);[1] also Black Hills, White Sky; The Civil War in the American West and History of the Congress of the United States.[3]

Government advisor

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Josephy served as a senior advisor on Federal Indian Policy to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall during the Kennedy Administration, and later as an advisor to President Richard Nixon on matters pertaining to Native Americans and government policies relating to Indian Tribes. He had strongly disagreed with Eisenhower Administration policies on such matters, as President Nixon came to later, in retrospect.[1] Prior to this time, more than 100 tribes had lost federal recognition, and their land holdings under Federal policies of "termination" and forced assimilation. Based significantly on Josephy's advice and encouragement, the Nixon Administration adopted a policy of "self-determination" for Native Americans, and furthered policies and practices to encourage their cultural survival.)[5]

Personal life

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Alvin and Elizabeth "Betty" Peet Josephy were married for 56 years, until her death in 2004. He died at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, a year later. He was survived by one child from his first marriage, three from his second, and their descendants.[1]

Legacy

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In Joseph, Oregon, where Alvin and Betty owned a ranch and hosted a camp for Nez Perce children,[3] their legacy is well remembered. The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture was founded in his name. Included in the Center is the Alvin M. and Betty Josephy Library of Western History and Culture, which holds much of Josephy's personal collection, as well as related materials.[7] One of his books, The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest, was included on the list of 100 Oregon Books by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.[8] His papers are held at the Knight Library at the University of Oregon.[3]

Publications

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Books

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Book title Date Publisher Subject
The Long and the Short and the Tall 1946 Knopf U.S. Marines in the Pacific during WWII
The Patriot Chiefs 1962 Viking Portraits of Native American leaders
Chief Joseph's People and Their War 1964 Yellowstone A very brief version of Nez Perce history
The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest 1965 Yale Comprehensive history of the Nez Perce tribe
The Indian Heritage of America 1968 Knopf (American Heritage Books) Comprehensive overview of Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere
The Artist Was A Young Man 1970 Amon Carter Museum Peter Rindisbacher, first artist of the Plains Indians, early 1820s
Black Hills, White Sky 1978 New York Times Books Dakota tribes (narrative and historic photographs)
On the Hill 1979 Simon & Schuster History of the United States Congress
Now That the Buffalo's Gone 1982 Knopf Case studies in contemporary Native American issues (water, sovereignty, religion)
The Civil War in the American West 1991 Knopf The American Civil War in the West
500 Nations: An Illustrated History of North American Indians 1994 Knopf (accompanied a CBS television series)
Red Power: The American Indians' Fight for Freedom, 2nd Rev. Ed. 1999 University of Nebraska Press Documentary history of the American Indian activist movement
A Walk Toward Oregon 2000 Knopf Autobiography
Nez Perce Country 2007 Bison Condensed version of Nez Perce history

Magazine articles

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Magazine title Date Issue Article title Page Subject
New York Times March 19, 1973 "What the Indians Want" 18 Indian-US government relations & recent protests
Life July 2, 1971 Vol 71; No. 1 "The Custer Myth" 49 The battle of Little Bighorn
Digest October 23, 1937 Vol 1; No. 15 "Cardenas, Indian Idol" 18 Mexican President Cardena's relationship with native Indians
Ken May 5, 1938 Vol 1; No. 3 "Bomb in a Pail of Water" 24 Interview with Leon Trotsky
American Heritage April 1, 1958 Vol 6; No. 3 "Was America Discovered Before Columbus?" 16 Portuguese discovery of the New World by 1424
American Heritage February 1, 1956 Vol 7; No. 2 "First 'Dude Ranch' Trip to the Untamed West" 8 Sir William Stewart's hunting party of 1843
American Heritage February 1, 1958 Vol 9; No. 2 "The Last Stand of Chief Joseph" 36 Nez Perce's great 1,300 miles fighting retreat
American Heritage October 1, 1960 Vol 11; No 6 "A Man to Match the Mountains" 60 David Thompson, explorer and land geographer of the New World
American Heritage June 1, 1961 Vol 12; No 4 "Revolt in the Pueblos" 65 Pueblo uprising of 1680
American Heritage August 1, 1961 Vol 12; No 5 "These lands are ours ..." 14 Tecumseh's leadership greatness
American Heritage October 1, 1965 Vol 16; No 6 "A Most Satisfactory Council" 27 Walla Walla Council of 1855
American Heritage December 1, 1966 Vol 18; No 1 "Ordeal in Hell's Canyon" 72 John Jacob Astor's fur traders' discover the chasm of Idaho's Snake River
American Heritage December 1, 1968 Vol 20; No 1 "Cornplanter, Can You Swim?" 4 Kinzua Dam floods the Senecas' ancestral lands
American Heritage February 1, 1970 Vol 21; No 2 "The Boy Artist of Red River" 30 Peter Rindisbacher, 19th-century artist, captured lives of Indians and white pioneers
American Heritage June 1, 1970 Vol 21; No 4 "Here in Nevada a Terrible Crime ..." 93 Nevada's Pyramid Lake, victim of the plundering of natural resources
American Heritage February 1, 1973 Vol 24; No 2 "The Hopi Way" 49 Traditionalists' prescription for a happier, more meaningful life & the threat of strip mining on their communities
American Heritage February 1, 1974 Vol 25; No 2 "The Splendid Indians of Edward S. Curtis" 40 Curtis's corpus, The North American Indian
American Heritage June 1, 1981 Vol 32; No 4 Iwo Jima 92 "Marine combat correspondent recalls the deadliest battle of the Pacific war"
American West November 1, 1986 Vol 23; No 6 "Looking for Finegayan" 44 A marine returns to Guam
American West January 1, 1986 Vol 23; No 1 "Andy Warhol Meets Sitting Bull" 42 Warhol's silk-screen prints, "Cowboys and Indians"
American West July 1, 1985 Vol 22; No 4 "Those Pants that Levi Gave Us" 30 History of Levi Strauss and his world-famous pants
American West March 1, 1984 Vol 21; No 2 "View from the West" 6 Impact of media attitude to natural resource policies
American West May 1, 1983 Vol 20; No 3 "The Blood of Abel" 31 1863 murder of Lloyd Magruder and swift justice in frontier Idaho
American West November 1, 1982 Vol 19; No 6 "Whose Old West Is Disappearing?" 32 Celebration of cowboys, cow ponies, and cow country
American West September 1, 1982 Vol 19; No 5 "One Way to Spell Man" 64 Review of Wallace Stegner's One Way to Spell Man: Essays with a Western Bias
Audubon March 1, 1976 Vol 78; No 2 "Kaiparowits: the ultimate obscenity" 64 Impact of powerplants in the four-state corner of the West
Audubon March 1, 1975 Vol 77; No 2 "Dr. Strangelove builds a canal" 76 Impact of Bureau of Reclamation's irrigation plans on North Dakota farmers
Audubon July 1, 1973 Vol 75; No 4 "Agony of the Northern Plains" 68 Impact on northern plains of the 1971 "North Central Power Study"
Audubon July 1, 1971 Vol 73; No 4 "The Murder of the Southwest" 52 Impact on Indian lands of Dept. of the Interior approved strip-mining for coal
Westerners January 1, 1971 Vol 18; No 4 "The Hudson's Bay Company and the American Indians - III" 78 History of the company's relationship with & treatment of American Indians
Westerners January 1, 1971 Vol 18; No 3 "The Hudson's Bay Company and the American Indians - II" 59 History of the company's relationship with & treatment of American Indians
Westerners January 1, 1971 Vol 18; No 2 "The Hudson's Bay Company and the American Indians" 28 History of the company's relationship with & treatment of American Indians
Westerners January 1, 1968 Vol 15; No 2 "Two Gamy Letters from Fort Yuma" 28 Sylvester Mowry, Arizona pioneer
Westerners January 1, 1968 Vol 15; No 1 "Reply to Dr. Haines" 15 Nez Perce and the Appaloosa
Westerners January 1, 1967 Vol 14; No 4 "Nez Perces and The Appaloosa Horse ... False History:" 73 Nez Perce and the Appaloosa
Westerners January 1, 1967 Vol 14; No 1 "Early Man in the Americas" 8 Origin of early mankind in the Americas
Westerners January 1, 1965 Vol 12; No 3 "New Light on the Early Northwest" 49 La Gasse and Le Blanc, first white men known to have entered the Upper Basin of the Columbia River
Westerners January 1, 1964 Vol 11; No 3 "Tom Fitzpatrick, 1848" 57 1848 letter by Tom Fitzpatrick, mountain man, emigrant guide, and Indian agent, edited by A. Josephy
Westerners January 1, 1963 Vol 10; No 4 "Another Letter from Broken Hand" 75 1847 letter by Tom Fitzpatrick to Thomas H. Harvery, Supt. of Indian Affairs, edited by A. Josephy
Westerners January 1, 1963 Vol 10; No 2 "A Letter from Broken Hand" 25 1847 letter by Tom Fitzpatrick, early Indian agent appointed to the western plains, edited by A. Josephy
Westerners January 1, 1962 Vol 9; No 3 "The Funeral of Peter Dan Moses" 64 The funeral of Peter Dan Moses marked the passing of another colorful, prominent NW Indian leader
Westerners January 1, 1958 Vol 4; No 4 "The Lolo Trail" 82 Trader-explorer David Thompson and the history of Lolo Trail
Atlantic June 1, 1970 Vol 225; No 6 "Indians in History" 67 White historians' failure to know Indian history and nature
Blue Book June 1, 1951 Vol 93; No 2 "Condors Don't Pay Taxes" 52 California condor
Great Plains Journal September 1, 1969 "Everybody's Talking" 1 Historians, challenges and role
Montana October 1, 1955 Vol 5; No 4 "The Naming of the Nez Perce" 1 History of the naming of the Nez Perce
Natural History February 1, 1977 Vol 86; No 2 "A Sojourn Among the Indians" 94 Review of People of the First Man, edited by Davis Thomas and Karin Ronnefeldt
Journal of the West June 1, 2000 Vol 39; No 3 "A Responsibility of Western Historians" 6 Avoiding stereotypes to provide a true knowledge of transition from Old West to New West
Journal March 1, 1985 Vol 4; No 1 "The Blood of Abel" 4 1863 murder of Lloyd Magruder and swift justice in frontier Idaho
Idaho Yesterdays March 1, 1962 Vol 6; No 1 "Origins of the Nez Perce People" 2 Aboriginal wanders from Asia settled among Clearwater, Salmon, and Wallowa Country
On the Sound January 1, 1972 Vol 2; No 1 "120 Centuries of a Noble Heritage, Part 1" 80 History of American Indians along Long Island Sound
On the Sound February 1, 1972 Vol 2; No 2 "Indians of the Sound, Part 2" 72 History of American Indians of Long Island Sound from the 17th century on
Oregon Humanities December 1, 1992 "In Search of the Old West" 2 A. Josephy reflects on the transitioning Old West beginning with his 1934 cross-country bus ride
Proceedings September 1, 1978 "Keynote Address" 2 A. Josephy's speech to conference of environmentalists and sheep producers
Smithsonian July 1, 1976 Vol 7; No 4 "Book Recommendations" 127 A. Josephy recommends The Closing Circle by Barry Commoner
American West September 1, 1972 Vol 9; No 5 "By Fayre and Gentle Means" 4 The Hudson's Bay Company and the American Indian
Critic September 1, 1973 Vol 32; No 1 "Freedom for the American Indian" 18 Summary of Indian-White relations since earliest contact
Col. Heinl 1982 Mem. Award January 1, 1982 "Iwo Jima" 37 Marine combat correspondent recalls deadliest battle of the Pacific war
History News June 1, 1982 Vol 37; No 6 "Awesome Space" 26 Speculations on interpretations of the Old West
Western Historical Quarterly March 1, 1995 Vol 26; No 1 "I Have Seen the Elephant" 4 Presidential address at Western History Association's 34th annual conference

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "American Indian Historian Alvin Josephy Jr. Dies", Adam Bernstein, The Washington Post, October 18, 2005.
  2. ^ Citation for Sergeant Alvin M. Josephy, Junior, United States Marine Corps Reserve, by Lt. General H.M. Smith, Headquarters Fleet Marine Force, Pacific
  3. ^ a b c d "Alvin Josephy (1915-2005)", Rich Wandschneider, The Oregon Encyclopedia.
  4. ^ "The Captive City". The American Cinemateque. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Alvin Josephy: A gentle, graceful advocate for sovereignty", Rebecca A. Miles, High Country News, December 12, 2005.
  6. ^ Josephy, Alvin. "Bio and article list". American Heritage. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b c The Alvin M. and Betty Josephy Library of Western History and Culture
  8. ^ Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission website
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