Kate Peck Kent
An older white woman with short grey hair, smiling and wearing glasses.
Kate Peck Kent, from a 1987 publication.
Born
Kate Stott Peck

1914
Washington, D.C.
DiedOctober 28, 1987
El Rito, New Mexico
OccupationAnthropologist

Kate Peck Kent (1914 – October 28, 1987), born Kate Stott Peck, was an American anthropologist who studied the history of Pueblo and Navajo textiles.

Early life and education

Kate Stott Peck was born in Washington, D.C. in 1914, and raised in Denver, the daughter of Allen Steele Peck and Jessie Peck.[1][2] Her father was an officer in the U. S. Forest Service.[3][4]

Peck earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Denver, and pursued graduate studies at Columbia University.[5][6][7] She completed a master's degree at the University of Arizona in 1949, with a thesis titled "An analysis and interpretation of the cotton textiles from Tonto National Monument."[8] In retirement, she continued her studies at the School of American Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[9]

Career

In the late 1930s, Kent was assistant to curator Frederic Huntington Douglas at the Denver Art Museum.[10][11] She taught anthropology at Barnard College and the University of Denver,[8] and was senior research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art.[9] After she retired from the University of Denver in 1976, she was an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico.[9] She also served as an officer of the Southwestern Association of Indian Affairs.[12]

She wrote a short book, The Story of Navajo Weaving (1961), for the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.[13] Kent's later books were Prehistoric Textiles of the Southwest (1983),[14] Pueblo Indian Textiles: A Living Traditions (1983),[15] and Navajo Weaving: Three Centuries of Change (1985). "I'll bet there's not one archaeologist who's read my books," she said in a 1987 interview. "But weavers love my books. They are my most loyal supporters. I've talked to a lot of weavers' guilds and given workshops prehistoric techniques. Weavers love to experiment."[11] Hopi weaver Ramona Sakiestewa was inspired by Kent's work to explore historical techniques for her Ancient Blanket Series.[16]

She wrote an introduction to H. P. Mera's rediscovered Spanish American Blanketry (1984).[17] She contributed an essay on Southwestern weaving to I Am Here (1989), a book published to mark the opening of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[18]

Personal life and legacy

In 1937,[1] Kate Peck married educator Arthur Tufnell Sabine Kent.[19] They had three children, Hilary, Stephen, and Jonathan.[6] Kate Peck Kent died in 1987, aged 73 years, at her home in El Rito, New Mexico.[20][21]

In 1988, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian held a memorial exhibit, "Living Traditions: Kate Peck Kent and the Study of Historic Pueblo Textiles".[22] Her papers and library were donated to the Wheelwright Museum after her death.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "MISS KATE S. PECK ENGAGED TO MARRY; Parents of Denver Girl Have Announced Betrothal to Arthur T.S. Kent". The New York Times. 1937-12-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  2. ↑ "Col. Allen S. Peck Services Wednesday". The Daily Sentinel. 1951-02-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Allen Steele Peck '05". The Michigan Alumnus. 38: 331. February 6, 1932.
  4. ↑ "Region Forest Head Retires After 40 Years". The Daily Sentinel. 1943-11-28. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Mrs. Kate Peck Kent Studies Americans of 1,000 Years Ago". Arizona Daily Star. 1945-09-14. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Kate Stott Peck Kent". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 1987-10-30. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Obituary for Kate Stott Peck Peck (Aged 73)". Rio Grande Sun. 1987-11-05. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Browman, David L. (2020-02-17). Cultural Negotiations: The Role of Women in the Founding of Americanist Archaeology. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-1-4962-1044-9.
  9. 1 2 3 Ireland, Tom (1983-06-24). "Retirement a busy time for author of textile books". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 50. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Mrs. Kate Peck Kent to Speak at Museum". Tucson Daily Citizen. 1945-10-15. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 Zoretich, Frank (1987-10-06). "Daughters of the Desert". Albuquerque Journal Magazine. pp. 40–44. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Indian Group Picks Officers". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 1982-11-21. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ D. F. B. (1961-11-12). "Literary Lantern". Arizona Daily Star. p. 40. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Kent, Kate Peck (1983). Prehistoric Textiles of the Southwest. School of American Research. ISBN 978-0-8263-0591-6.
  15. ↑ Traugott, Joseph (1983-12-18). "Book Saves Pueblo Weaving History". Albuquerque Journal. p. 34. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Sandrin, Kathleen (1994-12-16). "Adding a Twist to Story of Pendleton Blankets". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 82. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Looking at Culture Through the Eyes of a 'Carpintero'". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 1987-12-18. p. 51. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Best, Jan (1989-09-22). "A Treasure of Southwestern Artifacts". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 41. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Arthur T. S. Kent". Rio Grande Sun. 1991-12-12. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Spencer, Anne M. (1989). "The Legacy of Kate Peck Kent: A Museum Curator's View". Museum Anthropology. 13 (2): 7–8. doi:10.1525/mua.1989.13.2.7. ISSN 1548-1379.
  21. ↑ Whiteford, Andrew Hunter (1988). "Kate Peck Kent (1914–1987)". American Anthropologist. 90 (4): 956–957. doi:10.1525/aa.1988.90.4.02a00150. ISSN 1548-1433.
  22. ↑ "Gallery Shows". The Santa Fe Reporter. 1988-01-06. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-08-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Exhibitions: Pueblo Indian Embroidery from the Kate Peck Kent Memorial Collection". Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. 2008. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
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