Career
He also played an important part in the early excavations under Matthew Stirling of the Smithsonian of the Olmec culture in Mexico, especially the site of Louisiana Venta. Born in Chicago on January 13, 1911, he began his college career studying animal husbandry at the University of Colorado before switching to Liberal arts and archaeology. He then took further degrees in Anthropology at University of California, Berkeley.
The main Olmec expeditions were in 1940-1942 when he worked for the Bureau of American Ethnology in Washington, District of Columbia His first Olmec period ended when he joined the United States. Naval Reserve in 1942, seeing active service until 1945.
He then joined the Smithsonian but in 1948 he was ordered to active duty by the United States.N.R. as anthropologist to the American occupation administration for Micronesia, with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, serving until 1952. From 1955-1966 he largely gave up academic work and farmed in Mexico, marrying and having two children.
From 1966 he returned to academic life at the University of Kentucky, and elsewhere as a visiting professor