modern language educator professor scholar
Raymond Ralph MacCurdy Jr. was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 12, 1916. He was the son of Raymond MacCurdy and Ada MacCurdy. His early academic work developed around Spanish language and literature, leading to research on Spanish-speaking communities in Louisiana and later to a career in Hispanic studies.
MacCurdy studied at Louisiana State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1939 and a Master of Arts degree in 1941. He subsequently pursued doctoral study at the University of North Carolina, completing a Doctor of Philosophy in 1948. His doctoral research, supervised by Ralph S. Boggs, examined the Spanish dialect of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and was based on fieldwork conducted there in 1941 and 1947.
MacCurdy began his academic career as an instructor in Spanish at the University of North Carolina, where he was listed in the 1946–1947 university catalogue as Raymond Ralph MacCurdy Jr., A.M. After completing his doctorate in 1948, he joined the University of Georgia in modern-language teaching, serving as an associate professor from 1948 to 1949 and subsequently as a professor of modern languages. He also chaired a department of modern and classical languages. In 1953 he joined the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he became a professor of modern languages and later a professor of Romance languages. His University of New Mexico career combined teaching with research on Spanish dialectology, Spanish-American language history, and Spanish Golden Age drama. He was listed as a professor emeritus of the University of New Mexico Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the 2003–2005 university catalogue.
Conducted field research in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and completed a doctoral dissertation documenting the Spanish dialect spoken there.
Established a substantial scholarly record in Spanish dialectology, Spanish-language publishing in Louisiana, and the study and editing of Spanish Golden Age drama.
(Historical and bibliographical study of Spanish-language ...)
1951(Critical bibliography of the works and scholarship associ...)
1965(Critical edition of two plays by Francisco de Rojas Zorri...)
1961(Edited work by Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla.)
1963(Edited work by Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla.)
1963(Edition of plays by Tirso de Molina.)
1965(Anthology edited by MacCurdy with introductions and notes...)
1971(A study of the life and dramatic works of Francisco de Ro...)
1970(Study of the Spanish dramatist Francisco de Rojas Zorrill...)
1958(Study of tragic political favorites and the motif of the ...)
1978(Study of the Spanish dialect of St. Bernard Parish, Louis...)
1950(Translation prepared with John E. Longhurst for the Hispa...)
1952MacCurdy was active in professional Hispanic and modern-language organizations. He served as president of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association in 1957 and was a member of the Hispanic Society of America.
MacCurdy's professional work connected field-based study of Spanish-speaking communities in Louisiana with literary scholarship on the drama of early modern Spain. His later academic association with the University of New Mexico also connected him with colleagues who honored his contribution to Golden Age studies in the 1983 volume Estudios sobre el siglo de oro: en homenaje a Raymond R. MacCurdy.
