Barbara Myerhoff

Barbara Myerhoff
Born	Barbara Gay Siegel February 16, 1935 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	January 7, 1985 (aged 49) Burbank, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cancer
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Anthropologist, filmmaker
Spouse(s)	Lee Myerhoff (m. 1954; div. 1982)

Barbara Myerhoff (February 16, 1935 – January 7, 1985) was an American anthropologist and filmmaker, and founder of the Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California.^[1]

Biography

Born in Cleveland Ohio, Myerhoff's work with the Jewish community in Venice, California was documented in the 1976 ethnographic film Number Our Days, directed by Lynne Littman. Number Our Days was published in book form in 1979, and performed as a play at the Mark Taper Forum in 1982.

Her next project, In Her Own Time, was taken over by Lynne Littman and Vikram Jayanti when Myerhoff was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 1985.^[2]

Awards

• 1977: Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject for Number Our Days

Filmography

• Number Our Days (1976)
• In Her Own Time (1986)

Bibliography

• Myerhoff, Barbara G. (1976). Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801491375.
• Myerhoff, Barbara (1992). Kaminsky, Marc, ed. Remembered Lives: The Work of Ritual, Storytelling, and Growing Older. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472081776.
• Ruby, Jay (1982). Crack in the Mirror: Reflexive Perspectives in Anthropology. Introduction by Barbara Myerhoff and Jay Ruby. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812278156.

See also

• Tim Asch
• Jay Ruby
• Stuart Goldman
• Deena Metzger

References

1. Andrews, Susan (23 October 2009). "Legends Asch and Myerhoff Inspire A New Generation of Visual Anthropologists". USC Dornsife. University of Southern California.
2. "Barbara Myerhoff, Chronicler of Venice Jews, Dies". Los Angeles Times. 8 January 1985.

External links

• Barbara Myerhoff biography at the Jewish Women's Archive
• Barbara Myerhoff at the Internet Movie Database