The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the campus community have joined in extending condolences to the family of emeritus anthropology professor Bess Lomax Hawes. Hawes, 88, died of natural causes on Friday, Nov. 27 at her home in Portland, Ore. She is survived by three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“She was just a wonderful person,” said Sabina Magliocco, chair of the Department of Anthropology, who first met Hawes when she was a student. “She was very diplomatic. She appreciated the humanity in everyone.”
Hawes joined the faculty at then San Fernando Valley State as one of the earliest members of the anthropology department. She left in 1973 to take a job with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Hawes belonged to one of the most remarkable families in the history of folklore in the United States. Her father, John Lomax and brother, Alan Lomax, were folklorist and pioneering musicologist. During her career, she sang with the Almanac Singers, did pioneering field research with African Americans, turned her hand at filmmaking, and taught guitar and folklore. She was director of the folk and traditional arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts from 1977 to 1992, and recipient of the 1993 National Medal of Arts.
“Ms. Hawes encouraged – both through her significant powers of persuasion and through targeted investments – the establishment of a nationwide network of folk art specialists at state, regional and local arts agencies and cultural organizations, “ said NEA chairman Rocco Landesman, in a written statement following Hawes’ death. He noted that in 1993 the agency named a special fellowship in Hawes’ honor in recognition of her contributions to the field.
The memorial service is planned for the future. A formal announcement will be forthcoming.