Archives West Finding Aid

Jesse D. Jennings was born in 1909 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1929 he received his bachelors degree from Montezuma College in New Mexico. Then in 1943 he earned his PhD from the University of Chicago. From 1930 to 1948 Jennings worked on various archaeological projects around the country including several with the National Park Service. This included a stint as Acting Superintendent of Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, Georgia from 1938 to 1939. From 1938 to 1942 and then again from 1945 to 1946 he was also an archeologist at the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tupelo, Mississippi. He served in the Navy in World War II with the rank of Lieutenant. His final job with the National Park Service before coming to the University of Utah was as an archaeologist in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1948 he became a professor in the Anthropology Department. He was made head of the department in 1952 and held that position until 1960. In addition to being a professor of anthropology, Jennings also became the first director of the Utah Museum of Natural History in 1963 when it was first established. Jennings served as the director of the museum until 1973. During his time with the Anthropology Department, Jennings became a leading expert in Great Basin Desert culture. This included several ground breaking projects such as Danger Cave in 1957. Jennings served as the Director of the Glen Canyon Archaeological Salvage Project from 1957 to 1965. The purpose of the project, which the University of Utah did in conjuction with the Museum of Northern Arizona, was to study the prehistorical sites of the Glen Canyon region before they were destroyed by the Glen Canyon Dam project in 1963. Over the course of his career Jennings published over a hundred articles, monographs, and edited volumes contributing much to the studying of the archaeology of North America. Jesse Jennings received many awards and honors in the field of anthropology including the Viking Medal in Archaeology (1958), Reynolds and Leigh Lectureships at the University of Utah (1963 and 1975) and visiting professorships at universities such as Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Hawaii, and the University of New Zealand. In 1977 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Before that he had been a member of the American Anthropological Association (1953-1956) and served as President of the Society for American Archaeology (1959-1960). Jennings stayed with the Anthropology Department at the University of Utah until 1980 at which time he and his wife moved to Siletz, Oregon where he worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene. However, Jennings continued to teach at the University of Utah until his retirement in July 1986 when he became a Professor Emeritus. Jesse Jennings passed away on August 13, 1997 at his home in Siletz, Oregon.