Charles Preston Warren

Welcome to the publication, “Representations.” This is a project designed to bring the perspectives of a wider variety of groups to the forefront of the anthropology classroom. To celebrate Black History Month, we are covering the accomplishments of 28 Black anthropologists across 28 days. Learn more about our project, and read on for the amazing accomplishments of Charles Preston Warren.

Forensic and physical anthropologist, Charles Preston Warren, approached anthropological research with a unique commitment to practical application that today’s anthropologists can only admire. Throughout his career, Warren established a technique to identify fallen soldiers on the battlefield, he holistically studied phenotypes, cultural variation, and archeological sites of communities across Southeast Asia, and he mentored upcoming generations of anthropologists. Each achievement transformed the practicality and theoretical framework of anthropology forever.

Before establishing himself as a pioneer in theoretical and applied forensic anthropology, Charles Preston Warren’s education was interrupted by World War II where he served as a staff sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps (Chicago Tribune). Throughout his service, Warren witnessed countless tragedies first-hand including the inability to identify the bodies of loved ones who lost their lives fighting for their country. As the longest-serving military forensic anthropologist, Warren helped identify fallen American soldiers from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War (Baldwin-Jones, 33). In June of 1975, Warren received a Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his work in Thailand, identifying soldiers from the Vietnam War (Chicago Tribune). Warren published and presented his research findings from the war at various academic conferences (Baldwin-Jones, 33).

Following his military career, Warren conducted research across parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands with a specific focus on darker-skinned communities in that region. These groups were erroneously considered by anthropologists to be one, discrete race and they were named by a racial slur in the dominating scientific literature of the time. Warren was able to establish the fact that these groups actually had great biological diversity (in skin color and hair type), that their cultural and linguistic variations were diverse, and he studied archeological sites in order to track the cultural evolution and migration of these groups (Baldwin-Jones 2018). At the time of his publications on this matter, Warren was the only anthropologist to holistically study the phenotypes, culture, and artifacts of these people (ibid). Warren aptly commented that physical anthropologists had every reason to push back against his conclusions because anthropology, itself, had “locked itself into a racist methodology” that limited the field’s ability to approach an unbiased study of race (ibid).

Unfortunately, throughout his esteemed career, others were known to use Warren’s research without credit to his contributions, essentially stealing his work (Baldwin-Jones, 35–6). Today, Warren is known for a great deal including his work training individuals in identifying America’s dead and developing new methodologies for identification (Baldwin-Jones, 33).

Warren taught physical and cultural anthropology at UIC and the University of Illinois Navy Pier campus for nearly 30 years (Chicago Tribune). From 1985 to 1986, Warren served as president of the Central States Anthropological Society (Baldwin-Jones, 35).

Outside of his work with the American military, Charles Preston Warren also made significant contributions to Philippines and South-East Asian ethnography; and African and Latin American urban studies (Baldwin-Jones, 33; Chicago Tribune). During his lifetime, Warren received many awards, including a Fulbright Research Award and a Distinguished Service Award by the Association of Black Anthropologists (Association of Black Anthropologists; Solheim, 183). He was born in Chicago in 1921 and earned many degrees throughout his lifetime. In 1947, he graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Zoology; and then moved into the field of anthropology, receiving his M.S. in physical anthropology from Indiana University in 1951 (Association of Black Anthropologists; Solheim, 183). Subsequently, Warren received his M.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1961 (Association of Black Anthropologists).

Bibliography

Baldwin-Jones, Alice. “Charles Preston Warren II.” The Second Generation of African American Pioneers in Anthropology, 15 Nov. 2018, pp. 33–41., doi:10.5406/j.ctv9b2vtr.5.

“CHARLES P. WARREN, 66, ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSOR.” Chicago Tribune, 28 Dec. 1987, webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JWdLeAimc6MJ:https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-12-28-8704060463-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.

“Charles Preston Warren (1921–1987).” Association of Black Anthropologists, aba.americananthro.org/charles-preston-warren-1921–1987/.

Solheim, Wilhelm G. II. “Charles Preston Warren 1921–1987.” Asian Perspectives, vol. 27, 1990.

Edited by Amanda Zunner-Keating, Los Angeles City College District.