Seaburg's Story Studies

When Bill (William R. Seaburg, Ph.D.) passed from Parkinson's complications at the age of 75, he left behind materials for two books, as well as assorted publications, talks, and drafts which have been compiled here for this memoir, Seaburg's Story Studies. The logical sections within Story Studies derive from the materials themselves, gathered into five sections, including a regional folklore bibliography. It comprises publications, conference presentations, progress reports, and class materials.

Bill was a consummate scholar of ethnohistory, folklore, and Native literature, whose work reflected a thoughtful and meticulous approach to the study of Native languages, customs, and communities in western Oregon and Washington. Bill Seaburg, as most knew him, was devoted to Pacific Northwest anthropology. Bill, more than many, was a bridge to the earlier generations of Northwest anthropologists. Through his unique relationship to Elizabeth Jacobs, he was able to tap into the ideas and research of her husband Melville, and their other contemporaries. Whether it was through his linguistic research, his story telling analyses, or his ethnohistory work, Seaburg's Story Studies has much to offer Northwest anthropology.

Anyone who takes a day to read through Seaburg's Story Studies will be richer for the experience, and as a result, a more rounded, complete Pacific Northwest anthropologist.