Frederica de Laguna
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Frederica ("Freddy") de Laguna (1906, Ann Arbor, Michigan – October 6, 2004) was an American anthropologist. The daughter of Theodore Lopez de Leo de Laguna and Grace Mead Andrus, who had both received Doctorates from Cornell and who would later teach philosophy at Bryn Mawr College, she graduated herself from Bryn Mawr College Summa Cum Laude in 1927.
After graduation, she attended Columbia University, studying under Franz Boas, and taking classes with Ruth Benedict and Gladys Reichard.
She is most noted for her work in the Arctic, as well as being one of the first female archaeologists in the United States. Margaret Mead and Dr. de Laguna were the first female anthropologists elected to the National Academy of Sciences, in 1975. She is also known for founding the Bryn Mawr College anthropology department, and taught there from 1938 until her retirement in 1975.
