Roger T. Grange

Born in Chicago on October 6, 1927, he studied at the University of Chicago, where he began the work in archaeology and anthropology that would shape the rest of his life. He later earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of Arizona, writing his dissertation on Pawnee pottery.

His career ranged widely across archaeology, history, and museum work. He served as an archaeologist and scholar of the Great Plains and western history, and he also helped build academic anthropology in Florida: the University of South Florida notes that when its anthropology program became a department in 1967, he served as its first chair.

A partial bibliography published by the Society for American Archaeology shows just how broad his interests were, from Plains archaeology to historical and public archaeology in Florida. That range helps explain the appeal of his writing: it comes from someone equally at home in the field, the archive, and the classroom.