Alan Woolworth

Alan R. Woolworth (August 19, 1924 – August 13, 2014) was an American archaeologist known for his career at the Minnesota Historical Society.^[1] Most of his career focused on the Indigenous peoples in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.^[2]

Alan R. Woolworth was born on August 19, 1924, in Clear Lake, South Dakota, where he was raised.^[3] At 19, he enlisted in the army. He served in the 70th Infantry Division and was stationed in France and Germany where he was wounded. He later served in Czechoslovakia.^[2] He received a Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster and a Bronze Star.^[4]

Upon returning from Europe, he attended the University of Nebraska and the University of Minnesota to study archaeology.^[2] He earned his bachelors degree in History and Anthropology at the University of Nebraska, and his masters at the University of Minnesota.^[4]

Beginning in 1952, he served as the staff archeologist at the State Historical Society of North Dakota for five years.^[2] He later worked as a curator in the Dearborn Historical Museum in Michigan for three years.^[2] He then spent several decades at the Minnesota Historical Society. Throughout his time there, he was museum curator, head of the Museum and Historic Sites department, chief archaeologist, and finally a research fellow.^[2] A compiled collection of his papers can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society.^[2]

Woolworth, along with his wife, Nancy, formed the Woolworth Research Associates.^[2] He also helped start a publishing company called the Prairie Smoke Press.^[4]

• “ALAN R. WOOLWORTH: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society.” n.d. Text. Chippewa National Forest (Minn.). Accessed October 15, 2023. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00339.xml.^[2]
• Woolworth Alan R., Henry G. Allanson, Mary H. Eastman, James Garvie, David Grey Cloud Julia Ann Laframboise, Martha Riggs Morris et al. 2003. Santee Dakota Indian Legends. Saint Paul, Minn: Prairie Smoke Press for Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe.^[5]
• Woolworth Alan R and W. Raymond Wood. 2000. The Demery Site (39c01) Oahe Reservoir Area South Dakota. Salinas CA: Coyote Press.
• Woolworth Alan R., John L. Champe and United States Indian Claims Commission. 1974. Ethnohistorical Report on the Yankton Sioux. New York: Garland Pub.

Alan R. Woolworth passed away on August 13, 2014, shortly before his 90th birthday, in North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis.^[3] Woolworth left behind two daughters and four grandchildren.^[4] He was known as a friend to the Sioux Community until his death.^[3]