Fonds CA ACU ARC F0333 - Dr. Jane Kelley fonds

Narcissa Jane Holden was born in Abilene Texas on August 31, 1928. Her father, William Curry Holden, was an anthropologist, history professor, and Director of the museum at Texas Tech University. Her mother, Olive Price Holden, was a librarian at Texas Tech . Both of her parents were involved with archaeological sites in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, and frequently brought Jane along on their trips.

Kelley’s mother died when she was nine and Kelley spent a number of years living with other relatives and attending boarding school. Returning for high school, Kelley found no clear direction to take, despite her early exposure to archaeology and anthropology; she took a civil service position after graduation. However, at her father’s request, Kelley registered in the pre-med program at Texas Tech. Kelley eventually switched to taking anthropology courses and later took part in field schools, graduating with her BA in Anthropology in 1949. Her MA followed in 1951 with her thesis drawn from her fieldwork at the Bonnell site.

Kelley was still unsure about archaeology as a career choice; her choice was clarified during a scholarship trip in 1952-1953 to Mexico where she took part in the major San Isabel Ixtapan excavation. Kelley entered the PhD program at Harvard in 1954 and would eventually use her accumulated knowledge and research from seven summers in the field in New Mexico for her dissertation. She also met David Kelley at Harvard in 1957, and would marry him in Peru a year later.

The Kelleys initially taught at Texas Tech, and after a working trip to Peru in 1963, they moved to Nebraska. David taught at the university and Jane became the Associate Curator of Anthropology at the State Museum while working on her dissertation and raising four children. Her dissertation was accepted in 1966. Two years later the Kelleys moved to Canada to join the newly created Department of Anthropology at the University of Calgary.

Jane Kelley continued her interest in the American South-West cultures, at first collaborating with her father on Yaquis history, and later focusing on legal aspects of the culture and women’s experiences. Her research later expanded to Mexico and El Salvador. Kelley was awarded Professor Emerita status in 1993 but continued with her research and working in the field. Kelley was working with a colleague on a Chihuahua research project when she died April 16 2016.