Edward Moffat Weyer, a Washington native and W&J graduate who distinguished himself as an anthropologist, author and explorer, died July 16, 1998, in Essex, Conn. He was 94. Following his graduation from Washington and Jefferson College in 1925, he went on to earn his Ph.D from Yale University in 1930. On May 29, 1935, he married Susann Lenore Moffat, who died in December 1997. As an anthropologist, Dr. Weyer was primarily interested in the Eskimos, although he went on expeditions to Egypt, Brazil and Mexico, as well as the Arctic. He was associated with the American Museum of Natural History in New York for nearly 30 years, beginning in 1928 when he was archaeologist on the Stoll-McCracken expedition to the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Bering Straits. In 1929, Mr. Weyer did archaeological and geographical research in the Southwest for the same institution, and in 1932 he was a member of the Peary Memorial Expedition to North Greenland. From 1935 until 1957, he was editor of Natural History Magazine. In 1958 he was acting curator and lecturer in anthropology at the Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. In 1959, he was a consultant on the Commission on Civil Rights. From 1960 to 1964, he was director of the School of American Research, Santa Fe, N.M. From 1965 to 1967, he was editor-in-chief at the New York Academy of Sciences. He was a longtime member and past president of the Explorers Club. He was the author of numerous books and articles, including The Eskimos (1932), Jungle Quest (1955), Primitive Peoples Today (1959), and Two Star Position Finding (1969). Surviving are one daughter, Georgia Weyer York of Stonington, Conn.; and two sons, Douglas and Andrew of Montgomery, N.Y. Deceased is one brother, Elliott Ross Weyer. Copyright ©1998 Observer Publishing Co.Last updated Wednesday, August 5, 1998Edward Moffat Weyer
Anthropologist, author and world explorer
He was born July 12, 1904 in Washington, a son of Edward Moffat Weyer Sr. and Julia Morris Ross.