MSU endowment memorializes Rafferty’s passion for anthropology fieldwork

Evan Peacock and Janet Rafferty (Photo submitted)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A new endowment at ��ɫ��Ƶ honors the legacy of the late professor emerita Janet E. Rafferty of Starkville. She was a founding faculty member for the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the endowment salutes her 37-year university career.

The Janet Rafferty Student Endowment for Archaeological Survey Excellence is the result of generous contributions given in her memory after she died in August 2018. Earnings from the endowment will support student surveyors in the field for years to come.

Rafferty grew up on Camano Island, Washington, and attended the University of Washington, where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology in 1969 and a Ph.D. in anthropology in 1974. Her academic career spanned the University of Washington, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and ��ɫ��Ƶ, which she joined as assistant professor in 1977. She retired in 2014 from MSU, where she had been a 2017 recipient of a Robert Wolverton Legacy Award for career contributions to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Rafferty shared a love of anthropology with her husband, Claude Evan Peacock, a fellow anthropology professor and North American environmental archaeologist who joined MSU in 1999.

“Janet was my partner, mentor and inspiration for nearly 40 years, during which time I never ceased to be amazed at her dedication to MSU’s academic programs in anthropology, and especially her concern for students. She recognized the fundamental importance of archaeological survey and worked hard to develop and maintain that aspect of the department, a service that helped set us apart from other institutions and one that has contributed enormously to student success,” said Peacock, an MSU anthropology graduate who led the Cobb Institute of Archaeology on an interim basis in 2018 before retiring at the end of the year.

He continued, “The endowment is a fitting testament to a woman who was the backbone of the archaeology program at MSU for many, many years.”

The endowment will support undergraduate anthropology majors as they participate in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures Survey Field School. Students may petition the department for assistance to defray the overall cost of participation in field school, and endowment earnings may be used for room, board and travel, among other needs.

Over her career, Rafferty’s teaching extended outside the physical classroom as she led fieldwork in Washington, Illinois, and via a number of field schools in north Mississippi. Her work focused on prehistoric native settlement patterns and how and why they changed over time, especially on how settled life evolved. She recognized that educating students about proper archaeological survey techniques and providing them with field experience prepared them for successful careers in archaeology, ensuring the future of the field.

At MSU, Rafferty earlier established a student fund and annual scholarship to help students take advantage of the survey field school, and this new memorial endowment furthers her initial investment in archaeology’s future as a discipline.

Rafferty was widely published, with edited books, book chapters and scholarly articles in a host of professional journals. She served as the Mississippi representative on the Society for American Archaeology’s Committee on Public Archaeology; president of the Mississippi Archaeological Association; president of the Mississippi Association of Professional Archaeologists; and additionally, was nominations committee chair for the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. She also served on the editorial boards of Mississippi Archaeology and American Archaeology. In addition to her field schools in Mississippi, Rafferty oversaw a multitude of contracts which helped students with training in the profession. She was instrumental in establishing a very successful MSU master’s degree program in applied anthropology. Rafferty continued to serve on thesis committees and to pursue research throughout her life.

“Dr. Rafferty’s passion for archaeology was infectious and made her an exceptional teacher and mentor,” said Michelle Davenport of Somerset, New Jersey, an alumna instrumental in facilitating contributions for the scholarship. “She was always very open and generous with her time and genuinely wanted to make my experience in graduate school as meaningful as possible, even though by then she was an emerita professor.”

Another alumna, Tiffany Raymond of Binghamton, New York echoed the same sentiment about Rafferty. “She was committed to her students’ successes and would help them however she could. She cared, and professors that truly care about their students are those that make the greatest impact,” said the anthropology and applied anthropology graduate. “I am grateful for her generous mentorship, her support and belief in me, and her friendship. Academia needs more professors like Janet Rafferty who recognize that their students are the future, and investing in them is how we create change and a lasting impact on our discipline.”

The Janet Rafferty Student Endowment for Archaeological Survey Excellence remains open for additional contributions, and gifts may be made online at or by contacting Sara Frederic, director of development for the College of Arts and Sciences, at 662-325-3240 or sfrederic@foundation.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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