An In-Depth Look at America's Most Respected Anthropologist
Margaret Mead was this country’s—and perhaps the world’s—best-known anthropologist. From her pioneering studies of children to her campaigns on behalf of the environment, she was both a student of the world and its teacher.

A pioneer in the field of anthropology, a noted writer, the curator of the American Museum of Natural History, and a leader of the women’s movement, Margaret Mead was truly a Renaissance woman. She was the protégé of famed anthropologist Franz Boas, and in 1925, at the age of 23, Margaret took a six-week, 8000-mile journey to Samoa. There she interviewed young girls and later used this research to write one of her most famous books, Coming of Age in Samoa. Through newsreel footage, photographs, and interviews with those who knew her, this fascinating documentary illuminates her remarkable qualities as a researcher, humanist, and teacher, and as a person.

In the beginning, Margaret Mead tried to save remote tribal cultures from the modern world, and later tried to save the modern world from itself. Her bold thinking and public pronouncements made her the most popular anthropologist of her time.