Willowdean Chatterson Handy

Willowdean Chatterson Handy was an American anthropologist and ethnologist in Pacific studies, playwright, librarian, and author. Handy was one of the Board of Regents for the University of Hawaii.

Life and career

Willowdean Chatterson Handy was born on January 10, 1889, in Louisville, Kentucky, to parents Ida, and Joseph Marshall Chatterson. She graduated in 1909 from the University of Chicago with a Ph.B. degree, and took some courses at Radcliffe College.
In 1918, Willowdean Chatterson married Edward Smith Craighill Handy, they often worked together. The marriage ended in divorce.
Handy wrote a number of book about Polynesia. For four years Handy served on the Board of Regents for the University of Hawaii. She was a librarian for the Hawaiian Historical Society for ten years.
She died on November 5, 1965, in Honolulu.