Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin (December 12, 1913 – March 19, 1995) was an American anthropologist and poet. As a poet he was an influential member of the Memphis, Tennessee literary community. As an anthropologist he specialized in the folk literature of First Peoples in North America, and published multiple monographs on myths and legends of the Sioux and Blackfoot peoples.
Life and career
Born in Elmira Township, Michigan in 1913, Beaudoin graduated from Memphis State College (1935) before attending Louisiana State University in 1936 and 1937.He pursued further studies at Loyola University New Orleans in 1940, and then in New York City at The New School for Social Research from 1944 through 1946.