The Center for Bead Research

A Few Words about Peter Francis, Jr.
(August 1945 - December 2002)

With modest humor, Peter Francis, Jr. quoted someone's characterization of his birthday (August 6, 1945), which he shared with the first atomic weapon, Little Boy, as "two bombs on one day". In the course of his fascinating life, Pete went from literally middle American to world citizen. The son of a minister and an English teacher, he showed a lifelong fascination with interpreting the variety of cultures in the world. Drawn to travel, he crisscrossed Europe, Asia, and Africa in pursuit of knowledge. The past and present appealed to Pete equally, leading him to learn a number of languages, investigate archeological sites, and follow a path that led to places like Afghanistan, Spain, and New York, absorbing all he saw.

From a chance incident while teaching English in Iran, Pete became aware of and fascinated with beads, and the rest is history. He will long be remembered by many of us for his gentle yet acute observations on beads of every kind, teaching the world how very much there is to learn from this humble art form, and generously sharing his expertise. Among his many accomplishments can be listed the founding of the Center for Bead Research, the publication of its authoritative journal The Margaretologist, and his brilliant and beautiful books like his final work, "Asia's Maritime Bead Trade: 300 BC to the Present".

We were shocked by Pete's sudden death from a brain hemorrhage while on a research trip in Ghana, West Africa, on December 8, 2002. We'd like to express our appreciation for the many ways Pete set a fine example of a meaningful life. His death really is a great loss to all of us who love beads. We'll surely miss his tag line, "Peace" in this time of war and threatened war.

Peter Francis' web site, www.thebeadsite.com, will be gone in March of 2003, but you can still view Peter's research via a trip through the WayBack Machine in the internet archive at http://web.archive.org.

The techniques and methods used to study beads come from archaeology, anthropology, history, geography, linguistics, and the natural and material sciences. As information is gathered, the results are made public in a variety of forms. As any given project was undertaken, its progress could be traced in the Current Projects section of www.thebeadsite.com. Publishing often took its first form as lectures and additions to the Bead Identification Workshops.

The first official printed information on a given project was usually in the Center's journal, the Margaretologist. Members, Patrons and Supporters of the Center received this newsletter twice a year. Major projects were published in other forms as well, either in book form or a smaller monograph. The Margaretologist was the voice of the Center for Bead Research. Each issue was full of the latest news in bead research. In 2001 they became a bi-media publication with the color plates on The Bead Site.