Gerhardt attended William H. Ray Public School (an imposing brick elementary school in the 5600 of Kimbark), and then University of Chicago Laboratory School (58th St).

Family

• father: Kurt Laves, 1866-25 March 1944; born Germany, graduate of the University of Berlin 1891; came to University of Chicago in 1893;  (one of Hubble's teachers p.3); retired 1932 as Associate Professor of Mathematical Astronomy (now astro-physics)
  
• mother: Luise née Moshagen; parents married in Germany
• brother: Walter Herman Carl Laves, 1902-1983 (also a vice president of the American Political Science Association) NYT obituary
  
• brother: Ulrich R. Laves, consulting geologist, Dallas, Texas

Student at the University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology; completed a Master's 1929 (thesis on Malaysian society), including linguistics under Edward Sapir at Chicago, c1927–29. (Edward Sapir biographies, by S Anderson, and by Regna Darnell and Judith T. Irvine)

1928: at Folsom archaeological dig, in photo page 89 Folsom: New archaeological investigations of a classic paleoindian bison kill by David J. Meltzer (University of California Press, 2006) https://books.google.com.au/books?id=-tC6GmNrn08C

1929–31: linguistic field work in Australia.  For general background on this period in Australian anthropology, see for instance this article and the references therein:

Gray, Geoffrey. 1997. 'Mr Neville did all in [his] power to assist me': AP Elkin, AO Neville and anthropological research in northwest Western Australia 1927-1928.  Oceania 68.1(Sept), 27–46.

• children:
• Jean Laves, d.2018
  
• Barbara Beasley, d.1997
• Elizabeth Marcuson
• Edward ('Ted') Laves

1932: attended the 9th annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, 27–28 December, Yale University, New Haven. Listed in attendance Language 9.1(March 1933),104 https://www.jstor.org/stable/409524. Mentioned as meeting Benjamin Lee Whorf:

1932 December 27 … Register for Ling. Soc. meeting. See Sapir, get 2-rm apt. in Law School, supper Waldorf, meet Gerhardt Laves of Chicago & Australia, meeting, meet many others, interesting papers. [Whorf's private diary, held at Yale University Manuscripts and Archives, thanks to Penny Lee, who also notes "Whorf recordedLaves address simply as University of Chicago in the back of that diary"]

c1933–35: continued study under Edward Sapir at Yale

1934 November 23rd Fri. … Train to N.H. [New Haven] Make brief calls on Swadesh & Fenton, […] To Sapir’s meet Chick Sandoval, Navaho, supper there. Sapir interested in my Hopi morphology sketch & big phonology paper, now finished, takes both. Evg. Gerhart Laves & wife, & new fellow La Barr in. General talk. La Barr & I leave to go down town together. …
Thursday Oct 10 1935: … Then to Swadeshes, have supper with them & with Gerhardt & Maxine Laves & nice evening after. M.L. is a chemist & we talk on that. Also much ling. discussion. Miss Montreal train, wait in NH sta. till 2 AM reading Yokuts sketch; train to Hfd [Hartford] & taxi to house. [Whorf's private diary]

Returned to Chicago 1939, and lived at 5525 S Kimbark (now demolished) until about 1943, then at 1359 E 57th St until 15 July 1947 when the family moved to 5553 Kenwood.

Laves and his family lived from 1947 at 5553 Kenwood in the Hyde Park area of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago.  It was in the basement of this house that Laves' notes on Australian languages were stored for decades before they were sent to Canberra.