Guthe was born in Kearney, Nebraska, in 1893, son of Karl Eugen Guthe, Professor of Physics and Dean of the Graduate Department of the University of Michigan, and Clara Belle née Ware of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

[3] Guthe assisted Alfred Kidder with his excavations at Pecos, New Mexico; their efforts to ship the skeletons found there to the Peabody Museum at Harvard resulted in their being suspected of espionage.

[6] Guthe married Grace Ethel (née McDonald) on 12 September 1916 in Wayne, Michigan.

[9] Alfred Kidder Guthe (1920–1983) specialised in the archaeology of the US eastern seaboard, and became director of the Frank H. McClung Museum in Tennessee.

His contribution of Philippine artifacts remains significant within the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology collection.