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George B. Gordon General Ethnology Section Records, 1903-1913 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.75 linear feet
Abstract:
George Byron Gordon, explorer in Central America and Alaska, and first to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, was born in New Perth, Prince Edward Island, Canada on August 4,1870. Gordon joined the Free Museum of Science and Art(later the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology)in 1903 as Assistant Curator in the Section of General Ethnology. Gordon was appointed Director of the Free Museum of Science and Art in 1910 and oversaw one of the largest periods of growth in its collection and prestige. The records of the General Ethnology Section fill three archival boxes of alphabetical correspondence. Five bound letter books also record correspondence from 1902 to 1910.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Furness, Harrison and Hiller expedition records, 1895-1904 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.4 linear feet
Abstract:
Between 1895 and 1901, William Furness, III., Alfred C. Harrison, Jr., and Hiram M. Hiller made a series of extended trips to Oceania, South and Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Furness, Harrison, and Hiller all donated or sold substantial collections of ethnographic, archaeological, and skeletal material acquired on the voyages to the Penn Museum. The Furness, Harrison, and Hiller collections, particularly those from Oceania, are extensive and reasonably well-documented for their time.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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John L. Cotter papers, 1934-1997 (inclusive)

Extent:
10.4 linear feet
Abstract:
John Lambert Cotter is widely considered to have been a pioneer in American historical archaeology in a career. He began his career, that spanned some sixty-five years, studying and working in traditional prehistoric archaeology, earnestly beginning his explorations in historical archaeology in the 1950s. The textual records from Dr. John L. Cotter consist of 26 boxes of correspondence, teaching materials, archaeological field notes, reports, and publications.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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J. F. G. Umlauff, 1912-1933 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.5 linear feet
Abstract:
J.F.G. Umlauff of Germany sold this collection to Gordon of the Penn Museum in the 1910s and 1920s. Gordon expressed interest in this collection as he sought African and Oceanian specimens for the Penn Museum, artifacts from a location they previously possessed very few. J.F.G. Umlauff lived from 1833-1889 and owned a German ethnographic and artifact firm that was established in 1868 and flourished for more than a century, closing not until 1974. The firm was managed by J.F.G. Umlauff until his death, at which time the firm was taken over by his son Johannes Umlauff. The firm was still operated by J.F.G. Umlauff when he sold several African and Oceanian specimens to Gordon. The collection can still be found in the Penn Museum and is now organized into 3 separate series – correspondence, catalogues, and albums. The correspondence section consists of letters between Umlauff and Gordon, the catalogues section is comprised of many lists of the specimens Umlauff sold to Gordon and,...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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William H. Davenport papers, 1963-1992 (bulk) 1938-2005 (inclusive)

Extent:
10.0 linear feet
Abstract:
The William H. Davenport collection includes records from field research in the Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal and San Cristobal Islands, and other Solomon Islands; the Moluccas and Sulawesi in Indonesia; and Sarawak in Malaysia, among other locations. Materials span the period from 1952-2002 and contain records primarily related to Davenport's field research, professional activities, student mentoring, and articles and publications.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Harriet Newell Wardle American Section records, 1929-1955 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.2 linear feet
Abstract:
Harriet Newell Wardle came to the University Museum as a volunteer after resigning her position at the Academy of Natural Sciences. She was named assistant curator in the American Section in 1931. Wardle’s work at the Museum centered on the material culture of the South American Indian tribes particularly the double cloth weaving technique and square pile hats of Peru and textiles from the Uhle expedition. The Wardle curatorial papers consist of three boxes of records. Much of the collection is devoted to correspondence, filed in several categories, alphabetically, by area of the American Section, specific object related and those letters pertaining to textiles. Numerous notes taken as a part of her extensive research on Peruvian textiles are a large portion of the research section along with general research notes. Wardle's research notes include texts for 1940s era radio broadcasts on American Indian tribes. Several of Wardle's research papers, mostly unpublished outside of the...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Gregory L. Possehl Indus Civilization papers, 1980-1996 (bulk) 1965-2005 (inclusive)

Extent:
54.0 cubic feet (the collection consists of twelve records storage containers of correspondence, thirty-seven records storage containers of original notes and data, plus two file boxes of bibliographic cards and note cards. )
Abstract:
Gregory L. Possehl, known for his discoveries in India and Pakistan, was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and studied at the University of Washington and the University of Chicago attaining his Ph.D.in anthropology from the latter in 1974. Possehl's field work in Pakistan and India explored the Harappan civilization who populated the Gujarat region of India including the sites of Rojdi, Oriyo Timbo, and Babar Kot from 2500 BC to 2000 BC. Possehl was funded for his work from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Possehl is also a noted professor at Penn in the Departments of Anthropology and Oriental Studies and a curator in the Asian section of the Penn Museum. He published award-winning books on the Harappan civilization and trained many future scholars in the field. The Gregory L. Possehl Indus Civilization papers are composed of twelve boxes of correspondence, a seven box visual archive of negatives, slides,...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Hiram M. Hiller Personal Papers, 1895-1907 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.4 linear foot
Abstract:
Hiram Milliken Hiller, Jr. was born in 1867 in Kahoka, Missouri to Colonel Hiram Milliken Hiller and Sarah Bell Hiller. He graduated from Parson’s College, Iowa, in 1887 and from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1891. In 1895, he made the first of a series of voyages to the East with Furness and Harrison. From 1895-1901, Hiller visited Borneo, Japan, Sri Lanka, Siberia, and other locations in Asia. Hiller conducted ethnographical studies of the Dayaks of Borneo, the Nagas of Assam, India, and the Ainu of Japan. These letters span the period from October 1895 to May 1907, with the years 1896-1902 the most significantly represented. Most of them are from Hiram Hiller, Jr. to family members in Kahoka, particularly his mother Sarah and his sister Lida Hiller (Lapsley).

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Theodoor de Booy Sierra de Perija expedition records, 1916-1919 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.13 linear foot (the collection consists of two folders of correspondence and linguistic material and two folders of photographs in an archival box. the lantern slide collection from the expedition is in the photographic section.)
Abstract:
Theodoor deBooy, a native of the Netherlands, immigrated to the United States in 1906, becoming a citizen in 1916. Trained neither as an archaeologist nor anthropologist, he nevertheless traveled independently to the Bahamas in 1911 to study the Caicos group of islands and, in 1912, published his "Lucayan Remains on the Caicos Islands." From that time on, de Booy dedicated himself to the field of archaeology. The collection includes correspondence with George Byron Gordon, Director of the Penn Museum, a catalog of artifacts, photographs, a bibliography of the region, and lists of his lantern slides, how they should be colored, and how used in publication by the Museum.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Henry C. Mercer papers, 1891-1956 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.3 linear feet
Abstract:
Henry C. Mercer was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on June 24, 1856. Following his graduation from Harvard University in 1879, he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Mercer studied law for one year and then "read law" with the firm of Freedley and Hollingsworth. While he was admitted to the bar in 1881, Mercer immediately left for Europe where he spent months traveling through Germany and France. Mercer embarked on a study and apprenticeship in the art of pottery making which he would pursue in later life. Mercer served as curator of American and Prehistoric Archaeology at the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania from the early to the late 1890s. The Henry C. Mercer papers fill one-half of an archival box and are divided into six series. The photographs are housed with the oversized materials.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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