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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives Language English Year 1850 to 1899

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Records of the Registrar's Office, 1893-1981 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.2 linear feet
Abstract:
From the earliest days the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania kept records of the artifacts donated and acquired through expeditions. This was originally the responsibility of the curator in each section and resulted in huge, hand-written registers of the collections. In 1929, the system was transferred to a centralized numerical card catalogue under the supervision of Geraldine M. Bruckner the Museum's first Registrar. The responsibilities of the Registrar included insurance, shipping and loans as well as numbering and describing collections. The records of the Office of the Registrar fill seven archival boxes and one card file. The materials did not have an innate order when processed but like documents were filed together in processing and the series describe the major duties of the office. The condition of the materials is fair to good with some flaking of paper due to age and storage problems. Series for the Office of the Registrar include correspondence, insurance,...(see more)

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

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American Section, 1898-1960 (bulk) 1826-1995 (inclusive)

Extent:
16.0 linear feet
Abstract:
The American Section was one of the first to evolve during the early development of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The University Archaeological Association established in 1887 and later, the American Exploration Society, established in 1892, exhibited several small collections in College Hall before the building campaign for the museum began. Charles Abbott was the first curator of the section succeeded by Henry C. Mercer and then Stewart Culin who was also named Director in 1899. Each succeeding curator was responsible for adding collections, many of them representing their own expeditions in the United States, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and South America. Records in the files are dated from 1826 through the 1980s. The transfer of materials to the Archives took place piecemeal and without a central organization. The current re-processing placed the files into three series, Deaccessions and Loans, Collectors and Collections and Exhibits.

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

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Sara Yorke Stevenson Egyptian Section records, 1890-1907 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.8 linear foot (the egyptian section sara yorke stevenson records consist of two archival boxes of correspondence, collection information and financial records.)
Abstract:
Sara Yorke Stevenson, the first curator of the Egyptian section of the Free Museum of Science and Art, was a vital force in the creation and success of the museum. Along with William Pepper, Stevenson worked tirelessly through the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology and the American Exploration Society to gain subscriptions, build the Museum and acquire a collection of antiquities. In addition to being the first curator of the Egyptian Section, Stevenson was the Secretary of the Board of Managers and of the American Exploration Society. She served as President of the Board from 1904 to 1905. While Stevenson was performing the dual role of Secretary of the Board of Managers and Curator, the museum relied on the London-based Egypt Exploration Fund to provide a share of the findings of archaeologist W.M. Flinders Petrie to the museum. Stevenson cultivated a relationship with Flinders Petrie and well connected Egyptians such as Yacoub Artin Pasha. Mrs Stevenson traveled to Egypt...(see more)

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

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Nippur, Iraq expedition records, 1881-1900 (inclusive)

Extent:
20.0 linear feet
Abstract:
In 1887, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to sponsor an expedition to the Near East. The idea was conceived by Reverend John Punnett Peters, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Hebrew. Nippur was a pre-Biblical city-state located in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates, the area believed to be the "cradle of civilization." The museum conducted four expeditions between 1889 and 1898. The textual records for Nippur consist of 20 linear feet of files are arranged by Expedition (I, II, III, IV), as well as publications, maps and drawings. The documents for each expedition are separated according to type: Field Notes, Reports and Narratives, Correspondence, Financial Records.

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

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Zelia Nuttall papers, 1893-1903 (inclusive) 1896-1897 (bulk)

Extent:
1 linear_foot
Abstract:
In 1896 the University of Pennsylvania Museum sponsored its first expedition to Russia. The Museum sent Zelia Nuttall (now remembered mainly for her work in the area of Mexican studies) as its representative on a trip to establish cordial relations and a system of exchanges and cooperation, and to obtain archaeological and ethnological specimens by gift or exchange. Nuttall traveled to Moscow, Kiev, Troitzkoi, Rostov, Nijni-Novgorod, and Riga. She also attended ceremonies for the coronation of Nicholas II and there acquired commemorative prints which she donated to the Museum and to Mrs. Hearst. The collection consists mainly of correspondence from Nuttall to William Pepper and Sara Yorke Stevenson, inventories of objects acquired, and images collected at the Pan-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition at Nijni-Novgorod (modern Gorki).

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

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Charles H. Stephens Papers, 1891-1916 (bulk) 1876-1964 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear feet
Abstract:
Charles Hallowell Stephens (1855-1931), followed several careers; illustrator, art teacher, collector of American Indian artifacts, and amateur anthropologist. Born and raised in Philadelphia he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts studying under the tutelage of Thomas Eakins. The importance of Stephens for the Penn Museum resides in his extensive collection of Native American artifacts that was estimated to have about 2000 items, about 1700 of which were acquired by the Penn Museum in 1945. The collection is divided into eight series: Correspondence, Blackfoot, Sioux, Collection Materials, Correspondence on Data, Visual Material, American Pageant Association, and Photographs.

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

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Daniel Garrison Brinton Collection, 1868-1956 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.2 linear foot (the collection consists of thirteen folders housed in two archival boxes.)
Abstract:
Daniel Garrison Brinton is considered one of the founders of modern American Anthropology. He was also the first to hold a professorship in Archaeology in the United States. His library, which includes the Carl Hermann Berendt collection of manuscripts in the indigenous languages of Mexico and Central America, is considered the core of the University of Pennsylvania Anthropology Library. Among the collection are 4515 items; rare illustrations, contemporary photographs, portraits of individual authors, and texts in Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Brinton gathered his information from archival and library studies and did not participate in any archaeological expeditions. This small collection, attributed to Brinton by J. Alden Mason of the University Museum, consists of thirteen folders. Two contain linguistic notes on the Maya languages and another two contain drawings of pottery, objects, sites, and maps of Maya regions, primarily in Mexico. Some of the drawings are believed...(see more)

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

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George Byron Gordon Central America expedition records, 1893-1924 (bulk) 1893-1956 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.35 linear foot
Abstract:
George Byron Gordon led expeditions to Copan at the end of the nineteenth century and, with his brother MacLaren Gordon, to Alaska in 1905 and 1907. As Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and as Director of the Museum, Gordon was first to conduct regular lectures to undergraduate and graduate students in Anthropology and oversaw one of the the largest periods of Museum growth. The G.B. Gordon Central America collection includes diaries, surveying notes, reports and stories from the Copan Expeditions and the Yucatan Expedition in 1910, original stories, articles, and book reviews written by Dr. Gordon, communication with The British Museum about Maya site excavation, Gordon's introductions composed for speakers for the Saturday Afternoon Lecture Series, speeches to professional organizations, and class lectures.

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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Stewart Culin game collection records, 1893-1903 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.25 linear feet (one manuscript box)
Abstract:
Stewart Culin had a passion for the study of games from around the world and became a pioneer in the field of comparative game studies, amassing an extensive collection of games. The material in this collection is divided into three series: correspondence, collection data, and miscellaneous.

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

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