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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives Record Source University of Pennsylvania Online Content Not Available Year 1905 to 1909

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George B. Gordon Director's Office Records, 1910-1928 (bulk) 1907-1930 (inclusive)

Extent:
12.5 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 attended the University of South Carolina for one year in 1888 then completed his degree at Harvard University. Selected as an assistant to John G. Owens in 1892, Gordon accompanied Owens on the Harvard-sponsored excavation at Copan, Honduras. When Owens died in the field, Gordon was given the leadership to close down that portion of the work and then continued as Director of the next six sessions in Copan, until 1900. While performing these duties, Gordon attained his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1894. 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. He led two expeditions to Alaska, in 1905 and 1907...(see more)

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

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Museum Building Records, 1892-2007 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.8 linear foot
Abstract:
The first section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum building, designed to exhibit the large archaeological and ethnological collections amassed in the preceding twelve years, was opened in 1899. The architects, Wilson Eyre, Jr., Cope and Stewardson, and Frank Miles Day and Brother, envisioned this first section as the westernmost wing of an immense building, at least three times the size of the present museum. The second section, the Harrison Rotunda, consisting of the exhibit hall and auditorium, was added in 1915. It featured a dome constructed by Rafael Guastavino. In 1926 the Eckley B. Coxe, Jr. Egyptian Wing opened, followed by the Administrative Wing (nowadays called the "Sharpe" Wing after the third floor gallery bearing that name) in 1929. Building activity stopped after 1929 until construction began on the Academic Wing in 1969. This section, designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Associates is the only part of the building that deviates from the original plan by Wilson Eyre....(see more)

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

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Exhibits Department records, 1893-1984 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear foot
Abstract:
The Museum collections, initially displayed in the University Library in the Furness Building, were transferred to the new building in 1898. In the years that followed, the collections and the space available continued to grow and the Museum prepared both permanent and loan exhibits. The earliest Museum exhibits can be found in the records of the individual sections. An exhibit staff member was appointed in 1940; the staff remaining relatively small. Although exhibit catalogs date from 1892, few files were kept, and the photographic collections are often helpful in documenting past exhibitions. The files are arranged chronologically. Exhibit catalogs are filed separately (see Special Collections— Publications).

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

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Asian Section, 1890-1969 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.6 linear feet
Abstract:
The Asian Section collection includes correspondence and receipts all dealing with the donation or sale of artifacts to the Penn Museum from 1890 to 1969. Artifacts are mostly from China, Korea, and Japan. Notable donors include Stewart Culin, William Pepper, Phoebe Hearst, and Worch of Paris, C.T. Loo, and Yamanaka and Co.

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

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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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M. Henry Kerr Cameroon expedition papers, 1895-1899 (bulk) 1892-1968 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.1 linear feet (one manuscript box and one scrapbook box.)
Abstract:
Henry Kerr (1869-1935), a Presbyterian minister, worked in several villiages in Cameroon, West Africa from 1892-1899. The Presbyterian Mission League tasked him with expanding the mission locations, translating hymns and the four Gospels, teaching, and promoting industry. Contained in the collection are his own photos and correspondence, both letters sent and replies. The bulk of the collection is in the format of a scrapbook compiled by Kerr.

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

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Arthur L. Frothingham records from the Etruscan tomb groups excavation, 1893-1903 (bulk) 1890-1930 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.0 linear foot
Abstract:
Although classical, including Etruscan, collections had been donated to the University of Pennsylvania Museum since the early 1890s it was in 1896 that the Museum formally authorized excavations in Italy and the acquisition of Etruscan tomb groups, as well as individual objects, for the Museum. Professor Arthur L. Frothingham of Princeton, then Secretary of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, was commissioned to represent the Museum in Italy. Most of the tomb groups which Frothingham obtained are from Narce and Vulci, although there are objects from many other sites including Cerveteri, Orvieto, and Civita Castellana. The textual records from the excavations in Italy consist of one linear foot of correspondence, notes, financial accounts, and photographs related to the excavation of Etruscan tombs through which the Museum obtained the majority of its Etruscan collections.

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

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Anne Bowbeer Alexander Scott Collection, 1920-1936 (bulk) 1883-2014 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.2 linear foot
Abstract:
Alexander Scott was born in 1854 in Camberwell, Surrey, the son of the famed British portrait painter for the Illustrated London News, Thomas Dewel Scott. He became known as a world traveler, landscape painter and collector of Asian antiquities. This collection was donated to the Penn Museum in 2011 by Anne Bowbeer, the wife of Alexander Scott's nephew, following the death of Mabel Scott Hall, Alexander Scott's widow

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

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William C. Farabee expedition records, 1911-1923 (bulk) 1906-1924, 1926, 1955, 1983, undated (inclusive)

Extent:
5.3 linear feet
Abstract:
William C. Farabee (1865-1925) was a physical and cultural anthropologist, archaeologist, and cartographer who devoted most of his life’s work to documenting and interpreting the native cultures of South America, principally the Arawak and Carib peoples of the Amazon basin and the native peoples of the Andes. He also conducted archaeological studies at Marajo Island, Brazil, and at several other locations, including Peru and Ecuador. The collection consists of 5.3 linear feet of textual and photographic documentation related principally to the Amazon expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1913-1916, and also to the Andean expedition of 1922-1923.

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

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Board of Managers, 1891-1906 (bulk) 1887-1910 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear foot (the board of managers records fill seven archival boxes plus a few oversize pieces.)
Abstract:
William Pepper, originally a Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, was the visionary behind the establishment of the University Archaeological Association in 1889, and the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology in 1891, the precursors to the University Museum. The groups were composed of wealthy Philadelphians, interested in the ancient world, and capable of soliciting subscriptions to the Associations from their friends and colleagues. The University's sponsorship of an expedition to Nippur, Babylonia in 1887, financed by private funds was the impetus for Pepper to work toward the establishment of organizations to support exploration and house artifacts from the ancient world. With the need for a fire-proof building to house the finds, supported by the Trustees, College Hall was designated as the first repository in response to a request from William Pepper. By 1892, the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, was...(see more)

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

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