Record Source: University of Pennsylvania / People: Culin, Stewart, 1858-1929 - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

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]

Extent:: 0.15 linear feet (the expedition records consist of three folders of documents plus 10 negative envelopes of photographs.)
Abstract:: In 1901, Stewart Culin, Curator Section of American and Prehistoric Archaeolgy at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology traveled to Cuba to investigate the existence of a wild tribe in the mountains of Eastern Cuba. Culin's journey, which lasted a few weeks, took him to Havana and points in Eastern Cuba including El Caney, Mata, Yara, Yateras, Jara, Punta Maisi, Pueblo Viejo, El Caney, El Cobre, Daiquiri, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. The collection consists of 0.1 linear feet including correspondence, field notes, financial records, and photographs. The field notes contain some drawings of musical instruments and utensils with notes on Spanish vocabulary and pronunciation. The photographs depict the harbor and buildings of Havana as well as the native population of Eastern Cuba playing musical instruments and photos of Jose Almenares Arguello, age 112, and his home.

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

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]

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]

Extent:: 0.1 linear foot
Abstract:: In 1897, Edward Avery McIlhenny pursued an agreement with Dr. William Pepper, President of the Museum of Anthropology and Archeaology at the University of Pennsylvania to gain the museum's support for his own expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. In return. he agreed to give the museum all of the specimens recovered. McIlhenny worked in Alaska from 1897 to 1899. The Point Barrow Collection consists of three folders of correspondence and catalogues and two boxes of mounted photographs.

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

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]

Extent:: 0.2 linear foot
Abstract:: William Curtis Farabee was a Harvard educated geneticist and ethnologist who served the Penn Museum as a researcher and curator. During his expeditions to South America, he detailed the cultural diversity of the Arawak and Carib peoples. Farabee's time as curator of the American Section of the museum resulted in five folders of correspondence and notes dating mostly from 1915 to 1925.

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

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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