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Start Over People Gordon, G. B. (George Byron), 1870-1927

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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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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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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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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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Helen E. Fernald papers, 1921-1935 (bulk) 1921-1937 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.8 linear feet
Abstract:
Helen E. Fernald was employed at The University Museum from 1921-1935 as the head of the Educational Department from 1921-25, was the Assistant Curator of Far Eastern Art from 1925-30, and the Curator from 1930-35. Fernald’s first trip abroad for the museum was in the summer of 1928 to study in the museums and private collections of Far Eastern art in Paris and at the British Museum in London. Her second trip was from June – December of 1929 to Japan, Korea, and China to study collections or conduct scientific researches. Her trips were a success, having brought back many artifacts from the Far East such as bronzes, sculptures, porcelains, etc. The Helen E. Fernald papers consist of eleven folders in two archival boxes of correspondence.

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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Louis Shotridge Collection, 1905-1937 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.0 linear foot
Abstract:
The papers of Louis Shotridge are one of the most extensive groups in the Arctic research collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives. Shotridge, a Tlingit Indian, was intermittently employed by the museum to make ethnographic collections of Northwest Coast materials between 1903 and 1912. The archives has papers concerning his original research, arranged topically, manuscripts for articles published in The Museum Journal, oral histories, Tlingit language notes, and general ethnographic notes on the Tlingit and other Northwest Coast groups.

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

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Carl W. Bishop papers, 1914-1918 (bulk) 1914-1922 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.8 linear foot
Abstract:
Carl W. Bishop, the first assistant curator of Oriental Art at the University Museum, was a vital force in the advanced knowledge of the Far East for the University Museum. Before Bishops excavations to the Far East, the Chinese collection started modestly in 1913, with acquisition of small bronzes and some porcelain pieces. Bishop set out to explore other museum’s exhibits on China as well as acquire artifacts from Ancient China. Due to the political turmoil in China during Bishop’s active years and a lack of funds, the expeditions were not always successful. During the second of the two trips Bishop took to the Far East from 1917-1918, he did conduct archeological reconnaissance, but no excavation was undertaken. The Carl W. Bishop papers consist of ten folders in two archival boxes of correspondence mostly to George Byron Gordan, journals, and photographs.

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

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Stephen B. Luce Mediterranean Section records, 1915-1920 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.04 linear foot
Abstract:
Stephen B. Luce was a graduate of Harvard College, class of 1909. He completed his Ph.D. in 1913 also at Harvard. In addition to his curatorship at Penn, Luce was an Assistant Director at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens in 1928 and 1930. He was affiliated with the Fogg Museum at Harvard in the 1930s and served as Editor in charge of the American Journal of Archaeology from 1938 to 1941. The Luce folders comprise two series. Series 1 includes general correspondence related to the museum and to his research and Series 2 includes correspondence with art dealers related to specific collections

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

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William C. Farabee American Section records, 1912-1925 (bulk) 1912-1936 (inclusive)

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]

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