Repository: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives / Record Source: University of Pennsylvania / Subject: Ethnology - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

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]

Extent:: 1.5 linear feet
Abstract:: Vladimir Jaroslav Fewkes was born in Czechoslovakia on March 23, 1901. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1921. In 1926 the Wharton School awarded Fewkes a B.S. degree; he then went on to achieve a M.A. in 1928 and a Ph.D. in 1930. During most of his graduate study, he was an Instructor in the Anthropology department, and a research associate in the University Museum. He has conducted field work in Prague, the Danube Valley and Yugoslavia. The textual records from the personal papers of Vladimir J. Fewkes consist of 1.5 linear feet of correspondence, fieldwork and research notes and catalogues, published and unpublished writings, and school notes.

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]

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

Extent:: 0.3 linear foot
Abstract:: J. Alden Mason, noted archaeological anthropologist and linguist and curator of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, conducted ethnographic and archaeological research in Puerto Rico from 1914 to 1915. Holdings include field notebooks, most notably phonetic recordings of Puerto Rican folklore from Utuado, San German, Loiza, Copa, and Coamo. Notable items include a draft of the manuscript "Painted Cave Petroglyphs in Puerto Rico" from 1939 and correspondence regarding wax cylinder recordings. Included also are letters from Mason to his daughter, Kathy, and several translated tales sent to her.

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

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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