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

Robert Burkitt Expedition records, 1903-1939 (inclusive) 1913-1930 (bulk)

Extent:: 1.4 linear feet
Abstract:: Robert Burkitt lived and worked in Guatemala for most of his life. A graduate of Harvard University, he first traveled to Central America in 1894 with George Gordon as Gordon's assistant on the Fourth Coban Expedition. Burkitt became enamored with the culture and language of the Maya and never returned to North America. He traveled the countryside, corresponding with Gordon, and collecting items for the Museum under a loosely binding agreement with Gordon and later Horace Jayne. Burkitt's letters and catalogues are rich documents depicting the cultural, linguistic, topological, and historical features of the Guatemala Highlands. Burkitt wrote and worked from the areas of Chama, Chipal, Coban, Senahu, Chiantla, Chocola, and other areas of the Alta Verapaz region. He produced a detailed catalogue of his discoveries accompanied by photgraphs and drawings. Among Burkitt's discoveries is the Ratinixul Vase unearthed in 1923. His work was published in the Museum Journal in 1924 and 1930....(see more)

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

M. Louise Baker papers, 1879-1955 (inclusive)

Extent:: 5.0 linear feet
Abstract:: During her employment as museum artist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1908-1936, M. (Mary) Louise Baker established an international reputation as the preeminent archaeological artist of her time with unmatched technical skill in scientific illustration. Her work at the University Museum included paintings of Maya pottery for limited edition folio volumes; paintings and reconstructions of Ur of the Chaldees’ royal tombs findings for Sir C. Leonard Woolley and of the Palace of Merenptah at Memphis, and a reconstructed drawing of the Piedras Negras Lintel 3. She spent much of her career dividing her time between the positions of museum artist and as art teacher at the George School in Bucks County, PA. A life-long Quaker, M. Louise Baker was born in Alliance, Ohio, on August 4, 1872. At the age of 19, she came to Pennsylvania to complete her education. By 1900, she had decided to concentrate on art and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Museum...(see more)

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

Tikal Project, 1948-2008 (inclusive)

Extent:: 65.0 linear foot
Abstract:: The planning for the Tikal Project began in the mid 1940s when Museum President Percy C. Madeira along with engineer John Dimick and Board member Samuel B. Eckert conceived of a ten year long expedition to the Maya site in the dense forest region of Guatemala. Previous expeditions to investigate the Maya necessarily focused on more accessible sites such as Piedras Negras, Copan, Uxmal and Chichen Itza. Following the construction of a landing strip by the Guatemalan Air Force in 1950 the first scientists arrived in January 1956 for what would turn out to be a thirteen year expedition. For ten of the thirteen years, the project was directed by William Robertson Coe who accomplished major excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace and Acropolis sections of the project. Coe also conceptualized the data collection system and reporting guidelines that resulted in the publication of the seventeen volume Tikal Reports. The Tikal Project records contain 134 archival boxes...(see more)

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

Tayasal Project records, 1971-1977 (inclusive)

Extent:: 1.4 cubic feet
Abstract:: William R. Coe , Curator American Section of The University Museum, ran the excavation site at Tikal Guatemala, which was active from 1956-1970. At this time the Museum wished to maintain a site in Guatemala, specifically a place which could be dated to the post-classic Mayan period. Tayasal was the ethnohistoric capital of the Itza family (as in Chichen Itza) see by Cortez in 1525 while traveling in the Peten area of Guatemala which fell to the Spanish in 1697 and disappeared from the records. When the Itza were driven out of the area in Classical times, they were also driven out of the Chichen Itza area. They returned and built a town somewhere around Lake Peten. Excavations at Tayasal occurred during the summer of 1971, and in a sense are a continuation of work at Tikal. The field work records from the Tayasal project contains notebooks, drawings, notecards, correspondence and images. There are also oversized plans, maps and drawings.

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

Alfred Kidder II Chiripa, Bolivia Expedition records, 1951-1958 (inclusive)

Extent:: 2.5 linear feet
Abstract:: Born on August 2, 1911 on Nantucket Island, Alfred Kidder II was named after his grandfather, Alfred Kidder. The eldest child of famous archaeologist Alfred Vincent Kidder, he was the only one of his four siblings to follow in his father’s footsteps. Kidder attended Harvard University where he earned his B.A. in 1933, M.A. in 1935, and Ph.D. in 1937. After graduating, he taught at Harvard until 1950, when he was appointed Associate Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology. The records of Alfred Kidder II Chiripa, Bolivia records measure 2 linear feet and contain professional correspondence, field notes, plans and drawings, reports, artifact analyses, catalogs, and travel diaries.

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

William H. Davenport papers, 1963-1992 (bulk) 1938-2005 (inclusive)

Extent:: 10.0 linear feet
Abstract:: The William H. Davenport collection includes records from field research in the Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal and San Cristobal Islands, and other Solomon Islands; the Moluccas and Sulawesi in Indonesia; and Sarawak in Malaysia, among other locations. Materials span the period from 1952-2002 and contain records primarily related to Davenport's field research, professional activities, student mentoring, and articles and publications.

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

J. Alden Mason linguistic expeditions to Mexico records, 1912-1936 (bulk) 1912-1954 (inclusive)

Extent:: 1.4 linear feet (the collection is contained in 20 folders housed in four archival boxes with oversized plates placed in drawer 47-49 of the map case. the first box contains ten folders from expedition i and iii. box two has the remaining folders from expedition iii, and all of expedition iv, the 1951 northern tepehuan linguistic expedition, and the expedition v materials. photographs from expedition ii are contained in 21 folders in boxes three and four. )
Abstract:: The J.Alden Mason Linguistic Expeditions to Mexico consist of six trips to study the languages of the Northern and Southern Tepehuan Indians of the region around Durango and the Nevome of the lower Pima Bajo area. From 1912 to 1954, Mason gathered information on the languages, ceremonial activities, prayers, and botany of the Piman tribes of northern and southern Mexico. Mason took numerous photographs and his second expedition, financed by Percy C. Madeira who accompanied Mason, consisted entirely of aerial photographs of the area. The 1936 Durango Expedition with Robert M. Merrill produced photographs, plates and objects from archaeological sites like Chalchihuites and Zape in the Durango region. The photographs and plates were reproduced in a 1937 article, "Late Archaeological Sites in Durango Mexico." During this trip, Mason shot unedited film showing the indigenous people and the countryside around Durango. Two additional expeditions in 1951 and 1954 resulted in reports of the...(see more)

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

Watson Kintner papers, 1933-1969 (inclusive)

Extent:: 3.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Watson Kintner, a University of Pennsylvania graduate and a man of means, traveled to more than 30 nations between 1933 until 1969. On his travels Kintner avoided tourist destinations, instead recording the daily life among the peoples visited, as well as sites of archaeological interest. Kintner took photography very seriously, and in the late 1960s and 1970s funded weekend seminars for University of Pennsylvania Museum graduate students. Upon his death, Kintner left an endowment towards various Museum activities and programs. Kintner’s travel records consist of three linear feet of journals, film notes, bills, correspondence, and preparatory notes on the culture, geography and history of the countries he visited (and some that he didn’t) between 1951 and 1969.

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

Vincenzo Petrullo Personal papers, 1928-1984 (inclusive)

Extent:: 3.0 linear feet
Abstract:: Vincenzo M. Petrullo was born in Italy in 1906, entered the United States in 1913, and eventually became a citizen in 1930. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a B.A. in chemistry (1927) and Ph.D. in anthropology (1934). The textual records of Vincenzo Petrullo personal papers consist of 3 linear feet of correspondence, field notes, manuscripts, reports, employee interviews, and the material has been divided into the following series: Correspondence, Personal, Employment and Professional Activities, Latin America, Puerto Rico, Sicily, Rock Eagle Mound, Georgia, Delaware/Lenape Indians, Business Consulting, Written Works, and Photographs.

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

Mary Owen Guatemalan folktales collection, 1915 (bulk) 1915-1991 (inclusive)

Extent:: 0.05 linear foot
Abstract:: The Mary Owen Guatemalan Folktale collection consists of two folders of folktales gathered by Mary Owen at the request of her friend George Byron Gordon, Director of the Free Museum of Science and Art, later the Penn Museum. Mary Owens transcribed seventeen folktales with notes and explanations from her valuable years of experience living in the Alta Verapaz region. Mary Owen's folktales were published in 1938 as a children's book co-authored by Marie Hendrick Jessup and Leslie Bird Simpson. Her work is also recognized in the book, "Maya Folktales from the Alta Verapaz", edited by Elin C. Danien.

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

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