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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives Record Source University of Pennsylvania Year 1900 to 1949

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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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Horace H.F. Jayne Director's Office Records, 1929-1940 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear feet
Abstract:
Horace H.F. Jayne was Director of the University Museum from 1929 to 1939 as a part of a distiguished career in the cultural institutions of Philadelphia. The collection consists of twenty boxes of correspondence related to his duties as Director.

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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Works Progress Administration Records, 1935-1943 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.5 linear feet
Abstract:
During the Great Depression President Franklin D. Roosevelt developed New Deal programs to return the country to work through relief projects. The most popular of these was the Works Progress Administration because it provided work for so many Americans. Large numbers were put to work building bridges, roads, public buildings, public parks and airports with nominal salaries subsidized by the federal government. In addition, tens of thousands of artists were funded to create murals and sculpture for public buildings, write plays and music and perform their work for an arts-hungry public. Between 1935 and 1942, the University Museum co-sponsored(with institutions such as the Fairmount Park Commission and the Pennsylvania Commission for the Fine Arts) at least eight Works Progress Administration projects as part of the State-wide Museum Assistance Program. Employee salaries for the WPA/University Museum projects were paid by the WPA; equipment, space, supplies, technical aid, and...(see more)

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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Ernestine Wieder Singer papers, 1935-1938 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.1 linear foot
Abstract:
Ernestine Wieder Singer, the daughter of Dr. Henry S. and Josephine M. Wieder of Philadelphia, was a Master's student at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology during the 1930s. Wieder Singer studied the woven nets produced by the Indians of South American during her Master's program. Her thesis, "Analysis and Distribution of Netting Techniques Among South American Indians," conducted under the direction of Dr. Alden Mason, was completed but not published. The Ernestine Wieder Singer papers consist of five folders of information related to her special interest in South American netting techniques.

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

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Battiscombe Gunn Egyptian Section records, 1931-1934 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.1 linear foot
Abstract:
Gunn moved to the University of Pennsylvaniz Museum in 1931 as curator of the Egyptian section. His time there was short. In 1934, Gunn was given an honorary M.A. degree from the University of Oxford, opening the way for an appointment as Professor of Egyptology there, a position he held until his death in 1950. The Battiscombe Gunn Egyptian Section records consist of one folder of correspondence dating from 1931 to 1934.

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

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