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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives

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George C. Vaillant Director's Office Records, 1928-1947 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.0 linear feet
Abstract:
George Clapp Vaillant was born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated at Noble and Greenough School and Phillips Academy. Vaillant attended Harvard University where he was a lackluster student until he discovered archaeology. Vaillant worked on the cliff-houses in northeastern Arizona and dug at Pecos, New Mexico while an undergraduate. In graduate school, Vaillant worked with George A. Reisner in Egypt. Under the direction of the Carnegie Foundation and Sylvanus Morley, he dug at Chichen Itza in 1926. Following his time in Mexico with Morley, Vaillant was appointed assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in charge of archaeological activities in Mexico. This employment lasted until 1941 when he was appointed Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The George C. Vaillant Administrative records are contained in five archival boxes and consist mostly of correspondence with some administrative records and personal files.

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

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Froelich Rainey Director's Office records, 1947-1977 (inclusive)

Extent:
25.6 linear feet
Abstract:
Rainey was appointed Director of the University Museum in 1947 and maintained the position until his retirement in 1976. He also served as a Professor of Anthropology at the University. Among his many accomplishments as Director, Rainey is responsible for the institution of Expedition Magazine. He developed and hosted the television show "What in the World?" which ran either locally or nationally for a total of fifteen years. In 1964, he served as a contributor to the show "Sunday" on NBC reporting the "archaeology news." The Froelich Rainey Administrative records consist of sixty-four archival boxes of correspondence divided into two series; alphabetical and chronological. The majority of the letters are in the alphabetical files with the chronological files reflecting the time from February 1968 to November 1969.

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

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Robert H. Dyson Director's Office records, 1982-1994 (inclusive)

Extent:
15.2 linear feet
Abstract:
Robert H. Dyson, a native of York, PA waa educated in the public schools of Forrest Hills, N.Y. and the Collegiate Institute in Ontario, Canada before enrolling at Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard Magna cum laude with a B.A. in 1950 and completed his Ph.D. there in 1966, specializing in Near Eastern Archaeology. Dyson came to the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 as an Associate in the Anthropology Department and an Assistant in the Near East Section of the University Museum. In 1982, Dyson succeeded Martin Biddle as Director of the Penn Museum. He maintained this position until 1994. The Robert H. Dyson Administrative Records consist of thirty-eight archival boxes of material organized into four series, Alphabetical Correspondence, Chronological Records, Personnel Records and Allocation Records.

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

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Education Department records, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1919-2002 (inclusive)

Extent:
23.0 cubic feet (20 records cartons, 8 index card boxes, 4 archival boxes, 10 oversize folders)
Abstract:
The Education Department was responsible for organizing and administering many of the Penn Museum's public outreach and educational programs between 1921 and 2010. The department was also responsible for maintaining the Penn Museum's film collection from the 1920s to 1987 and for administering the sale of books and objects for children between 1930 and 1972. Holdings span from 1919 to 2002 and include a wide variety of materials created by the department's staff including, but not limited to: administrative reports, correspondence, inventories, press clippings, press releases, information packets, teaching aids, and radio scripts.

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

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Records of the Registrar's Office, 1893-1981 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.2 linear feet
Abstract:
From the earliest days the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania kept records of the artifacts donated and acquired through expeditions. This was originally the responsibility of the curator in each section and resulted in huge, hand-written registers of the collections. In 1929, the system was transferred to a centralized numerical card catalogue under the supervision of Geraldine M. Bruckner the Museum's first Registrar. The responsibilities of the Registrar included insurance, shipping and loans as well as numbering and describing collections. The records of the Office of the Registrar fill seven archival boxes and one card file. The materials did not have an innate order when processed but like documents were filed together in processing and the series describe the major duties of the office. The condition of the materials is fair to good with some flaking of paper due to age and storage problems. Series for the Office of the Registrar include correspondence, insurance,...(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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Traveling Exhibits, 1983-2001 (inclusive)

Extent:
11.0 cubic feet
Abstract:
The Penn Museum is a renowned center for archaeological exploration, teaching and display of artifacts from around the world. Since 1887, scholars and explorers have dedicated their lives to interpreting cultures from many areas. As a part of its mission the museum is also a sponsor of cultural, educational and social programs to bring exhibits of interest to audiences in the United States and around the world. In 1985, the museum inagurated a Traveling Exhibitions Program under the auspices of the Museum Services Division in an effort to expose the collections of the museum to a wider national and international audience. The Traveling Exhibits collection is composed of exhibition records from the inception of the program through the early 2000s. There are records from fifteen exhibitions plus the administrative and financial records of Kathryn Grabowski held in twelve archival cartons.

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

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Henry Usher Hall Sierra Leone Expedition Records, 1936-1940 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear feet
Abstract:
Henry Usher Hall was an American anthropologist who joined his first expedition in 1914. He traveled down the Yenisee River to the Kara Sea in Siberia with Polish anthropologist Maria Antonina Czaplicka. They were accompanied by ornithologist Maud Doria Haviland and artist Dora Curtis. He served as curator of the General Ethnology section of the Penn Museum from 1915 to 1935. He was responsible for the establishment of the African section at the Museum. Following his retirement from the Penn Museum, Hall conducted research on the continent of Africa in Sierra Leone into the Sherbro people. On his return from Sierra Leone, Hall published The Sherbro of Sierra Leone in 1938.

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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