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Start Over Repository University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives Subject Anthropological linguistics

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Theodoor de Booy Sierra de Perija expedition records, 1916-1919 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.13 linear foot (the collection consists of two folders of correspondence and linguistic material and two folders of photographs in an archival box. the lantern slide collection from the expedition is in the photographic section.)
Abstract:
Theodoor deBooy, a native of the Netherlands, immigrated to the United States in 1906, becoming a citizen in 1916. Trained neither as an archaeologist nor anthropologist, he nevertheless traveled independently to the Bahamas in 1911 to study the Caicos group of islands and, in 1912, published his "Lucayan Remains on the Caicos Islands." From that time on, de Booy dedicated himself to the field of archaeology. The collection includes correspondence with George Byron Gordon, Director of the Penn Museum, a catalog of artifacts, photographs, a bibliography of the region, and lists of his lantern slides, how they should be colored, and how used in publication by the Museum.

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

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Elin Danien collection of Robert Burkitt papers, 1903-1913 (inclusive)

Extent:
0.3 linear foot
Abstract:
The Elin Danien Collection of Robert Burkitt Papers was discovered by Danien on her trip to Guatemala in 1985. Consisting of notebooks on the languages of the native Indians in the Guatemalan Highlands, the collection was found on the property of a family with whom Robert Burkitt stayed while working for the Penn Museum in Guatemala. Previously thought to be destroyed, the works are from the early portion of Burkitt's time in Central America, 1903 to 1913, before he formally began to collect and catalogue artifacts for the Museum. The collection consists of four linguistic notebooks, a comparative chart of the languages with a word list, a Spanish-Kekchi dictionary created by Burkitt, a portion of Burkitt's Dresden Manuscript, an Index to a linguistic notebook that is not a part of the collection, and loose papers from other notebooks. A purchased Espanol-Quecchi dictionary from Coban, 1890, is also a part of the collection.

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

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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]

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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]