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Start Over Subject Material culture Year 1925 to 1929

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Harriet Newell Wardle American Section records, 1929-1955 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.2 linear feet
Abstract:
Harriet Newell Wardle came to the University Museum as a volunteer after resigning her position at the Academy of Natural Sciences. She was named assistant curator in the American Section in 1931. Wardle’s work at the Museum centered on the material culture of the South American Indian tribes particularly the double cloth weaving technique and square pile hats of Peru and textiles from the Uhle expedition. The Wardle curatorial papers consist of three boxes of records. Much of the collection is devoted to correspondence, filed in several categories, alphabetically, by area of the American Section, specific object related and those letters pertaining to textiles. Numerous notes taken as a part of her extensive research on Peruvian textiles are a large portion of the research section along with general research notes. Wardle's research notes include texts for 1940s era radio broadcasts on American Indian tribes. Several of Wardle's research papers, mostly unpublished outside of the...(see more)

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

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Charles H. Stephens Papers, 1891-1916 (bulk) 1876-1964 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.8 linear feet
Abstract:
Charles Hallowell Stephens (1855-1931), followed several careers; illustrator, art teacher, collector of American Indian artifacts, and amateur anthropologist. Born and raised in Philadelphia he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts studying under the tutelage of Thomas Eakins. The importance of Stephens for the Penn Museum resides in his extensive collection of Native American artifacts that was estimated to have about 2000 items, about 1700 of which were acquired by the Penn Museum in 1945. The collection is divided into eight series: Correspondence, Blackfoot, Sioux, Collection Materials, Correspondence on Data, Visual Material, American Pageant Association, and Photographs.

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

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Edith Hall Dohan Mediterranean Section records, 1912-1943 (inclusive)

Extent:
1.8 linear foot
Abstract:
Edith Hayward Hall Dohan (1877-1943) curated the Mediterranean collection from 1912 to 1915 and from 1920 to 1943. A classical archaeologist, she received her A.B. from Smith College in 1899 and her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr in 1908. A classical archaeologist, she received her A.B. from Smith College in 1899 and her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr in 1908. In 1904, she joined Harriet Boyd Hawes and Richard Seager in excavating Gournia in Crete, from which experience she developed her doctoral thesis, The Decorative Art of Crete in the Bronze Age, completed in 1907. Dohan returned to two other archaeological sites in Crete in 1910 and 1912, working under the auspices of the Penn Museum before becoming assistant curator of the Mediterranean Section in 1912. The records in the Edith Hall Dohan curatorial subgroup consist of four series: (1) correspondence; (2) collections; (3) administration; and (4) research. Records within each folder are arranged chronologically.

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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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]