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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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Public Information Office, 1890-1980 (inclusive)

Extent:

4.4 linear feet

Abstract:

The records of the Public Information Office are contained in ten archival boxes spanning the years 1890 to the late 1970s. All records are filed chronologically and include printed material pertaining to Museum exhibits, lectures, tours, and other public functions.

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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"What in the World" television program records, 1950-1966 (bulk) 1950-1975 (inclusive)

Extent:

2.91 linear feet

Abstract:

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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Charles C. Abbott Papers, 1885-1915 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.02 linear feet

Abstract:

Charles Abbott was a native of Trenton, New Jersey who evidenced an early and profound interest in natural history and archaeology. Charles Abbott made his reputation in the 1880's with his claim of the first definitive find of "pre-glacial" tools in the gravels of his farm at Trenton, and the publication of his book Primitive Stone Industry in 1885. He was appointed Curator of the American Section of the Penn Museum in 1889 until 1893. The Charles C. Abbott papers consist of one-half an archival box of materials divided into correspondence, curatorial and biographical series.

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

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George G. Heye Papers, 1907-1940 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.9 linear feet

Abstract:

George Gustav Heye (1874 - 1957) was an American collector of Native American artifacts who had a longstanding relationship with the Penn Museum. He began collecting on a small scale in 1897, but did not make his first large purchase until 1903. George Heye relocated a portion of his collection on loan to the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1908 where it stayed until 1917. During his time at the museum, Heye and director George B. Gordon worked together to grow the collections of both Heye and the museum, participating in joint expeditions and publications as well. In 1917 Heye pulled his collection from the Penn Museum to start his own institution, the Heye Foundation's Museum of the American Indian (since 2004 the National Museum of the American Indian). The George G. Heye papers consist of five series in 47 folders and one bound volume of letters, spanning between 1907 and 1940.

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

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Louis Shotridge Collection, 1905-1937 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.0 linear foot

Abstract:

The papers of Louis Shotridge are one of the most extensive groups in the Arctic research collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives. Shotridge, a Tlingit Indian, was intermittently employed by the museum to make ethnographic collections of Northwest Coast materials between 1903 and 1912. The archives has papers concerning his original research, arranged topically, manuscripts for articles published in The Museum Journal, oral histories, Tlingit language notes, and general ethnographic notes on the Tlingit and other Northwest Coast groups.

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