University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

Arthur Hobson Quinn (1875-1960) was a professor and dean of English and History at the University of Pennsylvania and an internationally recognized authority on the history of American drama. This collection contains material representative of Quinn’s entire professional life: correspondence, manuscripts of books and articles, lecture notes, reviews of contemporary plays, his collection of playbills and libretti, and material related to his research on Edgar Allan Poe and the American realist playwright James A. Herne.

John Bach McMaster (1852-1932) was an American writer and professor best known for his landmark history of the United States, A History of the People of the United States, which appeared in eight volumes from 1883 to 1913. McMaster’s historical technique was notable in its use of newspaper material and his insistence on providing social context from all classes, not simply the political leaders of the time. This collection contains correspondence, writings by McMaster, material used by McMaster in his research, and personal material, such as newspaper clippings of his life and work, testimonials by colleagues, and memorabilia.

Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951), an art collector and founder of the Barnes Foundation, had an uneasy relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, despite efforts on both parts to establish a collaboration in art education between the Barnes Foundation and the University. This collection contains primarily correspondence between Barnes (or the secretary of the Barnes Foundation, Nelle E. Mullen, on Barnes' behalf) and University of Pennsylvania officials, largely related to an effort to establish a joint Penn-Barnes course, which met for only a few sessions in 1946 before being called off by Barnes.

Otto Edwin Albrecht (1899-1984) was an internationally known music bibliographer and professor of romance languages and musicology at the University of Pennsylvania. This collection documents his professional career and contains extensive information on his research relating to the history of music in Boston, New York and Philadelphia, the location of European music manuscripts in the United States, and his work identifying sources for Répertoire International des Sources Musicales; his work with music organizations including the American Musicological Society and the Music Library Association; and his work at and for the University of Pennsylvania's Music Library.

Walter Woodburn Hyde (1870-1966) was a professor of Greek and ancient history at the University of Pennsylvania from 1910 to 1940. This collection contains lectures and writings, largely from Hyde's time at the University of Pennsylvania, all related to his professional work and interests in Greek and Roman history and religion, and Olympic victor statues.