University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

J. Alden Mason, noted archaeological anthropologist and linguist, was born in Orland, Indiana and attended school in Philadelphia attaining his A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907. He pursued his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley completing his dissertation on the ethnography of the Salinan Indians of California. Mason was influenced by Alfred J. Kroeber while at Berkeley and Edward Sapir of the University of Pennsylvania. The J. Alden Mason curatorial years (1922-1967) produced three archival boxes of correspondence and in-house memos, along with Section reports, research notes and articles and notes for publication. This material, in addition to personal records of Dr. Mason and evidence of his scholarship were arranged into series and placed in chronological order.

Mary Butler Lewis, professionally known as Dr. Butler, was one of a very small group of women archaeologists who worked in the United States during the early 20th century and the first female archaeologist to be awarded a Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania (1936). She was born on June 23, 1903 in Media, PA and educated at Vassar College, Radcliffe and the University of Pennsylvania. Mary Butler’s professional career was firmly rooted in the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania , where she served as a Research Associate in the American Section from 1940-1970. Her areas of professional interest included Mesoamerican archaeology and northeastern and central United States prehistory, specializing in ceramics and pottery sequences. At the time of her death in 1970, she was the historian-archaeologist for the restoration of the 18th century Morton Mortonson House in Norwood, PA. The Mary Butler Lewis collection spans the period from 1933 to 1969 and contains materials primarily related to her field research, professional activities, and articles and publications. The collection consists of thirteen archival boxes of data, which are divided into nine series: correspondence, professional organizations and activities; publications, articles, and lectures; Highland Maya excavations, Maya research (general), Hudson Valley Archaeological Survey, Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania, and Morton Mortonson House. In addition to correspondence, field notes and drawings, field catalogues, maps and plans, photographs, journals, reports, manuscripts and motion picture films are represented.