University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The Industrial Research Unit of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1921 as the Industrial Research Department with a mission to "study the economic and social problems of business." Sponsored by the Trustees of the University and financially assisted by the Carnegie Corporation, the Department worked in close relationship with a group of representative Philadelphia firms, which furnished data for research and analysis. The collection documents the research work the Wharton Industrial Research Unit undertook from the 1920s to 1990s.

The Wharton School Office of the Dean Records documents the administrative activities of the Wharton School, principally covering the administrations from Simon N. Patten through Thomas P. Gerrity. Portions of this collection are closed.

William C. Farabee (1865-1925) was a physical and cultural anthropologist, archaeologist, and cartographer who devoted most of his life’s work to documenting and interpreting the native cultures of South America, principally the Arawak and Carib peoples of the Amazon basin and the native peoples of the Andes. He also conducted archaeological studies at Marajo Island, Brazil, and at several other locations, including Peru and Ecuador. The collection consists of 5.3 linear feet of textual and photographic documentation related principally to the Amazon expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1913-1916, and also to the Andean expedition of 1922-1923.

Willaim Edmonds Horner was dean of the Medical School of Pennsylvania (1822-1852), Professor of Anatomy (1831-1853), and wrote the first pathology textbook published in the United States (Treatise on Pathological Anatomy, 1829). The Journals detail William Edmonds Horner's travels from the United States to Europe in 1821.

William Gomberg came to the University of Pennsylvania in 1959 when he joined the faculty of the Wharton School, where he stayed for the remainder of his career as a Professor of Management and Industrial Relations. The William Gomberg Papers document his scholarly work in labor relations and management history.

The William H. Davenport collection includes records from field research in the Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal and San Cristobal Islands, and other Solomon Islands; the Moluccas and Sulawesi in Indonesia; and Sarawak in Malaysia, among other locations. Materials span the period from 1952-2002 and contain records primarily related to Davenport's field research, professional activities, student mentoring, and articles and publications.

This collection contains donations made by William Helfand, a noted collector of medical ephemera. Materials include printed pamphlets, sheet music, and posters.

A gift of historian of pharmacy and medicine Dr. William H. Helfand, this collection of ex-votos and devotional paintings on medical subjects offers insight into Mexican religious folk practices. Ex-votos are votive paintings usually hung in churches and religious venues as a sign of gratitude for received blessings or healings. The collection includes ex-votos dated between 1868 and 2002 and dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint James the Moor-slayer, Saint Paschal Baylon, Saint Barbara, Saint Judas Thaddeus, Saint Nicholas, and Saint Cosmas.

William Robertson Coe II was born in 1926 in New York City. Dr. Coe trained as an anthropologist and archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania (BA 1950, MA 1953, and Ph. D 1958). He joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology in 1959 and the Penn Museum as assistant curator in the same year. Coe conducted early excavations in Belize, Bolivia, and El Salvador and later directed excavations at Tayasal and Quirigua in Guatemala, but is best known for his long-term commitment with the Museum’s Tikal Project in Guatemala from 1956-1969. He took over the directorship of the Tikal field operations in 1963. His meticulous archaeological recording skills culminated in his monumental achievement, publication in 1990 of the six-volume “Tikal Report 14,” one of the most significant archaeological reports ever. Coe received the Guatemalan government’s highest honor, “The Order of the Quetzal,” in 1969 and the Drexel Medal from the Penn Museum in 1991. He was also known as a superb teacher of Mesoamerican Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. He retired from the University in 1987. He died in 2009 at the age of 82. The William R. Coe II collection of personal papers spans the period from 1949-1969. It contains materials related to his early field research, articles and publications, prior to his extensive work in Tikal, which is housed with the Tikal Project records, photographs, and publications. The collection consists of 2 archival boxes of material, with a primary focus on Nohoch Ek, British Honduras, an early expedition conducted as an undergraduate student along with his brother Michael Coe and also on William Coe’s University of Pennsylvania master’s thesis on Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Notable ephemera within the collection include his personal state of Pennsylvania TIKAL license plate and the “Order of the Quetzal” medal, along with Guatemalan news clippings about the award.

William R. Mathews (1893-1969) was a journalist, newspaper editor and publisher who corresponded extensively with John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), a politician who served as a United States Senator and United States Secretary of State. This collection represents years of correspondence between these two men, with occasional notes to or from one of their wives. The letters demonstrate Dulles and Mathews' friendship and mutual respect, as they discuss the political and military events that occurred between 1941 and 1957.

William Wister Haines (1908-1989) was an American author, screenwriter, and playwright, most famous for his novels Slim and High Tension, which depicted working-class protagonists during the Great Depression, and Command Decision, a play and novel depicting the final stages of World War II. This collection includes material related to his literary work, especially in the form of drafts of novels, short stories, essays and articles, screenplays and television scripts, and plays.

This collection contains records relating to the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia. Materials include historical accounts, administrative records, board minutes, annual reports, correspondence, and photographs.

The Wyn Ritchie Evans papers include correspondence, writings, photographs, and personal papers that shed light on her connection to the arts scene and to Herman Sachs, her endeavors as a professional writer, and her life with Ray Evans.