University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

In 1896 the University of Pennsylvania Museum sponsored its first expedition to Russia. The Museum sent Zelia Nuttall (now remembered mainly for her work in the area of Mexican studies) as its representative on a trip to establish cordial relations and a system of exchanges and cooperation, and to obtain archaeological and ethnological specimens by gift or exchange. Nuttall traveled to Moscow, Kiev, Troitzkoi, Rostov, Nijni-Novgorod, and Riga. She also attended ceremonies for the coronation of Nicholas II and there acquired commemorative prints which she donated to the Museum and to Mrs. Hearst. The collection consists mainly of correspondence from Nuttall to William Pepper and Sara Yorke Stevenson, inventories of objects acquired, and images collected at the Pan-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition at Nijni-Novgorod (modern Gorki).