University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

Algot Lange (1884- ) was a Swedish/Danish adventurer and amateur anthropologist who visited the Amazon River basin in 1910 and 1913. During the 1910 expedition Lange documented the rubber trade and the native peoples of eastern Peru. During the 1913 expedition he undertook the initial preparation for the University of Pennsylvania’s South American (Amazon) expedition. Lange was replaced as leader of this expedition by William C. Farabee, who continued the project from 1913 to 1916. The Algot Lange records consist of one series of three notebooks concerning the Tupi (Nheengatu) language and culture of the Amazon basin compiled by Lange while at the University of Pennsylvania sometime between 1912 and 1914.

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.