University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

The American Section was one of the first to evolve during the early development of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The University Archaeological Association established in 1887 and later, the American Exploration Society, established in 1892, exhibited several small collections in College Hall before the building campaign for the museum began. Charles Abbott was the first curator of the section succeeded by Henry C. Mercer and then Stewart Culin who was also named Director in 1899. Each succeeding curator was responsible for adding collections, many of them representing their own expeditions in the United States, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and South America. Records in the files are dated from 1826 through the 1980s. The transfer of materials to the Archives took place piecemeal and without a central organization. The current re-processing placed the files into three series, Deaccessions and Loans, Collectors and Collections and Exhibits.

The Museum collections, initially displayed in the University Library in the Furness Building, were transferred to the new building in 1898. In the years that followed, the collections and the space available continued to grow and the Museum prepared both permanent and loan exhibits. The earliest Museum exhibits can be found in the records of the individual sections. An exhibit staff member was appointed in 1940; the staff remaining relatively small. Although exhibit catalogs date from 1892, few files were kept, and the photographic collections are often helpful in documenting past exhibitions. The files are arranged chronologically. Exhibit catalogs are filed separately (see Special Collections— Publications).