University of Pennsylvania Finding Aids

Raymond Pace Alexander (1897-1974) and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898-1989) were pioneers among African Americans in the legal profession and leaders in public affairs, politics, and government throughout the middle half of the twentieth century. Raymond Pace Alexander was a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1920 and from Harvard Law School in 1923. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander earned all three of her degrees (A.B. 1918, M.A. 1919, and Ph.D. 1921) from the University of Pennsylvania. The Alexander Papers constitute a highly significant resource for the social and political history of the city of Philadelphia and, in particular, for the history of the city's black professional and political elite, black civic organizations, and institutions concerned with race relations and civil rights.

Allan Wayne Solomonow (born 1937) is a Jewish peace activist who was active in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area from the 1970s through the 2010s. His particular concern was Middle East peace, especially the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This collection documents Solomonow's life's work and primarily comprise his professional papers related to the Jewish peace community as well as collected secondary material that informed his thinking.

The Antigua Guatemala expeditions were conducted in 1969 and 1970 by Dr. Ruben Reina. Originally from Argentina, Dr. Reina received his B.A. at the University of Michigan and his M.A. at Michigan State University. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina followed by a Research Assistantship at the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Reina began his career at the University of Pennsylvania after teaching at the University of Puerto Rico. He became a Professor in the Anthropology Department in 1967 and assumed the position of Curator of Latin American Ethnology, American Section of the Penn Museum. Dr. Reina spent 34 years at the University, becoming Professor Emeritus in 1990. The expeditions to Guatemala yielded three boxes of field notes and drawings, a catalogue of findings, extensive information on native ceramic pottery, and photographs. In addition, Dr. Reina's trips produced a file of five-by-eight catalogue and excavation unit cards and an additional photograph catalogue file of three-by-five cards. Both of the card files are housed separately in smaller archival boxes.

Archie and Mary Hanlan are known for their writings, educational efforts, and research on thanatology. Archie Hanlan lived with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for two years before his death in 1973. During his illness, he wrote and taught about the experience of death and caring for the dying. This collection contains papers related to the Hanlans' publications.

Atha Tehon (1926-2012) was a children's book designer and art director at Dial Books for Young Readers for thirty years and a freelance designer. This collection documents Tehon's life and career in the field of children's book publishing through correspondence, professional papers, project files on children's books, artwork, and awards.

The Barbara Bates papers include correspondence, writings, photographs, and personal papers that shed light on her career in the medical and nursing history fields, research projects, and personal life.

The Cape Nome expedition collection was donated to the University Museum by the author himself, John Bockstoce. The collection documents Bockstoce’s records and analysis of his archeological findings in Cape Nome fom 1969-1974. It consists of five series: field notes, drawings, photographs, reports and publications, and oversized documents. The expedition was conducted by Bockstoce for the purpose writing a dissertation on the cultures of the Arctic and obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford, which he achieved in 1974. This expedition was advised by Dr. Froelich Rainey of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Douglas Anderson of the Haffenreffer Museum of Brown University, and Dr. Derek Roe of Oxford University.

Founded in 1907, the Charlotte Cushman Club was originally intended to provide respectable lodgings for actresses appearing in Philadelphia theaters. In the years of World War II the Club ceased to provide residential services, becoming a favorite gathering place of theater lovers as well as of the many actresses and actors visiting the city with their touring companies. The Charlotte Cushman Club Records offer insight into the activities, the administration, and the membership of the Club during the whole life of the organization, until its closure in 1998. The collection also includes part of the holdings of the former Club’s museum and library.

The Chestnut Hill Hospital School of Nursing Records consist of 20.45 linear feet of hospital records, school administration records, faculty and student files, yearbooks, photographs, and some artifacts. The records extend from the school's creation in 1908 until its closing in 1987. The collection comprehensively documents the growth of a suburban community hospital nurse training program.

Personal papers of business executive and philanthropist David J. Mahoney. The bulk of the materials comprise correspondence from 1951 to 2000, including letters from Richard Nixon, Norton Simon, William Safire, and Vernon Jordan; writings from 1965 to 1999, including two books written by Mahoney: Confessions of a Street Smart Manager (1988) with Richard Conarroe and The Longevity Strategy: How to Live to 100 Using the Brain-Body Connection (1998) with Richard Restak, M.D.; and events covering the years 1968 to 1998, such as the Horatio Alger Award, which Mahoney won in 1977, and the Bilderburg Conference in both 1981 and 1982. Also available are newspaper clippings and publicity materials focusing on Mahoney as a society figure and businessman, media such as VHS tapes and DVD’s, books, photographs, and award plaques and medals.

David Y. Cooper was a graduate and later faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, well known for his research work in a number of fields. This collection primarily documents his work and reserach into topics relating to the history of medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Donald L. Stacy (1925-2008), known primarily as Don Stacy, was an artist and art teacher born in New Jersey, who lived and worked for most of his life in New York City. Vilém Flusser (1920-1991)-- a Czech-born philosopher who lived for a long period in Sao Paulo, and later in France-- wrote on media and technology, and on communication and artistic production, among other concepts. The correspondence between Don Stacy and Vilém Flusser in this collection was collected by Don Stacy and takes place primarily between 1973 and 1976. The letters from Don Stacy are either handwritten draft letters to Flusser or reprographic copies of the sent letters, while the letters from Flusser are originals. The two men discuss art and philosophy, taking pleasure in sharing ideas and theories and debating opposing positions, and also address issues surrounding their friendship.

The Dun Ailinne, Ireland Excavation Records are housed in 5 boxes, plus oversized material in Print Cabinet P-11 and Map Case M-10. It includes correspondence, financial records, field notes, maps and drawings, artifact drawings, information regarding artifact analysis, progress reports and publications, artifact inventories, photographic prints and negatives and 35 mm slides from years ranging from 1968 to 2005 (Bulk 1968-1975).

Elizabeth Farquhar Flower received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1939. Flower began her teaching career at Penn in 1937. She obtained tenure in 1956 and was promoted to full professor in 1974. This collection documents the life and teaching and research career of Elizabeth F. Flower as an academician and faculty member in the field of philosophy.

Ellen D. Baer was a prominent history scholar and nursing figure at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing as well as in nursing centers and colleges in New York. This collection documents her nursing career, federally funded nursing courses in oncology and in AIDS, research projects and prolific writing career as well as insight into her personal life.

Esther B. Aresty (1908-2000) was a cookbook collector and culinary historian who wrote on food, cooking and etiquette. This collection documents Aresty's personal and professional activities, primarily through correspondence, publication drafts, and research materials regarding her books, entitled The Grand Venture (1963), The Delectable Past (1964), The Best Behavior (1970), and The Exquisite Table (1980).

Frederick McDonald Massiah became a leader in the use of reinforced concrete in building construction,and was one of the first successful African-American contracting engineers in the United States. The Frederick and Edith L. Massiah Papers documents the professional activities of Frederick Massiah as a contract engineer and business man, as well as the Massiah Family life in Philadelphia. The collection is organized into three series: Business Papers, Family Papers, and Awards and Certificates.

Gaylord P. Harnwell was a physicist and president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1953 – 1970. The Gaylord P. Harnwell Papers document various aspects of his personal and professional life.

George Fletcher Bass, a pioneer in the field of Underwater Archaeology, was born in South Carolina in 1932. Planning to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who were Professors of English, he enrolled at Johns Hopkins University. A trip to Rome and the sight of the Roman antiquities altered Bass'life. After returning to Johns Hopkins, Bass spent two years at the School of Classical Studies in Athens followed by enrollment at Penn for his Ph.D. studies in classical archaeology. Bass was chosen in 1960 by Rodney Young, Professor and Chairman of Classical Archaeology at Penn and the Curator of the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum to direct the underwater excavation of a Bronze-Age shipwreck in Cape Gelidonya, Turkey. This event marked the beginnings of underwater archaeology as a discipline and as Bass'life's work. Bass conducted additional expeditions in Turkey at Yassi Ada, sponsored by the University Museum and the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology as well as the Thera Excavations sponsored by the Greek Department of Antiquities. Additional excavations were conducted in Italy at a Neolithic and Bronze Age site near Gravina di Puglia. Bass participated in or supervised additional work at Bodrum and Antolya, Turkey. In 1972, George Bass established the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and decided to make this organization the next step in his career. He became not only the founder but the director of the Institute which is now housed at Texas A&M University. The George F. Bass Underwater Archaeology papers are composed of twenty-seven boxes of correspondence, expedition records, photographs and drawings mainly from his work at Cape Gelidonya and Yassi Ada.

The Gotham Book Mart (1920-2006) was one of New York City’s most iconic bookstores during the 20th century. Founded by Frances Steloff (1887-1989), the daughter of poor Russian-Jewish immigrants, the Book Mart became a social center for the New York literati and a focal point for literary modernism in the United States. Steloff’s successor, independent literary manuscript dealer Andreas Brown (1933-), maintained the store’s focus on avant garde and small press publications while incorporating his own interests in postcards and genealogy. This collection contains 91 boxes of material relating to the daily operation of the Book Mart; correspondence, biographical, and legal material from both Brown and Steloff; postcard and genealogical material collected by Brown; photographs of the store, its employees, and events which took place there; and manuscripts and ephemera offered for sale.

Harold Dies (1914-2012) was a trustee of the Dreiser Trust from its establishment following Helen Dreiser's death in 1955 to his own death in 2012. The Dreiser Trust managed the income and approved contracts for sale of Theodore Dreiser's published works. This collection documents Harold Dies' work with the Dreiser trust and includes financial information; agreements, copyright, correspondence, and royalty statements relating to the works of Helen Dreiser, Theodore Dreiser (bulk), and Paul Dresser; correspondence relating to the Trust and the estates of family members; legal and court records relating to estates of family members; some personal material of Harold Dies and members of the Dreiser family (including Gertrude A. Hopkins Dorn (niece of Theodore Dreiser), Helen Dreiser, Theodore Dreiser, Vera Dreiser, and Paul Dresser (brother of Theodore Dreiser)); and publications using Dreiser material or Dreiser-inspired content.

Harold Scheie was a noted ophthalmologist at the University of Pennsylvania. The Harold Glendon Scheie Papers mainly document the professional contributions and achievements of Dr. Scheie in the field of Ophthalmology. There is a small group of personal papers, but these papers, in large part, still reflect in some way upon his devotion to his profession.

Herman Beerman (1901-1995) received his B.A. in 1923, his M.D. in 1927, and his Sc.D. in 1935 all from the University of Pennsylvania. He served an internship at the Mt. Sinai Hospital and his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania before his appointment in the both the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Department of Dermatology. The papers consist of correspondence, 1923, 1965-1978; copies of his curriculum vitae; information on the dinner held in his honor by the History of Dermatology Society in 1981; clippings; photographic prints; and other miscellaneous papers.