Men in Search of Man: The First Seventy-Five Years of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania (Anniversary Collection) - Hardcover

Jr., Percy C. Madeira

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1512804010 ISBN 13: 9781512804010

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1964

Synopsis

In 1962 the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania observed its seventy-fifth anniversary. During those seventy-five years the sciences of anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology—the studies of man, his antiquity, and his cultures—grew into major areas of study and research.

Paralleling this growth of the study of man, in fact an integral part of it, has been the growth of the University Museum. Men in Search of Man tells the story of the University Museum by telling the stories of the men who were responsible for the success of the institution. The scientific contributions are recorded in hundreds of journals and periodicals; this is the story of the men who made those contributions.

The University Museum was a direct outgrowth of a Babylonian expedition to Nip­ pur, a prebiblical city-state in Mesopotamia. The artifacts brought back from this expedition, and subsequent ones, formed the nucleus of the museum's famous collection. The expedition to Nippur was only the beginning, however, of a series of expeditions to such far-flung places as Ur of the Chaldees; Tikal, Guatemala; and Meydum, Egypt. These archaeological feats, and many others, firmly established the University Museum as an important force in archaeological discovery and exploitation.

Percy C. Madeira, Jr. has told the story of the University Museum with the knowledge and insight that could come only from having been intimately associated with the institution for more than thirty years. Serving successively as Vice-President, President, and Chairman of the Board, Madeira was instrumental in the growth and expansion of the University Museum and its facilities and services. Along with the story of the museum, the author has told some of the classic anecdotes relative to the museum and its staff.

Illustrated with many photographs of the expeditions, as well as of the collections, Men in Search of Man contains several supplements listing additional information pertinent to the history of the museum.

About this title

About the Author:

Percy C. Madeira, Jr. was President of the University Museum for twenty-one years.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Partial Chronology of the University Museum

1887: First expedition to Babylonia organized. Organization of the background of the University Museum.
1889: Arrival in Nippur, prebiblical city-state, of University Museum's expedition.
1892-94: University Museum awarded gold medal at Columbian Historical Exposition in Madrid. Awarded seven awards at World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
1895: Pennsylvania State Legislature appropriates $150,000 to be matched by private funds for construction of new building.
1899: Completion of new building christened Free Museum of Science and Art.
1903: 1Q-Excavations in Crete.
1905: Controversy involving Hermann Hilprecht's work at Nippur and his books on the subject.
1906: Beginning of expeditions to Egypt.
1913: University Museum expands its activities to include South America.
1916: Eckley Coxe bequeaths the Egyptian section $500,000.
1922-34: Expeditions to Ur of the Chaldees.
1930: Publication started of University Museum Bulletin and Discovery.
1931: University Museum begins expeditions to the Maya city of Piedras Negras. In the Mediterranean area, important work at ancient Greek city of Curium on Cyprus.
1937: Fiftieth anniversary observed.
1941-45: World War II.
1950: Television show "What in the World?" inaugurated by University Museum.
1956: Work begun to clear the jungle city of Tikal, Guatemala.
1957: Excavations at Gordian, Turkey, for the tomb of King Midas.
1962: Seventy-fifth anniversary observed.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• Publication date: 1964
• ISBN 10: 1512804010
• ISBN 13: 9781512804010
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 112