New Director of Peabody Museum Maps His Reorganization Campaign

The following article is based on a survey of the Peabody Museum published in the current Alumni Bulletin, written by Edward Reynolds '81 M.D. '85, director of the Museum.

The Peabody Museum at Harvard was the first anthropological museum in America. Because of its age and the energy and ability of its early directors, its collection contains great numbers of specimens which are unique and could not be duplicated today. The only other museum of almost equal age, which consequently had much the same possibilities, the National Museum in Washington, having unfortunately suffered from a disastrous fire which destroyed the larger part of its collections, the Peabody Museum stands today in a class by itself among the anthropological museums of the country, and is certainly one of the great museums of the world in this department of science. Its collection of North American archaeology and ethnology is unrivalled. Its Central American, Mayan, Mexican, and Peruvian collections are large and of the first quality. Thanks to the efforts of Alexander Agassiz and others, its Polynesian collection, from the islands of the Pacific, is unusually large and full. The European collection, though far from complete, is the best in this country. In African ethnology we are extremely rich. Our Asian collection is small, and that from South America not large nor fully representative. These are holes in the collection which should be filled.

Museum Lacks Funds

Too much praise can hardly be given to the curatorship of the last Director, who left the collection in what may be described as perfect physical condition. The Museum is remarkably free from dirt or insect pests. The latter, which are a perpetual menace to museum collections, are entirely absent, and have been long unknown here. There has been no deterioration of specimens--all of which can very rarely be said of a past management when a new Director takes office.

The income of the Museum has been so entirely insufficient for its needs, that maintenance of the absolutely necessary daily work has required the practice of extreme economy and much effort. Largely as a result of this condition there has been an absence of modernization, and there is today an entire absence of the most ordinary labor-saving appliances and facilities for work. The same reasons have led to conditions inimical to the teaching and research study which should be the primary objects of a university museum.

Has Two Purposes

There are, in fact, two purposes for which such a collection may be used--the interest and amusement of the public, upon one hand; or the advancement of general culture by the creation of a new life interest among many of those who have the advantages of a college education and the training of experts in the science, upon the other hand. These two purposes are by no means entirely antagonistic, but one or the other should be primary. In consideration of the situation of our museum at a considerable distance from the center of population in this locality, of the general purposes of the University which contains it, and in special, of the great contributions to the advancement of science in the large and increasing number of professional anthropologists which the Division is constantly turning out, there can be no doubt as to which of these two purposes should be the primary object in the arrangement of this museum.

In the winter of 1927, with the approaching promotion of the late Director to the rank of emeritus, it was felt that the time had come when modernization of the Museum, and its rearrangement into the still greater teaching implement, which the Division had long deserved, should at last be undertaken. Dr. S. K. Lothrop '15, who has done distinguished scientific work and was in the employ of the American Museum in New York, was invited to succeed, and he accepted the position. In the spring of last year, after having had an opportunity of estimating the condition of the Museum and its finances, he felt obliged, however, to withdraw his acceptance.

Makes Study of Museum

After taking office on September 1, last, and after making a careful study of the condition of the Museum, I reported to President Lowell that the arrangement of the Museum seemed to me to be admirably adapted to artistic effect and to exhibition of many of the specimens, but that I could not avoid concluding that it thoroughly resembled the condition of the traditional nouveau riche's library, who had arranged his books only by the size and color of their bindings and for consequent display of their beauty to his friends, in contra-distinction to that of the scholar, whose library is arranged by subjects, and for utility and his progress in study.

Collections Lack Order

As a result, probably, of the avoidance of expense, the collection was also almost wholly devoid of descriptive labels. By estimation, about 90 percent of the specimens were unlabelled, except as each set of specimens was marked with the name of the collector or donor. In this condition, a collection, no matter how valuable, is extremely difficult of comprehension by students, and indeed the interest which the intelligent public can take in it is greatly diminished. Again, the many duplicates, indestructible, and other objects, which for one reason or another are not on display, are, for lack of proper storage facilities, tucked away in boxes and corners in which they are entirely inaccessible. These could be utilized for laboratory and class room teaching. If the specimens were properly labelled, students who have been conducted about by an instructor and who are now, at the end of an hour, almost wholly unable to identify the specimens talked about, could return, and by individual observation of the labelled objects assimilate the instruction which they had received, to a degree that is now quite impossible. In short, this collection, fine as it is, is today of surprisingly little use for teaching, in--comparison with what could be made of if under different conditions.

Makes Report

I reported, further, that the Museum was badly under-staffed, having only eight employees, while inquiry showed that museums of not more than half our size usually kept from three to four times that number of workers actively employed. Contacts with outside scientists and with other institutions and museums, which are essential to progress, have been very largely allowed to drop. The Museum has relapsed into a state of isolation which is regrettable. The reciprocal loans for purposes of study, which are universal among museums, should now be encouraged, under proper precautions, and every effort should be made to enlist the interest of as large a number of persons as possible. The staff, are ready and anxious to undertake the rearrangement and labelling but they felt it was beyond their power unless they could be provided with trained assistance and working facilities. The income of the Museum was not only too small to permit this, but was insufficient for effective administration even after modernization.

By this time I found myself quite ready to sympathize with Dr. Lothrop in his decision that, as a man interested in research work and with another museum urging him to continue in his excellent position with them, he felt unable to devote at least several years to purely administrative work in an effort to place the Peabody in efficient condition.

Museum Needs Modernization

I felt obliged to report to the President further that in my opinion he would have no chance of acquiring a permanent Director by calling an anthropologist of position from another institution, unless the Museum had first been modernized and placed in efficient condition.

It had been understood that my acceptance of the directorship would not commit me to any long continued term, and it was with some personal regret that I made a report which I felt might commit me for a longer time than I had contemplated; that is, for the length of time which would be required for this reorganization.

Staff Reports Plan

The staff have now, after long study, reported a plan for extensive rearrangement of the collection which promises to make it admirably adapted for purposes of promoting research study and teaching. This plan will be based upon a change throughout the Museum from the artistic to a scientific arrangement, and will involve the installation in an accessible manner, of material for class room, laboratory, and research specimens, together with offices in which visiting scientists may assemble specimens which cannot be submitted to student handling. It is believed, too, that the rearrangements, and the adoption of sequence in the display collections, will make them more intelligible and accessible to everyone. But perhaps the most important single change will be the installation of synoptic collections in which the development of the methods of life in each of the many cultures of the world can be systematically displayed. The staff propose to devote one large room to a general synoptic room covering the whole world. In addition, they will install at the entrance to each room, synoptic cases which will display in more detail the development of cultures in the section of the human race to which that room is devoted. The generosity of a few friends has already enabled us to start on the process of reorganization.

Library is Close Quarters

The cramped and insufficient space to which our very excellent library was confined has been nearly doubled by the removal of partitions and the addition to it of considerable adjoining space. Adequate lighting, seats, and tables, are being provided and will permit us to extend the privilege of access to the stacks to graduate students as well as to the officers of the institution. Provision has been made for the casing necessary to the development of the synoptic collections. Telephonic facilities have been increased. Bids for installation of an elevator have been called for, and its installation will remove one of the greatest sources of delay and undue fatigue in our work.

Staff Now at Work

The staff are already at work over the selection and arrangements of specimens for the new installations, and have started upon the laborious task of labelling which must go on synchronously. Recent developments in typewriters, which have made it possible to produce effective labels by their use, will greatly reduce the cost of the labelling, but the amount of work involved in the production of a great many thousand labels, each one of which must be at once concise, full, and intelligible, can probably be appreciated only by those who have undertaken it.

It will be possible to provide assistance for the first part of all this work during the immediate future, but for the latter part of it and for many other needs of the Museum, we shall still be obliged to look to the future.

We think that when all these changes have been completed, we shall have supplied the Division with an unequaled teaching implement which will enable them to make Harvard even more definitely the chief center of anthropological study and instruction on this continent.