Oceanian Section

William Pepper, the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, was the visionary behind the establishment of an independent University Archaeological Association as well as the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology and the American Exploration Society, all precursors to the University Museum. Pepper, working closely with Sara Yorke Stevenson, capitalized on the emerging interest in other cultures and the University of Pennsylvania's agreement to sponsor an expedition to Nippur in Babylonia in 1887, financed by private funds. Pepper solicited a small number of wealthy Philadelphians who were capable of encouraging subscriptions from their friends and colleagues. Pepper's work resulted in the beginnings of a collection and a Museum building for the new Free Museum of Science and Art.

What is now known as the Oceania Section of the Museum was initially a part of the Section of General Ethnology, curated by Stewart Culin. In the early years, artifacts came from donations as well as purchases. Culin himself scoured the exhibits at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition and other members and collectors bought from the 1904 St.Louis World's Fair and the Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915 to enhance the Ethnology Section.

Among the first expeditions was that of Hiram C. Hiller, Alfred C. Harrison and William H. Furness to Asia and the island groups of the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Australia beginning in 1896. These early explorers were all sons of wealthy families who were educated at the University of Pennsylvania. Their travels yielded ethnographic, archaeological, and skeletal material which they either donated or sold to the University Museum. This founding collection along with purchases for the museum by J.T. Huston, a missionary in Australia, helped to enhance the future Oceania Section.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, the collections from the Pacific Islands were greatly expanded by purchases from the dealers W.O. Oldman of London and J.F.G. Umlauff of Hamburg. Also acquired in this period were a Sepik River collection purchased from Max Boehmig of Dresden and Philippine materials collected by Elizabeth and Sarah Metcalf. Since then, the collections have continued to grow, through donations and from Museum expeditions to Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The Oceania collections of the Penn Museum include over 22,000 objects from all the major island groups of the Pacific (Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia), insular Southeast Asia, and Australia. Except for a very limited number of archaeological specimens, the collections are ethnographic, representing the material culture of the Pacific peoples from the mid-19th century to the present. In 2003 the Section acquired over 900 objects from the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, including materials from French Polynesia exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition and Philippine materials from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904.

An early assemblage of Polynesian material collected by C. D. Voy and a large number of objects acquired in Borneo and Sumatra by William H. Furness 3rd, Alfred C. Harrison, Jr., and H. M. Hiller were among the founding collections of the Museum. In the first two decades of the 20th century the collections from the Pacific Islands were greatly expanded by purchases from the dealers W. O. Oldman of London and J. F. G. Umlauff of Hamburg. Also acquired in this period were a Sepik River collection purchased from Max Boehmig of Dresden and Philippines materials collected by the sisters Elizabeth and Sarah Metcalf. Since then, the Oceanian Section collections have continued to grow, through donations and as a result of curatorial research in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. In 2003 the Section acquired over 900 objects from the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, including materials from French Polynesia exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition and Philippine materials from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904.

Between 1895 and 1901, William Furness, III., Alfred C. Harrison, Jr., and Hiram M. Hiller made a series of extended trips to Oceania, South and Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Furness, Harrison, and Hiller all received degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and donated or sold to the University Museum substantial collections of ethnographic, archaeological, and skeletal material acquired on the voyages. The Furness, Harrison, and Hiller collections, particularly those from Oceania, are extensive and reasonably well-documented for their time.

Many of the records of the Oceania Section were originally a part of General Ethnology section of the early museum. Therefore there may be some overlap of records of the African section and those of the Oceania section purchased at the same time from dealers. The researcher is advised to check the African section records.

The Oceania collections of the Penn Museum include over 22,000 objects from all the major island groups of the Pacific (Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia), insular Southeast Asia, and Australia. Except for a very limited number of archaeological specimens, the collections are ethnographic, representing the material culture of the Pacific peoples from the mid-19th century to the present. The collections have continued to grow, in 2003 the Section acquired over 900 objects from the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, including materials from French Polynesia exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition and Philippine materials from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904.

The records of the Oceania Section consist mainly of information and lists of objects from various donors and patrons. These are placed in the collections series. This series also includes extensive communication with dealers, M. Lemaire DeVries and W.O. Oldman. The remainder of the material is divided among four series, two of which represent contributions from staff of the museum, Research Associates Bennet Bronson and D.S. Davidson and DeVerne Smith.

Among the collection series highlights are the previously mentioned Huston and Metcalf groupings and the extensive C.D. Voy(Cope)Collection and that of author Robert Louis Stevenson. The dealers represented include M. Lemaire DeVries, J.F.G. Umlauff and W.O.Oldman who provide both correspondence and lists of offerings.

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives,

Finding Aid Author:

Use Restrictions:

Form(s)/Genre(s)

• Textiles

Geographic Name(s)

• Australia
• Solomon Islands
• New Guinea (island)

Personal Name(s)

• Rainey, Froelich, Director of the University Museum
• Hall, Henry Usher, 1876-1944
• Jayne, Horace H.F.
• Smith, DeVerne Reed
• Davidson, Daniel Sutherland, 1900-1952
• Umlauff, J.F.G
• Oldman, W. O. (William O.), 1879-1949
• Gordon, G. B. (George Byron)
• Culin, Stewart
• Bronson, Bennet
• Stevenson, Robert Louis
• Stirling, Matthew W.
• Edge-Partington, James

Subject(s)

• Material culture
• Ethnology
• Anthropology