Records of the Stewart Culin Wanamaker Expeditions to the Western United States

Stewart Culin was born in Philadelphia on July 13, 1858. He did not have professional training and was a self-taught scholar with a powerful curiosity about other cultures. Culin became acquainted with the Chinese community in Philadelphia, learning their customs and language and in 1887 wrote his first publication on their religious and medical practices. In 1890, Culin was appointed Secretary of the Oriental Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Paleontology (now called "The Penn Museum") and was made the Museum's first director in 1892, a position he held until 1899 when the office was abolished. Culin remained the Curator of the American and General Ethnology Sections until 1903 when he resigned from the museum. During his time in Philadelphia, Culin organized exhibits of games and folk culture at international exhibitions in Madrid (1892), Chicago (1893), Atlanta (1895), Paris (1900), and Buffalo (1901). He became a renowned expert on games of the world and published essays on Korean games (1895), Chinese games with dice and dominoes (1895) and chess and playing cards (1898). In 1900, Culin made the first of three trips to the American West to collect information on Native American games.

The Stewart Culin Wanamaker Expeditions to the Western United States were conducted in 1900, 1901 and 1902. Financing was provided by department store founder, John Wanamaker who was a generous contributor to the museum. Planned as a "field collecting" expedition, Culin paired with George A. Dorsey of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Dorsey was an American ethnographer of indigenous people who specialized in the Caddo and Sioux tribes. Born in Hebron, Ohio in 1868, he attained Bachelor's Degrees at both Denison College and Harvard University. His Ph.D. in Anthropology was the first awarded by Harvard and only the second awarded in the nation.

Dorsey collected artifacts primarily in Canada during his early career. He was named an Assistant Instructor in Anthropology at Harvard, teaching until 1896 when he joined the staff of the Field Museum of Natural History.Culin began the first expedition in 1900. Culin's own accounts suggest that Dorsey had traveled to Arizona in 1899 representing the Field Museum in Chicago. On this trip he viewed the Thomas Keam collection. While he tried to purchase some individual items, Keam was interested in selling the entire collection.

Culin relied on Dorsey to plan their route in the summer of 1900 due to his experience with collecting in the West. The trip began in Chicago where they bought "circular tickets" for the longer parts of the trip. They travelled "across the continent to San Francisco stopping at reservations along the way, then North up the Pacific Coast to Victoria and then returning by the 'Great Northern' to visit the Sioux in Montana and the Dakotas." (Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and Art, Vol. III, no. 1, January 1901)

Dorsey purchased a large collection in 1900 from dealer Alexander Brizard in Arcata, California. He signed the invoice "collector." Culin left a record of his own purchases in the catalogues but also in correspondence with dealers. Some of the cities cited from that expedition were Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Neah Bay, Washington, and Victoria, British Columbia.

On January 1, 1901, dealer Thomas Keam invited Stewart Culin to visit Arizona to view his collection. Culin did indeed have Arizona on the itinerary for the 1901 expedition where he purchased a collection from Keam but also made stops at numerous villages and reservations in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. Other stops included New Orleans where he viewed a game of "raquette", and Buffalo, New York to visit the Pan American Exposition. Culin traveled to Ontario, Canada to see the Grand River Reserve of the Iroquois and Niagara Falls, New York to visit "curio shops."

In New Mexico, Culin spent time with the Hopi and Choctaw nations chronicling their rituals, games and dress. Culin was able to observe the Saw Flute Dance, the Hopi Snake Dance and the Lalakonti Dance of the Walpi on this trip.

The 1902 expedition, described extensively in Culin's diary as a "visit to the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona" began in February 1902 when Culin left Chicago for what he described as a "short trip to the Southwest." He sought the manuscript of A.M. Stephens which was in the possession ofdealer Thomas Keam. Culin stopped at Keam's store in Arizona but needed to travel to Pasadena, California to meet Keam and purchase the manuscript. On the way back from California, Culin, starting from Gallup, New Mexico visited the Zuni and Isleta pueblos. He found them much like his friend Frank Cushing had described to him.

The Stewart Culin Wanamaker Expeditions to the Western United States were financed by department store owner, John Wanamaker who was a generous contributor to the museum. Planned as a "field collecting" expedition, Culin was accompanied by George A. Dorsey of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The expeditions were conducted in 1900, 1901 and 1902.

Culin allowed Dorsey to plan their route in the summer of 1900 due to his experience with collecting in the West. The trip began in Chicago where they bought "circular tickets" for the longer parts of the trip. They travelled "across the continent to San Francisco stopping at reservations along the way, then North up the Pacific Coast to Victoria and then returning by the 'Great Northern' to visit the Sioux in Montana and the Dakotas." (Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and Art, Vol. III, no. 1, January 1901)

Some processing of the collection occurred prior to the current one. The Culin Catalogue, the major contribution from the trip, had been foldered and numbered using the numbers provided by Culin. The catalogue is contained in four archival boxes. The fifth box required processing to separate out the correspondence and organize it by writer and chronology. Some additional components were discovered; three small notebooks, bills, receipts, shipping items and reports to the Board of the Museum which all needed to be processed.

The Stewart Culin Wanamaker Expeditions to the Western United States records are contained in five archival boxes and four smaller card files. Culin's filing system for the catalogue and cards was maintained. The catalogue is he most extensive series and fills four of the five archival boxes. The other series' comprise correspondence, administration and notebooks.

Among the correspondence are letters from George A. Dorsey and Pliny E. Goddard. The latter provided translations of Native American words in his responses. The remainder of the letters are from the dealers with whom Culin purchased his artifacts. Often with the letters are lists, shipping and finance information related to the writer.

With the administrative records are the reports to the museum board of directors. Here, Culin lays out the itinerary and purpose of his trip and his excitement that John Wanamaker has agreed to finance the expedition. With this folder is a small envelope containing bibliography cards.

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives,

Finding Aid Author:

Use Restrictions:

Personal Name(s)

• Culin, Stewart
• Dorsey, George A.
• Cushing, Frank Hamilton
• Keam, Thomas V.
• Goddard, Pliny E.
• Brizard, Alexander
• Newcombe, Charles F.

Subject(s)

• Indians of North America
• Ethnology -- Indigenous peoples
• Material culture