An Emissary from Berlin

Franz Boas and the Smithsonian Institution, 1887-88

Bibliographic Data

ID2289459
AuthorsBrooke Penaloza Patzak (0000-0002-1468-3020, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume41
Issue1
Pages30-45
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuseum Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-8339 • E-ISSN: 1548-1379
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/muan.12167
OpenAlexW2789373104
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited16

Ethnographic objects in museums are physical evidence of the networks through which they circulate and manifestations of the scientific terrain as inscribed by those networks. Combined with archival documentation of their intra-institutional circulations, these objects can also aid in the reconstruction of the historical development of science. This avenue of research offers a new perspective that brings object collections into dialogue with the history of science and highlights the under-realized research value of the millions of objects that lie tucked away in collections storage. This article focuses on the first transaction of ethnographic material between the Königliche Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Reconstructing the contexts and networks through which a particular accession came to reside in theNMNH, this research documents the process by which material exchange promoted international communication between practitioners in the emerging science of ethnology. [exchange networks, Franz Boas, Berlin, Washington, D.C

Inscribed figure · Value (mathematics · History of Science and Medicine · History of Science and Natural History

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