Culin, Stewart, 1858-1929.

Culin was University of Pennsylvania museum director from 1892.

From the description of Correspondence to Daniel Garrison Brinton, 1892-1894. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 226042711

Stewart Culin (1858-1929), ethnologist and museum curator, worked at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of archaeology and Anthropology from 1890 to 1903, and served as Curator of Ethnology at The Brooklyn Museum from 1903 until his death.

From the description of Culin Archival Collection : Series 2: collecting expeditions 1898-1928 1903-1928 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 79022189

Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, author of several books on games.

From the description of Stewart Culin papers, 1885-1900. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 489375979

Stewart Culin (1858-1929), ethnologist and museum curator, worked at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1890 to 1903, and served as Curator of Ethnology at The Brooklyn Museum from 1903 until his death.

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 11: Visual materials 1891-1933, n.d. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 81337254

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 4: Objects 1891-1933. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 77635313

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 1: General Correspondence 1886-1929 1919-1929 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 81723622

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 12: Printed matter 1875-1928. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 83627213

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 10: Organizations and memberships 1897-1928. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 81520702

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 8: Expositions 1892-1927 1892-1893, 1925-1927 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 81278960

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 9: Brinton memorial 1875-1902 1899-1902 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 84593201

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 6: Cushing collection 1881-1900, n.d. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 84501277

From the description of Culin Archival Collection 1871-1933 1903-1928 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 82637036

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 5: Research and writings 1885-1928, n.d. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 77717643

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 7: Games 1871-1927. (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 81335580

From the description of Culin Archival Collection Series 3: Department of Ethnology 1895-1928 1903-1928 (bulk). (Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives). WorldCat record id: 80236990

Born in Philadelphia in 1858, Stewart Culin joined his father's business following his graduation from Nazareth Hall. In the course of his duties, Culin regularly came in contact with Chinese community members, learned to speak Chinese, and developed an interest in Chinese medicine and ancient Chinese games. In the course of studying the games of Korea, Japan, and India, in addition to China, he became an expert on games of the world and published and lectured on this subject. Culin also studied American folklore and was a founding member of the American Folklore Society and President of the national society.

Largely self-taught, Culin benefited from the friendship and mentoring of Daniel Brinton and Frank H. Cushing. Culin shared an interest in Chinese medical practices with Brinton, first American Professor of Anthropology, at the University of Pennsylvania. Culin served as Recording Secretary of The Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of which Brinton was President. Brinton's ideas about museums influenced Culin's vision of the museum as place to display and study cultural objects.

Culin served as Secretary of the Board of Managers of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1890 to 1894, as well as Secretary of the University Archaeological Association during the years 1890 to 1897. He became Director of the Museum, Section of General Ethnology in 1892. He held this position until 1899 and served as Curator, Sections of Asia and General Ethnology and Curator, Section of American And Prehistoric Archaeology until 1903 when he resigned from the museum.

In 1901, Culin traveled to Cuba to study the existence of a pure native type. The trip lasted a few weeks, but Culin returned with photographs and notes related to native Indians in Cuba. Culin also traveled extensively in the American Southwest, California, and the Northwest Coast. He completed the work of Frank H. Cushing, pioneer Ethnologist, on the games of the North American native population, including the Zuni and Navajo tribes and the Pomo of Northern California.

Culin was the founding Curator of Ethnology at The Brooklyn Museum, serving from 1903 until his death in April 1929. In addition to his interest in Native American and Asian culture, Culin also collected costumes, textiles, and decorative arts from Africa and Eastern Europe. The Brooklyn Museum received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1993 to preserve and make available the Culin Archival Collection.

From the guide to the Stewart Culin Cuban expedition records, Bulk, 1901, 1900-1902, (University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives)

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. He 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 many trips to the American West to collect information on Native American games. When Culin left the University of Pennsylvania Museum in 1903 he found an appointment as the first Curator of the Department of Ethnology at the Museum of Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. He continued his trips to the American West until 1911, collecting Native American material for the Museum of Brooklyn. He accumulated an extensive collection of material from native cultures from all over the American West. Culin then made three collecting trips into Asia, visiting Japan and China from 1909-1910; Japan in 1912; and India, Korea, China and Japan from 1913-1914. He also obtained items from Africa and Eastern Europe. His focus was on material culture: instruments, games, religious items, textiles, and decorative arts.

Culin was a founding member of the American Folklore Society and the Oriental Club in Philadelphia and also belonged to the American Anthropological Association. He wrote several books on games from several cultures, but is most famous for his . Culin was also a pioneer in the art of designing exhibitions, and his novel ideas earned him much commendation, as well as disparagement. He earned gold medals for his exhibitions at the World’s Exposition in Madrid (1892), the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago (1893) and the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta (1895). Yet it was mainly the novelty of his ideas that led to the strife between Culin and other department leaders at the Penn Museum, which led to Culin’s forced resignation in 1903.

When Stewart Culin died in 1929, he left a lasting impression on the art of designing museum exhibitions as well as a large catalogue and collection of games from all over the world.

From the guide to the Stewart Culin game collection records, 1893-1903, (University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives)