Guide to the Culin Archival Collection

This subseries contains letters of recommendation for Culin's appointment at the University of Pennsylvania as Lecturer in Ethnography and American Archaeology. The respondents to W. Romaine Newbold's (Dean of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia) letter of request for recommendation include Adolf Bastian (Director, Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin), Daniel Brinton (Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), George Dorsey (Curator, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago), and William Holmes (Curator, United States National Museum, Washington, D.C.). The letters are laudatory and specifically cite Culin's articles and exhibitions.

Reflecting Culin's work as an ethnologist, these letters come primarily from colleagues and peers in the profession. Most of the letters concern issues directly related to collecting or to the profession itself, though there is a small amount that covers his personal or social life. While the majority of this subseries is letters written to Culin, a few of his responses are also included.

Curator George Dorsey (Field Columbian Museum, Chicago) writes of collecting trips in Spain, China, and Japan. Thomas Keam, a collector and trader of Native American objects, discusses Navajo and Zuni objects and cultural traditions. An early correspondent is Lee Chin Sun, who writes of the difficulty of learning English and of being Chinese in America; he expresses his gratefulness to Culin for helping him to make the transition. While Culin's expertise on games and gambling devices is evidenced in letters from colleagues and students, his correspondence extends well beyond the world of museums and academia. For example, there are letters concerning the translation of Korean texts related to games from a member of the Korean Legation. Attorneys also made inquiries about games such as Parcheesi, seeking Culin's advice in the initiation or resolution of lawsuits.

Several of the writers corresponded with Culin over long periods of time. Charles H. Read, whose career at the British Museum was contemporaneous with Culin's, maintained both professional and social contact with Culin for thirty years. The American painter Thomas Eakins kept in contact with Culin during the last third of the artist's life. He wrote of their common interest in the Oriental Club and the Faculty Club in Philadelphia. He also discussed works of art (both his and works by others), including his portrait of Frank Hamilton Cushing, and the various social engagements that were shared with Culin (including a boxing match!).

Culin's relationship with the Brooklyn Museum is also traced in these letters. The letter from Franklin W. Hooper, Director of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (the Brooklyn Museum's parent organization), inviting Culin to be Curator of the newly formed Department of Ethnology is included here. And, too, discussion of the possibility of Culin leaving the Brooklyn Museum apparently for a newly planned Philadelphia museum of art is found in the 1915-16 letters of both John Wanamaker and Charles H. Read.

This letter press book contains copies of Culin's letters written during his first four years at the Brooklyn Museum. The letters primarily concern museum business and the collecting of Native American materials in the Southwest.

Of the 202 letters, nearly half are written to Franklin W. Hooper, Director of the Brooklyn Institute and Culin's primary supervisor, regarding a range of topics from the acquisition of collections to the security of Culin's office during his absence while on collecting expeditions. Included are such topics as Native American objects traded to the Field Columbian Museum, Native Americans of the Southwest, Japan, acquisition expenses, games, gambling sticks, and general museum business. Culin's letters to Alfred G. Mayer (Curator-in-Chief, the Brooklyn Museum) discuss Southwest Native American topics, including the Zuni costume worn by fellow ethnologist Frank Hamilton Cushing, and the portrait of Cushing by Thomas Eakins. Other important correspondents include George Dorsey (Field Columbian Museum, Chicago) and Andrew Vanderwagen, a trader in Native American objects.

A large and diverse collection of materials, this subseries details Culin's daily museum, professional, scholarly, and personal activities. Of primary importance is the wide-ranging correspondence that discusses the acquisition, interpretation, and display of artifacts, as well as documentation of museum administrative matters. Culin's influence and resources went far beyond the Brooklyn Museum, as evidenced by his correspondence with an international community ranging from museum personnel to people in the design and textile industry, dealers and collectors both professional and amateur, and a warm circle of personal friends. The development of Culin's extensive research library is documented here; his generosity is evident in frequent loans of books and objects to individuals studying a wide variety of topics. Included in this subseries are many clippings and ephemeral materials and a small number of photographs and typescripts. It should be noted that, while some of these were physically or intellectually attached to specific letters, others appear to have been included only because of the dictates of the chronological filing system.

A considerable amount of correspondence with the directors, trustees, and colleagues at the Brooklyn Museum, among them Frank Babbott, Edward Blum, and Walter Crittenden (trustees) and W. H. Fox (Director), document museum activities in great detail. The topics range from purchases and gifts to the Brooklyn Museum, loans to other institutions and department stores, the Museum Governing Committee, and major installations such as the Rainbow House (1925-26) and exhibitions such as Primitive Negro Art (1923).

Ever vigilant in the search for new acquisitions, Culin's correspondence reveals the wide range of resources that he drew upon for purchases and donations to the Brooklyn Museum. From dealers and collectors to the missionary just returned from Asia, Culin made queries to or received queries from all possible sources. For example, he communicated with dealer William O. Oldman regarding objects from Africa, Tibet, Morocco, and the Middle East; with Hassan Khan Monif, owner of the Persian Antique Gallery in New York City, concerning Persian textiles and the Hamza-nama miniature paintings; and with Edward Barrett, an importer with offices in New York and Siberia, about Chinese prayer boards and curtains, as well as decorative arts from Tibet. Other notable dealers include Wise & Co. and Yamanaka & Co.

One example of Culin's many acquisitions are the nine folios of the Hamza-nama, an important series of Indian miniature paintings illustrating the life of Mohammad's uncle Amir Hamza. Culin corresponded with Museum Director William Henry Fox; trustees Frank Babbott and William Crittenden; dealer Monif; German ethnologist and archaeologist Albert A. von leCoq; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Edward Stevens, Librarian of Pratt Institute; and M. D. C. Crawford, Women's Wear editor, concerning the purchase and provenance of these paintings.

Among Culin's peers and colleagues in the United States and Europe, Louis Clarke (Curator, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Philadelphia), John deVegh (Director, National Museum of Applied Art, Budapest), Berthold Laufer (Curator of Ethnology, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago), Charles Lummis (ethnologist and founder of the Southwest Museum, Los Angeles) are a few of the primary correspondents. The mutual concerns of collecting, exhibition, and publishing appear frequently in these letters. There are also letters from directors and curators at the British Museum; the Commercial Museum, Philadelphia; the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago; the National Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the American Museum of Natural History, New York; the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York; the Pennsylvania Museum of Art (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art); and the ;Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

In addition to museum professionals, Culin also had a close working relationship with designers and the staff of design institutes, textile manufacturers, and department stores. Aaron & Company, Abraham & Straus, Arditti & Sons, Blanck & Co., Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, Macy & Co., A. Namm & Sons, Wanamaker Co., Edward L. Mayer & Co., and Pratt Institute were all a part of a cooperative circle with Culin. Culin supplied study pieces for the design institutes and manufacturers and arranged for loans of exhibition material to department stores. This relationship is particularly evident in the Primitive Negro Art exhibition (1923), where textile patterns created from Museum objects were used in the creation of new lines of textiles and clothing. The textiles were not only marketed in the department stores but also became a part of the exhibition itself. There is also some correspondence with those who were critical or were aware of criticism of Culin's close work with designers and department stores.

The relationship between the Brooklyn Museum and Pratt Institute is further accounted for in correspondence with Frederic B. Pratt (President) and William Longyear (Professor, School of Fine and Applied Arts), among others. Activities included inviting Pratt students to study in the Museum and display their work in student exhibitions. Frederic Pratt also purchased objects that Culin wanted to acquire for the Museum's collection. Culin, too, assisted in arranging exhibitions at Pratt, including the German Textiles exhibition (1924).

Culin's close working relationship with M. D. C. Crawford (editor, Women's Wear, Fairchild Publications) is extensively documented. Their correspondence is the most frequently encountered in this subseries, with letters between the two men found in two-thirds of the folders. Among the wide-ranging subjects are the International Congress of Americanists, the International Silk Exposition, department stores, the Primitive Negro Art exhibition, development of a study room for designers, textiles, Museum acquisitions, the Pratt Peasant Costume exhibition (1924), the Rainbow House installation, Culin's Road to Beauty manuscript, the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial (1926), the History of the Blouse exhibition at the United Waist League (1922), object loans, and Crawford's books, The Heritage of Cotton (1924) and The History of Silk (1925).

Culin's collaboration with Crawford provided the foundation for the Museum's Industrial Division (1935-46) and Design Laboratory (founded 1947). This collaborative spirit was also reflected in other ongoing professional relationships with designers. For example, the artist Ruth Reeves enjoyed a long and productive association with Culin. Her letters are accompanied by clippings of her lectures and her fashion designs, which were reproduced in Women's Wear illustrations, Christmas cards that she designed, and a numbered etching. Culin's support for designers was not only intellectual but also extended to loans of objects and participation in programs; he conferred with Elizabeth Alexander regarding Museum doll and mask loans for exhibitions at the Arden Gallery, with the Neighborhood Playhouse and Lee Simonson (Theatre Guild) about costume loans for performances, and with the Art Alliance on the subject of art competitions.

In Culin's correspondence, the boundaries between the professional and the personal are often discarded. When he first visited Hungary in 1921, as the country struggled to recover from World War I, he met John deVegh, Director of the National Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest. Culin hired deVegh to ship back his purchases, starting a correspondence that gives a vivid portrait of Hungary at that time, including the difficulties faced by the Hungarian museum. In response to deVegh's letters, Culin attempted to find outlets where Hungarian embroidery could be sold and lectured on Hungarian arts to bring the plight of the country to the attention of Americans. In these efforts Culin corresponded with Charles Winter of the Hungarian Consulate, Walter T. Swingle of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the editor of the Hungarian newspaper Szabadsày. Culin's correspondence with refugee Anna Igumnova, a widow whom he met during that same trip, provides a parallel view of life in eastern Europe at that time, focusing on an individual rather than an institution.

Culin's family life is also documented sporadically throughout this series. His wife, the artist Alice Mumford Culin, loaned paintings to other institutions, and Culin often acted as her agent in these matters. She also painted works related to the Museum collections; Culin discussed these works with his colleagues. The education of Culin's step daughter, Penelope, is another family concern addressed in this subseries, as are housing and financial matters.

Interspersed with the correspondence is a large collection of clippings, many from Women's Wear's"Design Department" and "Romance of Merchandise" columns. The Women's Wearclippings appear most regularly during the first five years (1919-23) of this subseries, and Culin's byline appears on a small percentage of them. There are many clippings documenting the effect of Brooklyn Museum exhibitions and programs on the general population, textile manufacturers, and the museum community in general. For example, one clipping documents the 1921 efforts of Mayor Fiorello Laguardia to install study rooms modeled on those Culin had set up at Brooklyn for designers at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. Clippings of newspaper reviews and synopses of Culin's lectures and exhibitions; articles about such topics as Asia, games, clothing, and textiles; and obituaries can be found throughout these correspondence files.

Clippings and correspondence in this subseries document Culin's lectures at various institutions (lecture texts appear in Series 5). His lectures at the Brooklyn Museum, addressing such topics as divination and fortune telling, dolls, playing cards, chess, and puzzles, are similarly chronicled.

A diverse collection of photographs related or attached to the correspondence illustrates and enlivens this subseries. The images include exhibitions such as the History of Cotton as Art and Exhibition of the Arts of the American Indian sponsored by the National Merchandise Buyers' Fair at the Grand Central Galleries in New York (1925); store window displays; objects from Mesoamerica, Africa, Korea, China, Japan, and eastern Europe; and a wide variety of objects, among them dolls, pottery, gloves, costumes, baskets, and tapestries.

Finally, there is an extensive collection of ephemeral material including announcements, programs, flyers, catalogues, invitations, notices, Christmas and New Year's cards, calling cards, and business cards. Loan approval forms, lists of items loaned, invoices, booklets, sketches, press releases, notes, receipts, and labels also appear in this subseries.

On his many collecting expeditions, Culin kept detailed documentation of the people he met, the communities he visited, and the objects he acquired. Although Culin's manuscript notebooks are extant only for the 1926 and 1927 trips (an undated diary also exists), formal typescripts of the diaries were prepared on his return for presentation to Museum trustees. These expedition reports are heavily illustrated, containing photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings, correspondence, postcards, and assorted ephemera Culin collected in his travels.

Descriptive emphasis in the reports is on collecting: from whom and under what circumstances objects were obtained; in many cases the history and use of the object are detailed. Not all acquisitions are included, however, nor are objects always positively identified, and there are occasionally gaps where insertion of names of people, places, and objects seems to have been intended. Museum Registrar Barbara LaSalle noted accession numbers in some volumes during her tenure (1963-89). Culin's chapbooks and purchase lists (subseries 2.2 and 2.3) provide additional data on his acquisitions, as do the catalogue cards and ledger books found in Series 4.

In addition to his collecting activities, Culin's narrative is also devoted to description of other museums and their exhibitions; his visits to collectors, dealers, donors, and makers of objects; and often extensive description of his physical journeying, fellow passengers, lodgings, meals, and entertainments. Two reports also include detailed appendices: Census of the Zuni Indians (1904), by Dr. E. F. Davis; and Origin of the Navajo Order of Naal'oi baka, by Father Juvenal Schnorbus, and Zuni Notes, a transcription of interviews with Nick Graham (Zuni Nick), both from 1907.

From 1904 to 1923, decorative frontispieces were created for the reports by Museum Artist Herbert Bolivar Tschudy (H. B. Judy), who accompanied Culin on several expeditions (see also subseries 2.4). In most cases, an itinerary precedes the narrative and includes place of visit, mileage, mode of travel, and corresponding page numbers. Between 1903 and 1917, when Culin stopped including mileage in the itineraries, he traveled an astonishing 99,453 miles by rail, steamer, wagon, and on horseback. His travels ranged from summer journeys of three to four months, to extended trips to Asia that lasted nearly an entire year.

Culin collected actively on his expeditions throughout North America and British Columbia, acquiring thousands of objects between 1903 and 1911 and describing many in great detail. The reports for the Southwest contain many photographs, including images by noted photographers Ben Wittick and A. C. Vroman, as well as by Culin himself. In comparison, Culin's reports from China and Japan provide less detailed information about objects, although he continued to describe his travels in great detail. Though they hold few original photographs, these later reports are heavily illustrated with postcards, business cards, menus and other ephemeral material. When Culin turned his attention to eastern Europe, he focused his collecting on costumes and textiles, which are depicted in numerous postcards. In addition to description of his travels, Culin includes a great deal of political commentary in these later reports.

Several individuals--primarily dealers, collectors, and museum professionals--feature prominently in the reports, assisting Culin on his travels and in collecting. On the American trips, traders such as Charles L. Day, J. L. Hubbell, John Hudson, Thomas Keam, Charles Lummis, C. F. Newcombe, Andrew Vanderwagen, as well as the Franciscan Brothers at St. Michaels were instrumental in guiding Culin. In Asia, John Batchelor, Lockwood DeForest, K. O. Kusakabi, Dr. Neil Gordon Munro, Frederick Starr, Toko Takayemagi, and Yeto Takemashi provided valuable assistance. Finally, Louis Clarke, John deVegh, Andrew LeCoq and William O. Oldman are noted in the reports from Culin's European trips.

The reports in this subseries comprise primarily trips funded by the Brooklyn Museum's parent organization, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. Three University of Pennsylvania Museum expeditions are also included (1900, 1901, and 1902), as well as a folder of menus, bills, flyers, programs, business cards, and postcards from Culin's first trip to Europe in 1898.

A methodical collector, Culin kept track of his travel expenses and object purchases in a series of pocket notebooks, preserved in this subseries. The entries are brief, limited to date, a word or two of description, and price; in some cases Culin later added accession numbers to the object entries.

Upon returning home, Culin was presumably required to submit expense reports, resulting in the materials in this subseries. Typed purchase lists, voucher numbers, travel expense lists, and receipts provide a valuable adjunct to the object documentation in the other subseries. Additional materials of this type may be found in the Registrar's Office.

Museum Artist Herbert B. Tschudy (who used the spelling Judy until circa 1914) accompanied Culin on several of his early expeditions, as did New York City artist A. W. Groll, recording scenes on site and in color. Tschudy's murals and watercolors were installed in the Museum's Gallery of Ethnology and Department of Natural History. Culin noted in 1905 that "an attempt has been made by the aid of Mr. Judy's paintings and sketches to give an idea of the southwestern country and afford an artistic and instructive setting for the collection" Tschudy traveled frequently throughout his career; his trips to the Bahamas, throughout the American West, and to France, Italy, and Switzerland are documented in Museum records.

Ten small oil paintings on board and forty-eight watercolors, executed by Tschudy on expeditions between 1904 and 1910, document scenes and Native American people in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and British Columbia. A photograph of Tschudy painting in Arizona appears in the 1904 expedition report.

Closely related to Series 1: general correspondence (particularly subseries 1.4), this subseries contains many of the same correspondents and topics. The Director and curators of the Brooklyn Museum, publishers and editors, educators, designers, and collectors are all found as correspondents in these letters. Major topics include the acquisition, exhibition, and loan of collections ranging from opium pipes to the Samuel P. Avery cloisonné collection. The initial planning, creation, and reception of a collections study room for use by student and professional designers is also found in these letters. In addition, there are clippings, brochures, invitations, tickets, catalogues, and other ephemeral material, including a program for Culin's Rainbow House lecture series.

These monthly and annual reports give an overall view of the work of the department. Annual reports occur sporadically from 1905 to 1922. Included is a typescript labeled "Department of Ethnology, Statement of Work Done to January 1905," which summarizes the history of the department and lists some of the more important acquisitions and exhibitions prior to Culin's coming to the Museum. In the Brooklyn Museum Annual Report, these reports appear as the "Report on the Department of Ethnology" or as a portion of the "Report of the Director."

The monthly reports (1916-26) are generally one page in length and do not always appear consistently throughout the year. Some of the monthly reports are compilations of several months' worth of activity. The reports give a summary of recent installations, the number of cases constructed for display, labeling completed, and other information such as Culin's upcoming travel and collection plans.

This chronological log documents Culin's daily work routine, including visitors, phone calls, meetings, loans, purchases, auctions, and short journeys. The brief entries, usually three to ten lines long, were written regularly in 1920 (January to June), 1924-26, and 1927 (February to October). Culin is referred to as "the Curator" and it is not certain whether it was Culin or someone else who kept the log.

These lists of Museum storage boxes and filing cases appear to be the working papers and final copies of inventories taken in 1919 and 1920. Annotated, the inventories differentiate between material belonging to the Museum and objects that were a part Culin's personal collection.

This subseries consists of exhibition files and labels. The exhibition files contain material about only three of Culin's exhibitions and installations: Primitive Negro Art (1923), Albanian Costume (1928), and Japanese Silk Embroidered Tapestries belonging to Mr. Karl Schraubstadter (1928). Arranged chronologically within each exhibition file, the documents generally concern the opening events of the exhibition, including correspondence, clippings, press releases, speech typescripts, and ephemeral material related to special events or guests invited to participate. There are also brief typescripts regarding the California and Northwest Coast Indians, and a press release and clipping about the opening of the Japanese Gallery in 1927.

The approximately two hundred exhibition labels housed here make up the greater portion of this subseries and are a useful source of object documentation. The labels are arranged both by topic and chronologically. Though not always consistent, the label will generally include the object name and its date, where and when the object was collected, and the Museum accession number. Some of the tags and labels appear to have been acquired with the purchase of a collection. A small amount of miscellaneous material is housed with the labels, including object tags and lists of objects, which include accession numbers. Also found here are a few labels attributed to Culin's successor, Herbert Spinden.

Consisting mostly of receipts and invoices, this subseries is arranged chronologically by format. The records document the object name, price, vendor, and date of purchase during the 1920s. Among these purchases are the acquisition of African objects from William O. Oldman; Chinese and Albanian costumes from D. Arditti, importer; Tibetan paintings from Yamanaka & Co.; copper, wood, and stone figures from S. M. Frank & Co.; and Balinese paintings from Orientalia. Book purchases for 1900 to 1923 are arranged alphabetically by bookseller. There are also travel receipts, registered mail receipts, and some of Culin's personal tax records from the 1920s.

The correspondence between Culin and the various collectors, traders, and dealers who helped him assemble the Museum collections parallels and overlaps that found in Series 1 but focuses more specifically on the objects themselves. Among the geographic areas covered in these letters are China, India, Japan, Persia, Africa, and eastern Europe. Correspondence with two important Brooklyn Museum donors, Samuel P. Avery and Robert Woodward, documents the Museum's cloisonné and jade collections; the purchase of the Frederick Starr Ainu collection is also covered. There are lists and typescripts that describe many of the objects in detail, as well as other materials including notes, memos, clippings, catalogues, labels, business cards, invoices, statements, receipts, photographs, and samples of forms from the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Similar in content and record type to subseries 4.1, the material here provides details of Culin's extensive work with collectors and dealers of Native American objects. While the American Southwest is the primary focus, there is also material on other native groups; among the tribes represented are the Zuni, Navajo, Hopi, Tlingit, Pomo, Winnebago, Osage, and Ponca. The letters that describe objects offered for sale are primarily incoming and so often do not include Culin's responses; thus, the final outcome of many of the offers is not apparent.

Included in this subseries are an English-Zuni, Zuni-English dictionary compiled by Andrew Vanderwagen and a typescript by Father Noël Dumarest, "Notes on Cochiti," with observations on the life passages and rituals of that tribe. There are also lists of objects available for sale from various collectors and traders, as well as notes, typescripts, lecture programs, and photographs.

Each of the 22,000 cards in this subseries contains cataloging data, including the object number Culin assigned in the field, the Museum accession number, object name, country or state and locality, date collected, collector, and funding source, as well as people and notes associated with the object. In addition to his own acquisitions for the Brooklyn Museum, Culin cataloged objects that existed in the Museum's collection before his arrival, which are assigned object numbers 1 through 2900 and dated 1901-2.

These eleven ledger books record Culin's acquisitions in numerical and chronological order (though there are some gaps and backdated objects). The entries include the Museum accession number, object type, collection date and place, collector, and price. The first ledger records acquisitions that occurred before Culin's tenure and new objects continued to be recorded after Culin's death. Although the ledger book entries were closed in 1933, annotations continue to be made by the Registrar's Office (now in a photocopied set of the volumes).

Research notes, articles, and correspondence related to the research and publication of Culin's own writings are found in this subseries. Though Culin collected articles on diverse subject matter, most of the material here concerns Asian topics, including a sizable collection of translations of Japanese texts about customs and objects, among these The Wonderful News of the Circumnavigation, a shipwreck account related to the "Narrative of Nakahama Manjiro" (see subseries 5.2). An illustrated manuscript, “Haban ceramics, ”is also included. The correspondence is chiefly related to the publication of Culin's writings. Among the correspondents are L. D. Froelick (Asia), W. L. Harris and H. Frohne ( Good Furniture Magazine), L. Davies (Franklin Printing Co.), and various editors at the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The receipts for writings sold to these and other publications may be found with the related correspondence. There are also clippings, illustrations, Chinese paper charms, book catalogs and advertisements, brochures, and pamphlets.

This subseries contains manuscripts, typescripts, and reprints of Culin's writings. The subject matter of his writings and lectures varies widely, but generally falls into the same three categories noted in Series 2: ethnological studies of Native American, Asian, and eastern European customs and objects. There are typescripts of lectures about Asian culture and design, and a bound volume of lectures entitled, Indians of the Southwest. Two major unpublished typescripts, “The Road to Beauty” and “The Narrative of Nakahama Manjiro”, are included in this subseries, as are a few "Culin stories," fictional pieces based upon his experiences.

In a letter to M. D. C. Crawford, Culin described his Road to Beauty: "Starting with Budapest, it follows place by place, the story of a search for beauty in its relation to everyday activities, chiefly textiles and clothes." The twenty-five chapters were to carry the reader from Budapest to Bucharest; Culin hoped eventually to supplement the work with a series covering the Orient. The manuscript was never published, although correspondence toward that goal may be found throughout the later years of Subseries 1.4. Culin later reused the title for an article in the Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, 8 a short celebratory address on the opening of the Rainbow House.

Biographical material, bibliographies of Culin's publications, reprints of his “Primitive American Art” and “The Magic of Color” articles, and a few pamphlets complete this subseries.

This series consists entirely of incoming letters from Cushing to Culin, representing one side of a weekly and even daily exchange of letters that stretched from 1893 until just five days before Cushing's death in April 1900 (Cushing's letter of April 5, 1900, is believed to be the last before his death). While the primary subject matter of the letters is their collaborative study of games, Cushing's letters make clear that he and Culin had an ongoing and intense exchange of ideas about many other aspects of ethnology. The cross-fertilization of their interests is clear, with connections made between Native American and Asian games and frequent exchanges of specimens, sketches, and publications. The positive energy brought to preparing materials on which the other depended and the pressure of deadlines is also clear from Cushing's letters. The development of Cushing's theories is evident in explanations of his ideas.

Cushing's letters reveal not only the professional but also the personal. His health was a frequent concern, and problems were often detailed in his letters; Cushing's concern for Culin's health is also evident. The two visited each other frequently, occasions noted in the letters, and enjoyed a cordial relationship that included both their wives.

A small group of drafts of letters and texts on loose sheets of ruled notepad paper, ranging from a page or two to nearly a hundred pages on a single topic, may be found here. The focus, as above, is primarily on games but includes writings on Key Marco and other subjects. Small sketches illustrating the texts occasionally appear. Also included are typescripts of “An Instance of Zuni Worm Surgery” and “Zuni Breadstuff.” The latter, Cushing's extensive study of Zuni foods (particularly corn) and the myths, ceremonies, and daily customs associated with them, was published in The Millstone of Indianapolis, where it appeared as a series in 1884 and 1885.

This collection of more than one thousand sketches documents Cushing's eye for detail. The sketches, ranging from thumbnail pencil drawings of small objects to completed pen and ink renditions, illuminate an important facet of Cushing's comparative work and were often used to illustrate published studies. Several large panels include groups of related sketches and may well have been didactics for an exhibition or mockups for a planned publication. A few sketches appear to be in a different hand, but other artists are not identified.

Subjects range from animal and bird studies to objects from various cultures, especially the Southwest, and people and landscapes. Important groups of sketches document the Zuni, including the Hemenway expedition; Key Marco; and Mesoamerican cultures. When found in storage, the sketches did not appear to be in any rational original order and have therefore been arranged by subject or object type with the assistance of anthropologist David Wilcox, whose notes on the sketches are available to researchers and will be augmented as further information is discovered.

Also included in this subseries are published versions of various sketches and maps and a small amount of related textual material, including letters, clippings, and notes.

Many photographs, primarily of Mesoamerican and some Native American objects, supplement the sketches. The images often include groups of related artifacts with catalogue numbers and frequently show scale by means of a ruler in the image frame. It appears that they were collected or created as part of a comparative study.

Consisting primarily of correspondence, this subseries is related to the research and publication of Games of the North American Indian. The work began as a collaborative study with Frank Hamilton Cushing (see also Series 6), who died before its completion; it was eventually completed by Culin and published in 1907, in the Bureau of Ethnology's 24th Annual Report. Later appearing as a separate publication, Games of the North American Indian remains Culin's most well known work and is a standard reference on the subject. The preface asserted that it contained "a classified and illustrated list of practically all the American Indian gaming implements in American and European museums, together with a more or less exhaustive summary of the entire literature of the subject." In his research, Culin drew upon fellow ethnographers and museums from across the continent seeking to clarify or uncover new information. A collection of index cards created by George Dorsey (Field Columbian Museum, Chicago) and several other ethnologists provide instructions for numerous North American Indian games. Culin also made use of numerous typescripts and sketches that Frank Hamilton Cushing had completed prior to his death in 1900. Games was well received, as evidenced by the many positive reviews and letters contained in this subseries. In addition to the material mentioned above, there are typescripts, lists of games and gambling implements, and sketches.

Organized by type of game or toy (playing cards, dice, dolls or games), this subseries includes information in the form of correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts, articles, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings. There are a number of pen and ink or colored drawings of playing cards, dice, dolls, and board games from different parts of the world. A small leather-bound notebook contains Culin's notes (circa 1890-1919) regarding Chinese games, dominoes and others forms of games. Of particular local interest are notes that describe the names and rules for games of marbles and the rhymes used in various street games played by children in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Numerous clippings about card games (including the type, history, and "evils" associated with playing the game), catalogs, notes, pamphlets, invoices, advertisements, and photographs complete this subseries.

Rounding out Culin's studies in games of the world, this subseries primarily focuses on African and Asian games. The correspondence, notes, typescripts, and manuscripts trace the development of diverse games and amusements such as African divining blocks, Egyptian draughts (checkers), mah-jongg, and Japanese toys, to name a few. A significant amount of information on the African game of mancala is housed here, including correspondence with Franz Boas and Frank Hamilton Cushing regarding Culin's article “Mancala: The National Game of Africa,” published in the 1894 Report of the United States National Museum. The Japanese material includes “The Companion of Children,” a list of Japanese toys compiled by Shimizu Seifu, typescripts pertaining to Japanese toys, including “The Friends of Children ”(1925) by Culin, and a series of decorative, colored illustrations, wrappers, and covers for Japanese toys. There are also a number of clippings, advertisements, and illustrations.

The two types of scrapbooks found here are those containing documentation for Culin's research and those chronicling his publications and life. The materials in this subseries cover the years leading up to Culin's appointment to the Brooklyn Museum.

Two bound volumes contain clippings relating to the Chinese community in America between 1882 and 1889, the years in which Culin was pursuing research in that area. Entries include not only newspapers clippings, documenting news as well as the political and social biases of the times, but also materials from various Chinese communities on the East Coast.

Several published works grew out of Culin's interest in the Chinese-American community; a series of four "acknowledgments" scrapbooks document their release, critical reception, and distribution, with clippings, reviews, copyright registrations, and many letters ordering or acknowledging receipt of the texts. The publications so documented are China in America: A Study in the Social Life of the Chinese in the Eastern Cities of the United States (New York and Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Co., 1887); Chinese Games with Dice and Dominoes (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1895); Chinese Secret Societies in the United States (Lancaster, Pennsylvania: American Folklore Society, 1890); Gambling Games of the Chinese in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1891); Korean Games, with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895).

The remaining five scrapbooks provide a broader view of Culin's life and career. Of particular note is one volume (1889-98) devoted to his participation as a founding member of the American Folklore Society; since early Society records were destroyed in a fire, this scrapbook, which contains programs, invitations, and clippings detailing Society meetings, is an invaluable resource. The personal and professional scrapbooks document Culin's work at the University Museum and his appointment to the Brooklyn Museum as well as, to some extent, his research interests. Several folders of related but unmounted clippings may be found in Subseries 12.3.

A small collection of French, German, and American periodicals accompanied the Culin collection, although a definitive link to Culin (other than the dates) has not been established. Many of these are publications of a humorous or semierotic nature.

A large group of clippings documenting Culin's career and research interests (1884-1923) was segregated into this subseries on the basis of format; these materials may be considered an extension of the scrapbooks found in Subseries 12.1.

The clippings in these two compilations, while revealing little about Culin's work other than his personal commitment to the people who created the objects he collected, are a valuable source of information on post-World War I international politics.