Philadelphia Museum of Art - Research : Archives : Finding Aids

A finding aid is a descriptive guide for an archival collection. Typically, it includes information about the origin, history, content, date and format of the records, as well as the physical and intellectual arrangement imposed upon them by the archivist. Please note that most of the collections in the Museum Archives are based upon corporate history and have a basic level of description in place. However, the most detailed finding aids pertain to the 15 collections that were processed under the Mellon Museum Archives Initiative Grant; five of these collections have scanned images associated with them. Researchers should review the finding aids before visiting the Archives in person. If you need help using the finding aids, please contact the Archivist.

Records of the Corporation; 1875 to Present
A committee of concerned Philadelphians gathered in 1875 with the purpose of creating a permanent art museum in Philadelphia. They petitioned the Centennial Board for use of Memorial Hall as a Museum. Following acceptance of their organization plans, the Corporation of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts received its charter on February 25, 1876.

Initially, the Corporation was managed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees of twenty-two members. The officers included a president, two vice presidents, a treasurer, a curator, and a secretary. Standing Committees of the Board included the Executive Committee, the Committee on Museum, the Committee on Instruction, and the Committee on Finance. Through the years, new officers, trustees and committees have been added, but the basic structure of the corporate governance has remained consistent.

The Records of the Corporation include documents of the founding of the Museum, minutes of the Board of Trustees, Resolutions of the Trustees, minutes of the Standing Committees, and records of the Presidents and Secretaries/Treasurers of the Corporation. The records of some committees are located in the Board of Trustees subgroup and some are in the presidents’ files. Subgroup descriptions illustrate this. The records of the Women’s Committee are maintained in its office.

Generally speaking, there are not many records documenting the Office of the President of the Corporation before those of J. Stogdell Stokes, 1937–47. In trying to reconstruct gaps in the historical record, it is somewhat possible to follow the activities of the office in the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, in the annual reports, and in their correspondence to the Museum staff.

For the early presidential records that do remain, they were not filled separately in individual subgroups. Letters written by the Presidents to the Curator (Director) of the Museum were filed in letter books maintained by Dalton Dorr (DOR) and in the files of later directors. William Platt Pepper’s letters to Dorr and Barber were kept in individual letter books and reveal the devotion of one of the Museum’s founding members. Incoming correspondence of earlier presidents may be located through the indices of the letter books in DOR, and by name in the records of Barber (BAR), Warner (WAR) and Kimball (FKR).

Presidents that preceded J. Stogdell Stokes were: Hon. John Welsh, President of the Centennial Exhibition, selected as the first President of Philadelphia Museum of Art in March 1876 (resigned immediately); Coleman Sellers, 1876–1880; William H. Merrick, 1880–1882; William Platt Pepper, 1882–1899; Theodore Search, 1899–1920; John D. McIlhenny, 1920–1925; Eli Kirk Price, 1926–1933.

With regards to records produced by later Presidents, individual subgroups may be found for the following administrators: J. Stogdell Stokes (1933–1947), R. Sturgis Ingersoll (1948–1964), Mrs. John Wintersteen (1964–1968), George M. Cheston (1968–1976), William P. Wood (1976–1980), and Robert Montgomery Scott (1980–). The records of Secretary Julius Zieget (1928–1963) are a subgroup of the Records of the Corporation. The records of Secretaries and controllers following Zieget have been combined into an Office of the Secretary subgroup. Note: The records of two early Secretaries (who served as Director and Curator as well), Dalton Dorr (1876–1901) and Edwin AtLee Barber (1901–1916), may be found in the Directors’ record group.
Records of the Directors; 1876 to Present

The directorship of the Philadelphia Museum of Art grew out of the position of Curator. The first two Curators, Dalton Dorr and Edwin AtLee Barber, served as Secretaries of the Corporation and performed the duties of a Director. They worked in Memorial Hall where the collections originally were housed. With the death of Managing Director William Platt Pepper in 1909, Barber’s title was changed to “Director.” Included here are the records of Dalton Dorr (1878–1901) and Edwin AtLee Barber (1901–1916). The records of Director Langdon Warner (1917–1923), Acting Director Samuel Woodhouse (1923–1925), Directors Fiske Kimball (1925–1916), Henri Marceau (1955–1964), Evan H. Turner (1964–1976), and Acting Director Arnold Jolles (1977–1979) continue this record group.

A large quantity of these records is the Museum central file maintained by the Director’s Office. Until 1946, the Museum’s departments regularly transferred their inactive records to this file. Many of these records have been moved to departmental subgroups. Exhibition files maintained by the Director’s Office is another subgroup in this Record Group.
Records of the Curatorial Departments; 1917 to Present

Throughout its history under different trustees and directors, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has had various collecting focuses and curatorial alignments. Three major divisions have occurred under Directors Dorr, Kimball and Turner. In 1893 under Dorr, three curatorial departments guided by Honorary Curators were established: American Pottery, Numismatics, and Textiles, Lace and Embroidery. In 1902 Barber added six new departments under Honorary Curators. These departments were maintained with modifications until the arrival of Fiske Kimball in 1925. Kimball changed the organization to include staffed departments within two divisions of European and American Art, and Eastern Art. This structure remained through Marceau’s tenure. Turner discarded divisions and established independent departments.

The current departments are: American Art; Costumes and Textiles; European Decorative Art after 1700; European Decorative Art before 1700; European Painting Before 1900; East Asian Art; Indian Art; Modern and Contemporary Art; and Prints, Drawings and Photographs.

Many records of these departments were transferred from the Museum’s central file. Some records of former curatorial departments are maintained by related current departments. Many departments continue to maintain their historical records.
Records of the Support Departments; 1909 to Present

The Support Departments are non-curatorial departments that support the work of Executive Offices, curatorial departments, and the Museum as a whole. Some departments also provide outreach functions to the Philadelphia community. Although most of the departments were created or grew greatly in the 1950s or 1960s, the Library has been an important element of the Museum since its beginning. The Archives has not yet received the records of some Support Departments; for instance, most of the Registrar’s voluminous records are maintained in that office. Two Support Departments no longer exist, having ceased during the Depression: the Identification Bureau and the Cataloging Department which answered requests for evaluation and identification.

Early records of these departments have been transferred from the Museum’s central file while those concerned with development, conservation, and educational activities prior to the establishment of departments may be found in the Fiske Kimball Records.
Records of the Schools; 1879 to 1966

Originally entitled the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, the Museum was committed to maintaining schools for the training of young artists. The School of Industrial Art was incorporated with the Museum in 1876 and separated from the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1964. Currently its name is The University of the Arts. The Textile School was created in 1884 and severed ties in 1948. It was then called the Philadelphia Textile Institute, now the Philadelphia University.
- Schools Records (SIA)
- Leslie W. Miller Records (MIL)
Related Institutions and Organizations; 1893 to Present

This record group contains records of branches of the Museum, supporting organizations, and other closely related institutions.
Manuscript Collections; 1875 to 2006

These collections reflect the lives and work of staff members created outside of regular Museum roles. Other manuscript collections relate to artists, collectors, scholars, and other individuals that have some relationship with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Special Format; 1876 to 1990s

Special Format Records (SF) are those items that, due to special conservation needs or because of unique physical characteristics, require their being maintained separately or specially. SF material from a subgroup is maintained intellectually with that subgroup, but physically maintained in different, appropriate spaces. These series are designated by subgroup codes and “SF”—i.e. GGB/SF, ED/SF, PR/SF, etc. SF material not in a subgroup or lacking definite provenance is maintained in SF collections and arranged by format.
Archives Reference Collection; 1970 to Present (REF)

Includes vertical subject files, newspaper clippings, and Museum publications compiled by the staff of the Archives for general reference use.