Dear Benny,
What can you tell me about the Penn Museum’s relationship with the Free Library? What was the original name of the Penn Museum and when did it change?
—What’s in a Name?
Dear Student of History,
Former Penn Provost William Pepper was instrumental in the history of both Penn and the entire city of Philadelphia—not to mention both the Museum and Free Library.
Pepper helped establish the University of Pennsylvania Archaeological Museum in 1887 during his time as Provost (1881 to 1894), and was also a founding member of the Free Library (1891 to 1892), the Wistar Institute (1894) and the Commercial Museum—which later became the Civic Center—in 1898.
“Pepper was a big mover and he put the University itself on the map,” explains Penn Museum Archivist Alex Pezzati.
That’s especially true of his work with the Museum. Even after Pepper and his successor, Charles Custis Harrison, left the Provost post, they both continued to work closely with the Museum. Pepper served as President of the Museum’s board and Harrison, a key fundraiser in the Museum’s early days, served as both Vice President and President.
Then there was the city-wide plan, which Pepper helped push forward, to create a series of free museums devoted to the arts and sciences. When Pepper and other “free” museum founders approached institutions about moving to a central location—where the Museum is today—not everyone jumped at the chance. The Museum of Natural Sciences, for one, refused.
Pezzati says the original name was the University of Pennsylvania Archaeological Museum, and was free to visitors until 1987. But as early as 1913, people were shortening the name to simply call it the University Museum. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the name became the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Got a question for Benny? Send it via e-mail to current@pobox.upenn.edu or via regular mail to the Current, 200 Sansom Place East, 3600 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106.
