Museums, Est. 1901
The Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, formerly the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, was founded in 1901. Phoebe Hearst was in support of systematic collecting efforts by both archaeologists and ethnologists in order to provide the University of California with the necessary materials for a museum to support a department of anthropology. Hearst had hoped that the anthropology program at Cal would become a center for the discipline. Frederic Ward Putnam, was the first director, who was also director of the Peabody Museum at Harvard during the same time. Alfred L. Kroeber, was director from 1909 to 1947. Archaeologists Max Uhle and George Reisner conducted archaeological expeditions in Peru and Egypt, resulting in major museum collections. The museum's collections have grown from an initial nucleus of approximately 230,000 objects gathered under the patronage of Phoebe Hearst, to an estimated 3.8 million items. The museum was accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1973, and re-accredited in 1990. From 1903 thru 1931, the museum was housed in San Francisco, where exhibits opened to the public in October, 1911. A key attraction during these years was Ishi, the last Yahi Indian, who lived at the museum from 1911 until his death in 1916. He worked with the anthropologists to document the ways of his people. When the museum moved to the Berkeley campus in 1931, there was no space for public exhibitions, so the museum focused on research and teaching. In 1959, construction of a new building to house the museum and anthropology department created space for exhibitions. The building, which the museum continues to occupy, was named Kroeber Hall, and the museum was named in honor of Robert H. Lowie, who was a pioneer in the Berkeley anthropology department. In 1991, the museum's name was changed to recognize the crucial role of Phoebe Hearst as founder and patron, and professor Lowie was honored by the designation of the exhibition hall as the Robert H. Lowie gallery.
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