Contents

Collection Overview

Historical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Catalogue of the Gilbert Museum of Indian Relics 1903-1933

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by .

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2002

Historical Note

The Gilbert Museum of Indian Relics refers to a collection of bone, stone and pottery implements believed to have been created and used by Native Americans in the New England region. In 1853, Professor Edward Hitchcock, Jr. (AC 1849) presented his collection of 721 specimens of Connecticut Valley Indian relics to Amherst College. In 1857 it was increased to 1,100 specimens. This collection formed the foundation of the Gilbert Museum of Indian Relics, named for George Henry Gilbert (1806-1869) of Ware, Massachusetts, a generous benefactor of the College. Hitchcock continued to curate the museum together with two other scientific collections in the Appleton Cabinet (later known as Appleton Hall), the Hitchcock Ichnological Cabinet and the Adams Zoological Museum. In 1903 the collection numbered nearly 3,000 specimens.

The specimens in the collection are still held by Amherst College; however, the collection is closed to research pending review under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Catalog records describing specimens of Native American relics in the Gilbert Museum of Indian Relics at Amherst College, including the original collection of Dr. Edward Hitchcock (AC 1849) and later additions from other sources, including the collection of D. S. Kellogg. Supplementary materials include two printed catalogs of the museum, 1903-1904.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

• 1. Gilbert Museum catalogue (six volumes)
• 2. D. S. Kellogg Collection
• 3. Supplementary Material

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Series 1: Catalogue Volumes

In volume 1, Dr. Edward Hitchcock, AC 1849, explains that "the design of this catalogue is to perpetuate some knowledge of the specimens in the collection in case of any accident resulting from fire, breakage, theft or otherwise." He further explains that for accuracy, the diagrams in the volumes are traced, rather than drawn.

The catalogue begins with Dr. Hitchcock's own collection. It includes accession records of collections added later, with their cost and the source of funding in most cases. The Kellogg collection, consisting of about 15,000 relics, is included in Volume IV. "I.C.P.," who catalogued entries Z-1 through Z-44 has been identified as Irvin Chaffee Plough, AC 1942.

Series 2: D. S. Kellogg Collection

Kept with the catalogue since it relates directly to a major part of the Amherst collection.

Series 3: Supplementary Material

The printed Catalog, which appeared in 1903 and again in 1904, is a short one with photographs of some of the items on display at the Gilbert Museum, as well as narrative about the museum.