Edwin Atlee Barber (August 13, 1851 – December 12, 1916) was an American
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and author.
Biography
Edwin Atlee Barber was born in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
to William Edwin Barber and Anne Eliza Townsend. He entered
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
in 1869 but left before graduating to assume a position as an assistant naturalist for the
Hayden Survey
Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...
. He developed an interest in decorated pottery and rapidly became an authority in
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
ceramic art. He contributed several articles to the ''American Naturalist'' about his work with the Hayden Survey. He returned to Lafayette College and graduated in 1877. In 1881, Barber was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
.
Edwin received a graduate degree from Lafayette College in 1893 and began working as curator of ceramics at the
Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), also referred to as the School of Applied Art, was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on February 26, 1876, as both a museum and teaching institution. This was in response to t ...
becoming the director in 1907.
Marriage and children
On February 5, 1880 he married Nellie Louise Parker and in 1883 she gave birth to their only child Louise Atlee Barber.
Published works
* ''Language and Utensils of the Modern Utes.'' 1876
* ''The Ancient Pottery of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.'' 1876
* ''Bead Ornaments Employed by the Ancient Tribes of Utah and Arizona. '' 1876
* ''Comparative Vocabulary of Utah Dialects.'' 1877
* ''Moqui Food-Preparations. '' 1878
* ''The Ancient Pueblos; or, The Ruins of the Valley of the Rio San Juan. '' 1878
* ''The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States'' 1893
* ''Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters An Historical Sketch of the Art of Slip-Decoration in the United States.'' 1903
* ''Marks of American Potters.'' 1904
* ''Tin Enamelled Pottery.'' 1907
* ''The Maiolica of Mexico.''1908
See also
*
List of Directors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
References
*
Hough, Walter. "Barber, Edwin Atlee." ''Dictionary of American Biography.'' Vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1928.
*''Men and Women of America; A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries.'' (p. 90) New York City: L.R. Hamersly & Company, 1910
googlebooksRetrieved January 10, 2009
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Edwin Atlee
1851 births
1916 deaths
American archaeologists
American curators
Lafayette College alumni
Directors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art