A Short Statement About the History and Holdings of Emory at Oxford's Museum (First Page)
Title
A Short Statement About the History and Holdings of Emory at Oxford's Museum (First Page)
Date
1958
Content Genre
documents
Notes
First page of a description of the acquisition of several groups of objects, including the Kobe Artifact Collection, by Harold W. Mann, Instructor.
Notes
Transcription:
A SHORT STATMENT ABOUT THE HISTORY AND HOLDINGS OF EMORY AT OXFORD'S MUSEUM, SPONSORED BEGINNING IN 1958 BY ETA SIGMA PSI, A STUDENT LEADERSHIP SOCIETY
By Harold W. Mann, Instructor
The museum on the Oxford campus dates back to 1876, Atticus G. Haygood's first full year of presidency of Emory College. In the winter of that year he received a few curios and was inspired to ask for more, through the columns of the Southern Christian Advocate. Students and friends answered the request, and Haygood recognized the acquisitions with thanks:
To Dr. W. H. Pilcher, of Warren county we are indebted for a Georgia development of bark---not unworthy to be placed by the side of the Red-wood... . The Rev. W. R. Johnson of Key West...sent us...a box of beautiful and valuable shells, with a rare specimen of coral... .
Mr. John S. Parks, of Augusta, Ga., and member of the Senior Class, contributes the skeleton of a genuine shark's head. Whew! What teeth the monsters have... . The Reverend Warren A. Candler has given us a pretty specimen of gold-bearing quartz, from the mines of Carroll county.. . To our neighbor and friend, Judge Thomas M. Meriwether, of Newton county, we are greatly indebted for some rare old papers and documents, Indian treaties, land-grants, commissions... .
There were many others to thank from the museum's beginning. When Seney Hall was built in 1881, by the exertions of Haygood, a section adjacent to the library on its third floor was given to the museum. This was the first of several moves for the collection; most of the items mentioned above unfortunately have been lost. After Candler became President, the museum began to add pieces from the Orient. Emory men of course had spearheaded Methodist mission-work in China and Japan from the time of Young J. Allen, and Candler at least once sent money to buy additions to the museum. One box of curios came from W. P. Turner, business agent of the Japan Mission Conference, in 1894 living in Kobe. Most of this shipment of forty items remains, including a sword made of Chinese money and several Buddhist images. Other Oriental holdings are some Japanese dolls, Japanese shoes, a warrior's armor and saddle, and some valuable old Chinese coins. Part of these additions, according to Mrs. Hinton, the Librarian, were gifts of J. P. Burke, missionary to China from Macon.
Emory College merged into the University after 1915, and many items were transferred to the Atlanta campus during the 1920's. Most impressive of the transferees are the Egyptian mummies. After 1929 Oxford again became a "college campus" and the transfers stopped. In the 1930's the collection found a resting place in its current home, on the second floor of the stacks of Candler Hall, Oxford's Library. There are still many fascinating things to see. Most startling is a whale's rib. Worth mentioning are the old safe, the loom and spinning wheel, an old "black" board---with the emphasis on boards, a gate carved by the hand of Judge Longstreet, and Indian and Confederate relics. Until the 1940's the phenomenal organ in the Old Church, once operated by arm-power, rested unused upstairs in the Library.
In October of 1957, Eta Sigma Psi voted to clean up the museum and to preserve its holdings through sponsorship. In the midst of removing layers of dust the society cleaned and examined several stacks of books upstairs, not part of the indexed collection and faced the problem of what to do with the numerous pictures lining the balcony of the rotunda since the recent renovation and painting of the Library. It was decided
A SHORT STATMENT ABOUT THE HISTORY AND HOLDINGS OF EMORY AT OXFORD'S MUSEUM, SPONSORED BEGINNING IN 1958 BY ETA SIGMA PSI, A STUDENT LEADERSHIP SOCIETY
By Harold W. Mann, Instructor
The museum on the Oxford campus dates back to 1876, Atticus G. Haygood's first full year of presidency of Emory College. In the winter of that year he received a few curios and was inspired to ask for more, through the columns of the Southern Christian Advocate. Students and friends answered the request, and Haygood recognized the acquisitions with thanks:
To Dr. W. H. Pilcher, of Warren county we are indebted for a Georgia development of bark---not unworthy to be placed by the side of the Red-wood... . The Rev. W. R. Johnson of Key West...sent us...a box of beautiful and valuable shells, with a rare specimen of coral... .
Mr. John S. Parks, of Augusta, Ga., and member of the Senior Class, contributes the skeleton of a genuine shark's head. Whew! What teeth the monsters have... . The Reverend Warren A. Candler has given us a pretty specimen of gold-bearing quartz, from the mines of Carroll county.. . To our neighbor and friend, Judge Thomas M. Meriwether, of Newton county, we are greatly indebted for some rare old papers and documents, Indian treaties, land-grants, commissions... .
There were many others to thank from the museum's beginning. When Seney Hall was built in 1881, by the exertions of Haygood, a section adjacent to the library on its third floor was given to the museum. This was the first of several moves for the collection; most of the items mentioned above unfortunately have been lost. After Candler became President, the museum began to add pieces from the Orient. Emory men of course had spearheaded Methodist mission-work in China and Japan from the time of Young J. Allen, and Candler at least once sent money to buy additions to the museum. One box of curios came from W. P. Turner, business agent of the Japan Mission Conference, in 1894 living in Kobe. Most of this shipment of forty items remains, including a sword made of Chinese money and several Buddhist images. Other Oriental holdings are some Japanese dolls, Japanese shoes, a warrior's armor and saddle, and some valuable old Chinese coins. Part of these additions, according to Mrs. Hinton, the Librarian, were gifts of J. P. Burke, missionary to China from Macon.
Emory College merged into the University after 1915, and many items were transferred to the Atlanta campus during the 1920's. Most impressive of the transferees are the Egyptian mummies. After 1929 Oxford again became a "college campus" and the transfers stopped. In the 1930's the collection found a resting place in its current home, on the second floor of the stacks of Candler Hall, Oxford's Library. There are still many fascinating things to see. Most startling is a whale's rib. Worth mentioning are the old safe, the loom and spinning wheel, an old "black" board---with the emphasis on boards, a gate carved by the hand of Judge Longstreet, and Indian and Confederate relics. Until the 1940's the phenomenal organ in the Old Church, once operated by arm-power, rested unused upstairs in the Library.
In October of 1957, Eta Sigma Psi voted to clean up the museum and to preserve its holdings through sponsorship. In the midst of removing layers of dust the society cleaned and examined several stacks of books upstairs, not part of the indexed collection and faced the problem of what to do with the numerous pictures lining the balcony of the rotunda since the recent renovation and painting of the Library. It was decided
Place of Origin
United States
Material
paper (fiber product)
Collection
Repository
Oxford College Library (Oxford, Ga.)
Rights
There are no known copyright restrictions on this item. This online reproduction has been made available for individual viewing and reference for educational purposes only, such as personal study, preparation for teaching and research.
Citation
“A Short Statement About the History and Holdings of Emory at Oxford's Museum (First Page),” East Asia, accessed April 26, 2025, https://eastasia.digitalscholarship.emory.edu/items/show/185.