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COLLECTION Identifier: 63-48

Henry Ware Eliot papers

Overview

Henry Ware Eliot was a Research Associate and Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Peabody Museum from 1937 until his death. His work focused on analysis of major archaeological sites in Mesopotamia. The Papers include class notes, research notes, correspondence, site cards and analyses, drawings, and maps and are presumably the working documents from which Eliot built his series of analysis charts.

Dates

  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1933 - 1946

Conditions Governing Access

Restrictions on access: none

Conditions Governing Use

Restrictions on use: none

Extent

4.6 linear feet (11 boxes)

The Papers include class notes, research notes, correspondence, site note cards and analyses, drawings and maps housed in 11 boxes and organized into six series.

Biographical Sketch

Henry Ware Eliot Jr. was a writer, archaeologist, brother of poet T. S. Eliot, and the collector of the nucleus of the Eliot Collection at Harvard University. Born in 1879, the son of Henry Ware Eliot, 1843-1919 and Charlotte Champe Stearns.Henry Ware Eliot, Jr. represented the third generation of a New England family that had come to St. Louis in 1834. Eliot's grandfather, William Greenleaf Eliot, was a Unitarian minister and founder of schools, a university (Washington University), and charities. His father became chairman of the board of the Hydraulic Press Brick Company and served the schools and charities his father had helped found, as well as others. In addition to raising a large family, his mother contributed to education and legal protection for the young. She also wrote a biography and some religious poems.

Henry Ware Eliot, Jr. graduated from Harvard College in 1902. In 1929 Eliot resigned from the vice-presidency of a Chicago advertising agency to devote his life to writing and research. From 1937-47 Eliot was a Research Associate and Research Fellow in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Peabody Museum. His research commenced with an analysis of the ceramics from Nuzi, Iraq (undertaken with Ruth Sears Chute). Eliot moved on to a graphic analysis of major archaeological sites in Mesopotamia. At the time of his death in 1947, Eliot had completed 32 charts, presenting in graphic form the essential results of the principal excavated sites in Mesopotamia and southern Iran, including Kish,Al'Ubaid,Jemdet Nasr,Ur,Warka and Susa. His work was published in a limited portfolio edition by the Peabody Museum in 1950.

Sources:

  1. Peabody Museum Annual Report for 1946-47.

Arrangement

  1. Series I: Class/Research notes/Papers
  2. Series II: Manuscripts
  3. Series III: Correspondence
  4. Series IV: Newsletters
  5. Series V: Drawingsand Illustrations
  6. Series VI: Site note cards
  7. Series VII: Siteanalyses

Physical Location

Peabody Museum Archives

Immediate Source of Acquisition

#63-48

These papers are a gift of Henry W. Eliot and were accessioned formally on December 2, 1963

General note

Collections records may contain language, reflecting past collecting practices and methods of analysis, that is no longer acceptable. The Peabody Museum is committed to addressing the problem of offensive and discriminatory language present in its database. Our museum staff are continually updating these records, adding to and improving content. We welcome your feedback and any questions or concerns you may want to share.

Processed by:

Patricia H. Kervick, Associate Archivist; October 2011

Title
Eliot, Henry Ware, 1879-1947 Papers, 1933-1946, bulk: A Finding Aid
Author
Peabody Museum Archives
Language of description
und
EAD ID
pea00070

Repository Details

Part of the Peabody Museum Archives Repository

Papers in the Peabody Museum Archives consist of primary source materials that document the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic research and fieldwork since its founding in 1866. More than 2,800 feet of archival paper collections contain documents, papers, manuscripts, correspondence, data, field notes, maps, plans, and other historical records that represent diverse peoples from around the world, and which were created or collected by the Museum, its individual affiliates, or related entities. The collections also document the history or provenience, as well as the creation of, many of the Museum’s archaeological and ethnographic collections.

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