Curatorial Research Assistant at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University

By Alba Ferrandiz Gaudens

I conducted a five-month-long placement as a Curatorial Research Assistant for Pacific Collections at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. The Peabody Harvard Museum holds one of the largest and earliest Pacific collections in the US, related to the American whaling and trading industries, and the development of the field of anthropology in the US. As such, collections at the Peabody are under-researched.
Upon arrival, I was tasked with conducting provenance research on several accessions. Provenance research means investigating and documenting a collection’s collecting histories: who, how and what by means it was acquired, and how it got to its current location. Very often, provenance is connected to past colonial, imperialistic and extractive practices. Provenance research is key in order to critically examine an institution’s past history. I was asked to look into several accessions coming from European museums and Universal Exhibitions because of my subject knowledge in those topics. Conducting provenance research at the Peabody has helped me creatively develop my research and documentation skills, which will be essential when researching the provenance of Pacific collections in Spanish museums for my PhD.
During my first month at the Peabody I was also tasked with writing a critical review of the All the World is Here gallery. This gallery reflects on the institutional history of the Peabody Museum and how this is tied to the birth of Anthropology as a discipline. Writing this review allowed me to develop my critical thinking skills and to learn about the institutional history of the Museum. I also worked on developing a new geographic classification for the terminology related to Papua New Guinea on the museum’s database. This task not only enhanced my knowledge about the geography of PNG, but also really helped me to learn how to use a museum database, a skill that will certainly be useful for me in the future.
But the project I have spent most of my time working on while at the Peabody was researching and documenting the materials gathered during the 1947-48 Peabody Museum Expedition to the island of Yap in Micronesia. The Expedition gathered a large amount of information, compiled in fieldnotes, photographs and video footage that is kept at the Peabody Museum Archives. They also collected 61 so-called “ethnographic” objects which are kept in the Peabody. My job consisted in researching the collections, associated documentation and material, to write short descriptions for each one of the objects, to look for appropriate indigenous terminology to describe them and to write a summary of the context behind the expedition and the acquisition of this collection. Through close looking and photography, I learned to identify materials, assess the object’s condition and learned about how they would have been made and used. Researching the Yap Expedition has been extremely motivating and exciting for me, given my special interest in Micronesia. Having the opportunity to spend time with the Yapese objects at the Peabody will certainly prove invaluable for my own fieldwork to come in Micronesia, and my plan to work with Micronesian collections in museums in the future.
Dr Ingrid Ahlgren has been a dedicated mentor to me. I feel privileged to have learned from her expertise, especially in learning to differentiate different types of materials from the Pacific. I also had the opportunity to join in several research and community visits. Being able to study collections closely and share knowledge with descendants of those who produced the objects is a unique experience that I will cherish forever. All in all, my experience in the Peabody has been greatly inspirational, knowledge and skill-enhancing. It has certainly opened up a new path for the future after my PhD.