One of the best things about travel is visiting museums, especially those that are new to me! In August, I traveled to California for some great events for Andover alumni, students, and new families. As a newbie to Los Angeles, I was wowed by the Mediterranean Revival architecture and, top on my list of museums to visit, La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. The tar pits are actually asphalt that have been bubbling up from subterranean oil fields for about 240,000 years. Animals attracted to water accumulating on top of the tar pits were frequently trapped in the sticky goo, becoming part of the fossil record. The victims of the tar rarely remained intact, so there are lots of bones, but few complete animal skeletons. Exhibits in the museum, built around a recreated Pleistocene forest, has lots of examples of the animals recovered from the tar pits, including bison and mammoths—hallmarks of the Rancholabrean fauna—as well as dire wolves, saber tooth cats, birds, and even insects. You can watch scientists cleaning fossils inside the museum after visiting the tar pits, including at least one active excavation. The gift shop has lots of fun stuff, including resin casts of saber tooth cat teeth, stuffed animals, and books on the tar pits.
Since the Peabody staff moved to the School Room in Abbot Hall, I’ve been fascinated by the history of Abbot Academy and what remains of the school’s campus. As we work in the very heart of the Abbot Academy campus, I can’t help but notice the many features and tangible details left since the merger of Abbot and Phillips in 1973.
The very School Room in which our staff currently resides was once an assembly room for all the Abbot Academy students to gather, known as the “Hall” and later as the “Chapel.” Within this same building are many rooms with remnants of old chalk boards as well as photographs of Abbot students from throughout the school’s history. These photographs inspired this next entry of the Behind the Photograph blog series and although many do not have specific provenance or further information provided, they represent what life and education was like at Abbot Academy during a rapidly changing America.
The “Hall” at Abbot Hall, now known as the School Room, circa 1906.
Students gather in the “Chapel” at Abbot Hall, now known as the School Room, circa 1945.
Abbot Academy was one of the first educational institutions in New England for girls and women. Founded through the financial support of Sarah Abbot, the Academy opened in May 6, 1829 with seventy students and continued as an independent preparatory school for female boarding and day students until the merger of the two schools in 1973. Today the campus continues to be used by the combined school where many of its buildings and stories remain.
Sarah Abbot, Founder of Abbot Academy
Although many were hesitant at its reception and Victorian society questioned the need to educate women, Abbot Academy quickly became an example of women’s accomplishment. Some believed its curriculum even surpassed the all-male Phillips Academy up the hill. One particular era of note was Abbot’s “golden age” under the McKeen sisters, headmistresses Philena and Phebe (Abbot Academy, 1859-1892).
The sisters brought about many changes at Abbot including the expansion of buildings, strict schedules for students, world language classes, student involvement in the surrounding community, lecture opportunities, emphasis on art education, and so much more. The Abbot Circle was created with the construction of Draper Hall in 1890. Abbot Hall was also moved to frame the new grass plot. Activities such as commencement and winding the Maypole were staged on the lawn and became traditions for years to come.
The Abbot Circle, framed by Abbot Hall (left), Draper Hall (center), and the old Davis Hall (right), (1890-1892)
Abbot Academy Class of 1914 with Maypole on Abbot Circle
Draper Hall contained the parlors, library and reading room, music rooms, studio and infirmary, dining room, and student dormitories. Abbot Hall was later altered to make space for laboratories, an art studio, and an exhibition gallery.
Many of the McKeen traditions continued, even after the sisters departed Abbot in 1892. In the early 1900s, McKeen Hall was built on the original site of Davis Hall. This new building was dedicated to the memory of the McKeen sisters and used as a study hall, classrooms, and gymnasium that doubled as an assembly room named Davis Hall.
Davis Hall (located in McKeen Hall) doubled as both a gymnasium and assembly space for students. At one point there was even an organ in the upper loft of the space! (1912-1925)
As Abbot faced new challenges such as the Great Depression and two World Wars, the school isolated itself, however, this only kept out new waves of change as women’s colleges and public schooling became a permanent fixture in American society. Students described these years as isolating, strict, and confining. Students had a rigid dress code, curfews, and could not speak to boys (especially those from Phillips Academy).
A Phillips Academy boy and Abbot Academy girls standing in the same place, but never together.
After World War II, the Academy experienced a jump in enrollment and opened its doors more widely to minority groups of women. As a result, the academic excellence of the Abbot school improved and applications to the school increased in the 1950s and 1960s. The strict rules of the past were gone by the 1960s, giving female students more independence and featuring more chaperoned dances and interactions with the Phillips Academy boys.
By the late 1960s, many colleges and universities were becoming coeducational institutions. As a result, along with other factors such as shared history and common activities, Abbot Academy and Phillips Academy merged on June 28, 1973. Many Abbot traditions were included in the combined school, such as Parents Weekend. The Phillips Academy headmaster at the time, John Kemper, believed the merger was “practical, ethical, and educationally sound.” The Peabody had already opened Richard “Scotty” MacNeish’s archaeology course to Abbot women as preparations for the merger were being made. This year, we celebrate 50 years of the Abbot Academy and Phillips Academy merger!
In additon to all the wonderful and candid photographs that decorate the walls in Abbot Hall, my favorite find was an Abbot Academy Song Book. This book is filled with a variety of school songs, marches, sport songs, serenades and salutes, rounds, parting hymn, and Bradford songs remembered by past Abbot Academy alumni. What really brought this find full circle for me was listening to past Abbot Academy alumni sing these songs during our 2023 reunion weekend.
There’s something special about the Abbot Academy campus and I’ve truly enjoyed calling this place home for the last several months. There is so much history here and I hope I provided a small glimpse of this history by sharing the photographs that adorn Abbot Hall.
For more photographs related to Abbot Academy and student life check out the Abbot Collections online archive here!
Additional Reading on the History of Abbot Academy
Academy Hill: The Andover Campus, 1778 to the Present. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000.
Dominique, Robert A. Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts: An Illustrated History of the Property (including Abbot Academy). Wilmington, MA: Hampshire Press, 1990.
Roberts, Paige. “Abbot Hall, 1828-1829, at Phillips Academy.” Clio: Your Guide to History. December 5, 2019. Accessed June 22, 2023. https://theclio.com/entry/88419
Nearly three years ago, I co-founded the Indigenous Collections Care (ICC) Working Group along with Laura Bryant, Anthropology Collections Steward and NAGPRA Coordinator for the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK. Along with Laura Elliff Cruz, Head of Collections at the Indian Arts Research Center (IARC) in Santa Fe, NM and other group members, the ICC has been working to create an accessible reference tool for professionals who interact regularly with Native American collections.
The ICC grew out of our desire to incorporate the collections care requests of Indigenous communities into our institutional practice and policy. The working group was formed in late 2020 and is composed of approximately 20 people (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous museum professionals and academics, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, and NAGPRA coordinators) who actively participate in monthly meetings on the creation of an Indigenous Collections Care Guide.
The ICC Guide will not instruct museums on how to specifically care for each item, since protocols vary among communities, but will offer scalable considerations of culturally appropriate collections stewardship, with questions and talking points to address during consultation, and with templates and case studies for use in implementation, advocacy, and the creation of policies and procedures.
In order to facilitate robust review of the ICC Guide by tribal communities, the ICC partnered with an incredible institution, the School for Advanced Research (SAR) in Santa Fe, NM.
I am excited to share that SAR received an IMLS National Leadership Grants for Museums of $175,587 for the IARC’s creation of the Indigenous Collections Care Guide. to support the museum field with an accessible reference tool for museum professionals who interact regularly with Native American collections. The guide will provide museums with a framework to recenter collections stewardship practices around the needs and knowledge of Indigenous community members. At the conclusion of the project, 175 tribal community representatives and museum professionals will have had a voice in the development of the guide, which will be made freely available for tribal community representatives and museums of all sizes. The IMLS reported receiving forty-eight applications for this opportunity, and SAR was one of nineteen projects to receive funding.
What does this mean for the Peabody Institute? Well, first it means that I will be super busy for the next few years! It also means that the Peabody Institute is continuing our leadership role in the broader museum and archaeological conversations around ethical collections stewardship and relationships with tribal communities.
I will keep you posted as work continues over the next few years!
School for Advanced Research
The School for Advanced Research (SAR), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational institution, was established in 1907 to advance innovative social science and Native American art. Its sixteen-acre residential campus sits on the ancestral lands of the Tewa people in O’gah’poh geh Owingeh, or Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit sarweb.org
Institute of Museum and Library Services
The mission of IMLS is to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.
The agency carries out its charge as it adapts to meet the changing needs of our nation’s museums and libraries and their communities. IMLS’s mission is essential to helping these institutions navigate change and continue to improve their services. Visit imls.gov
This summer, 23 young archaeologists set out to investigate one of the first buildings constructed by Samuel Phillips Jr. after he founded Phillips Academy. During the first week of the Andover Summer program, the students of the Lower School’s Dig This course were introduced to the story of the Mansion House and the mysterious fire that destroyed it in 1887. According to primary accounts, the fire seemed to have started in two different places in the house. This account was made even more suspicious by sources that said the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, had their bags packed the day of the fire and walked away with insurance money. With this interesting piece of information, the students were excited to uncover more clues about the Mansion House and the people who inhabited it. The students worked in groups of 3 to 4 at six excavation units. These units were spread across the site in areas that, using past excavation results and Ground Penetrating Radar maps, had a good chance of finding evidence of the Mansion House.
Figure 1. Commemorative Plaque of the Mansion House
The first day of excavations was met with enthusiasm, apprehension, and later exhaustion as the students realized how much work goes into opening a unit. Nonetheless, we persevered and by the end of the first week of excavations many groups had already finished Level 1. Some had even found glass and metal artifacts which, of course, created healthy competition between groups and motivated the students as they continued in the second week of excavations.
Figure 2. Two students working in Excavation Unit 1
During the second week, things got interesting. The students working in Excavation Unit 5 came across an 1802 “Draped Bust” Liberty penny which caused a ripple of excitement for both the students and the instructors. This coin gave an important terminus post quem (TPQ) for the level and showed the students how old the artifacts we were finding really were.
Additionally, in Excavation Unit 2 Level 2, a brick feature began to reveal itself in the northeast corner. This unit was placed near a 2018 excavation unit that uncovered part of a chimney, so it is likely these features were related and Unit 2 uncovered another part of the chimney which helps in understanding how large the chimneys would have been and the layout of the Mansion House. The images below show the brick feature when it began to be discovered in Level 2 and the brick feature in Level 3 before backfilling.
Figure 3. Brick feature in Excavation Unit 2 Level 2Figure 4. Brick feature in Excavation Unit 2 Level 3.
The third and final week of excavations supported the archaeological adage that you always find the most interesting stuff right before you’re going to leave a project. This week, two new features were discovered. One was in Excavation Unit 6, which was intended to find one of the foundational walls of the structure. This feature also included a brick, though it is unclear if it relates to another chimney of the house. There was also a large stone and some smaller stones found near it, though, likely not enough to constitute a foundational wall of the building.
Figure 5. Students working in Excavation Unit 6
That being said, one of the biggest finds of the project included a huge rectangular stone with other large stones overlapping it. This feature was found in Excavation Unit 1 which was placed north of Excavation Unit 2 in the hopes of uncovering part of the foundation of the house. Given the size of the stone and the overlapping rock around it, it is pretty likely that this feature relates to the foundation or a wall of the Mansion House. On the last day of excavations this unit surprised us further by containing a large amount of metal artifacts in the southwest corner of the unit. A fork, a hinge, a handle, and a plethora of other artifacts were uncovered in the last level of this unit. We probably could have found more in the next level if we didn’t have to backfill the next day. This unit is definitely one to revisit in future years!
Figure 6. Stone feature in Excavation Unit 1 Level 3.
While neither unit contained a feature, Excavation Unit 3 and Excavation Unit 4 contained a lot of charcoal and mortar. Excavation Unit 3 specifically had extremely dark, somewhat ashy soil which was likely due to the fire. Ideally future Dig This! classes will uncover more of this ashy, dark soil and the data can be compiled to give a better understanding of how the fire destroyed the mansion house.
During the last week of the course, the students were busy washing their artifacts and picking a few to display at their end of the year exhibition. These artifacts included a locking mechanism, large nails, blue transfer print ceramics, a marble, a hinge, and a fork! All of the artifacts found during this summer’s course were transferred to the Peabody Institute to be cataloged and analyzed with the rest of the Mansion House artifacts.
Figure 7. Fork found in Excavation Unit 1Figure 8. Ceramic sherd found in unit 2.Figure 9. Locking mechanism found in unit 5.
Overall, the students had a great summer excavating the Mansion House and learning how to be archaeologists by following proper archaeological methods and recording techniques. I look forward to seeing what next summer’s Dig This class will find!
Hello, my name is Mike Agostino and I am a volunteer here at the Peabody Institute of Archeology. I am a recently retired scientist from the field of bioinformatics. My work in this field, for over 30 years, concerned the analysis of gene and protein sequences. I love the field so much that I am presently an instructor on the subject for the Harvard Extension School. I am also writing the second edition of a textbook I published on this topic more than 12 years ago.
Peabody volunteer, Mike, analyzes various projectile points in the Peabody collection.
As a resident of Andover, I frequently went past the Peabody and often wondered what treasures it held. When a good friend, Richard Davis, said he volunteered here and told me about the work, I immediately wanted to join him. To say this is a dream come true is not an exaggeration. I have always been interested in archaeology and spent many years looking down on the ground for the artifacts people said were all around us. But I never found any! To work with and learn about dozens, if not hundreds of specimens each day is amazing. As I hold these objects in my hands, I try to imagine their history: was it careful fabrication by an adult expert, or was it made during a learning period of a youngster? Was it used to bring home a meal, build a boat or dwelling, or for the creation of clothes? Did it come from local stone, or did it travel many miles to be found at a new locale? My imagination is further enhanced or tempered by the kind and knowledgeable staff of the Peabody who are training and patiently helping me identify what is in my hand. I have only been at the Peabody for less than two years and there is so much to learn!
After years as a scientist, I feel right at home with my principal responsibilities: the careful handling, description, cataloging, and storage of the specimens. Attention to detail is absolutely required and very satisfying. We record their identities, or best guesses because many are just fragments. The intact specimens are something to behold. Some arrowheads or axes are impossibly beautiful, and the precision of shaping and symmetry with such a hard material is just astounding. The skills of the people, past and present, are just amazing.
Peabody volunteers, Richard (left) and Mike (right), moving boxes for the Peabody’s building project.
I have also helped with activities associated with the huge renovation project of the building (for pictures and updates, see the blog postings by Marla Taylor). I am impressed with how everyone has remained calm considering hundreds of boxes, and specimens too large for boxes, had to be carefully moved up one or two floors from the basement to temporary locations elsewhere in the building. With the absence of an elevator, I helped move many boxes up the stairs out of harm’s way. My smart watch said I went up 80 flights of stairs one day! And I am only there one day a week, so the staff had a monumental challenge. We are now waiting for the renovations to be completed and then we will return the specimens to a much-improved setting. Even with the new elevator, reshelving hundreds of boxes won’t be easy, but I am looking forward to the project and the “new” institute.
The Peabody has several amazing pieces of pottery made by members of the Toya Family of Jemez Pueblo. On their first visit to the Peabody in 2013, Maxine and Dominique Toya noticed a small vessel on our open shelving. What caught their attention was a delicately painted corn stalk, representing their clan. They wondered aloud who might have used these design, and we were all delighted to find that Maxine’s mom and Dominique’s grandmother, Marie G. Romero, had made the piece. Marshall Cloyd ’58 generously helped us acquire several of Dominique’s creations, including a small seed jar with distinctive carved ribs and mica slip. Since then we have added a number of wonderful pieces to the Peabody collection, including one of Maxine’s owl figures and a collaboration featuring Dominque’s beautifully crafted vessel bearing Maxine’s hand painted deer and corn stalk designs.
In May, we acquired a special piece called Three Generations. Dominique said, “this was the last wedding vase my grandmother, the late Marie G. Romero, created before she passed away. My mom and I have kept it sitting at our studio until we finally decided to finish her. I’m going to sand her and apply mica on the top and bottom and mom will paint a design in the middle where the band is and paint the ears of corn. This piece will be called Three Generations and will be the only piece that is signed by me, my mom, and I’ll sign my grandmother’s name since she created her.” The Toyas fired Three Generations on April 3 and brought her to us during their workshop with students in May. This is a large piece, at least 11 inches tall, and the overall shape, finishing, and delicate painting is truly impressive. Dominique commented that, “my mom outdid herself again with the amazing painting!!!” and we couldn’t agree more!
We may be down (the road, on Abbot campus) but were not out! As everyone on campus has probably seen there is a big ol’ fence surrounding the Peabody Institute, concealing dirt mountains, front loaders, and a bunch of contractors. This has been going on since April, boy time flies! Despite being out of the building for the last several months (and for several months to follow) we are still here and still part of teaching and learning at Phillips Academy, albeit in a more restricted fashion. Most recently, our director Ryan Wheeler and I helped out the Andover Summer Session with a few different classes. Supplementing the classes with knowledge and items from our collection to enhance the learning of the summer students.
One class was Ella Houlihan’s Intro to Bio class. The students were learning about human evolution, and the Peabody has just the collection to help teach this topic. We brought over about 15 skull casts from all over the hominid family tree and tasked the students to develop their own traits, categories, and potential connections. From there we went over what scientist use to group skulls and layout the human family tree. Pointing out that it’s all rather complicated and even the professionals do not agree.
Students analyze various skull casts in a class activity
We also helped teach a couple classes in Dr. Tessa Hite’s class Mapping our World: The Art and Science Behind Maps. We went over the basic history of Andover, how it moved from Indigenous proprietorship to English ownership. To tie into that we covered concepts of colonization and decolonization, how one culture or society can impose themselves onto another and how efforts are undertaken to amend this. From there we had the students use maps to compare European versus Native American town names (think Mattapoisett vs Andover) and then research the original Indigenous place names. This was done to prompt questions such as “What does, or doesn’t this map tell us” Or “why does it feel empty with Native based town names?” This was done to get the students thinking about the reasoning behind the way the maps are set up and used.
The Peabody is more than happy to help in classes whenever we have an opportunity! Even with more restricted access to the collection, we can get creative and pull something together, as long as you don’t mind the dust!
The Peabody building project has been active for over two months now and it is time for a brief progress report.
The biggest changes can be seen around the installation of the elevator. A giant hole has been excavated in the basement. Seriously, I had no idea how deep those shafts needed to go. Steel support beams have been added on the first and second floors before the floors are removed.
All the drywall on the exterior walls have also been removed to address any small leaks in the foundation. Personally, I love the exposed foundation walls and was excited to learn that this appearance will be maintained.
The latest work includes adding initial ductwork and systems support.
We appreciate everything the team has been doing and look forward to seeing this work continue!
This project will rely on philanthropic support from our donor community. To help advance this critical renovation, please contact Beth Parsons, director for museums and educational outreach, at 978-749-4523 or bparsons@andover.edu.
The second weekend of June is always Phillips Academy Reunion Weekend and one of the most fun days to be on campus. PA alums with graduation years ending in 3s and 8s came back to campus to celebrate everything from their 5th to 70th (!) reunions.
This year, because the Peabody building is under construction we set up a table by the Richard T. Greener Quadrangle during the lunch hour on the Saturday. The table was staffed by myself and several members of the Peabody Advisory Committee – Jenny Elkus ’92, Brandon Stroman ’97, and Marcelle Doheny P’18 and PA faculty member. We had a fabulous time engaging with alumni from across the country and the decades.
One of the reasons that I enjoy working Reunion weekend is because I am often meeting alumni who had never engaged with the Peabody during their time at PA. It is a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to what we do and how we engage with students now. So many people react positively to our work and lament that they did not have the opportunity to engage when they were students. But that has definitely changed!
The Peabody Institute has a history with New Mexico stretching back to 1915 and the beginning of Alfred Kidder’s nearly fifteen yearlong excavation at Pecos Pueblo outside of Santa Fe. In May, I had an opportunity to visit New Mexico, with stops at the Pueblo of Jemez and Pecos National Historical Park. The connections between Jemez and Pecos are even older, with a merger of the two communities in 1838, as the population at Pecos dwindled, and Jemez remained as the only place where Indigenous language Towa is spoken.
The “red rocks” of Canon del Diego seen from the Walatowa Visitor Center, Jemez Pueblo.
My first stop was the Pueblo of Jemez, where I had an opportunity to visit with tribal archaeologist Chris Toya, and tour the Jemez visitor center, which exhibits around 100 of the objects that Kidder removed from Pecos. Jemez, also called Walatowa, meaning “this is the place,” is situated in some amazing scenery of the Canon don Diego. The canyon is well known as “red rocks,” a reference to the vibrant red and orange hue of the sedimentary rock walls, capped by a volcanic tuff. When I was there, it had just rained, making the canyon wall even brighter. Jemez is typically closed to outsiders, but the Walatowa Visitor Center is open to all and has some great exhibits on Jemez history and culture. I spent the night at the Laughing Lizard in nearby Jemez Springs, where I had stayed with my family last summer.
The recently updated visitor center at Pecos National Historical Park. Note the exhibit featuring Alfred Kidder in the lower right. Kidder, working out of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (then the Department of Archaeology, Phillips Academy) excavated Pecos Pueblo between 1915 and 1929.
I got up early the next morning and drove to Pecos National Historical Park. The visitor center there has just received a significant update and includes more of the objects removed from Pecos by Kidder. Audio narration of the exhibits was in English and Towa, so great! The ruins of a Spanish church dominate the top of the plateau here and wandering the trails takes you past the remains of Pecos Pueblo. Ongoing preservation work at the church included capping the walls with contemporary adobe to protect the ancient features. I also had an opportunity to see the storage facilities where Pecos objects are housed and talk with Rhonda Brewer, park museum curator, and Jeremy Moss, cultural resource coordinator.
National Park Service masons were actively preserving the architectural ruins of the massive Catholic church and convento that still dominates the Pecos Pueblo ruins.This interpretive panel gives a sense of at least two of the four Catholic churches that were constructed at Pecos Pueblo. The mason pointed out that the pre-1680 Pueblo Revolt church was built with black bricks, while the post-revolt church used red bricks.
My final stop was in Albuquerque, and from there I ventured out to Chaco Canyon National Historical Park. I’ve been wanting to visit Chaco for some time, but it’s pretty much an all day excursion. I signed up for a tour by Kialo Winters of Navajo Tours USA. I was a little nervous about the drive to Chaco. After turning off US 550, the 20 miles or so to the Chaco visitor center go from paved to dirt to pretty bumpy. Apparently its bad when its wet. I have a terrible sense of direction, so was mostly worried about getting lost, but the road is well marked and was fine when I drove it.
CR7950, right around where it crosses the Gallo Wash, not too far from the Chaco Canyon visitor center.
Kialo shared that really to see everything at Chaco you would need about three days, but his tour hit the high notes, including the expansive ruins of Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. I highly recommend the Navajo Tours USA tour—Kialo is incredibly knowledgeable and up to date on Chacoan archaeology and history, and he drew heavily on Navajo and Zia Pueblo Indigenous knowledge. It was impressive to walk through the ruins of what were once four-story high buildings at Pueblo Bonito and find the places where the different styles of masonry connected and extended the buildings. Occupation here dates from 850 to 1,250 CE. The Peabody also holds a number of objects from Pueblo Bonito related to Warren Moorehead’s 1897 visit to the site. As Teofilo, the author of Gambler’s House blog notes, Moorehead ransacked rooms 53 and 56, near other rooms that had produced fabulous finds, like cylinder jars and macaw burials. In fact, Moorehead removed several complete and fragmentary cylinder jars from the site.
Kialo Winters of Navajo Tours USA points out some of the details of the masonry at Chaco Canyon. The chinking with the small stones signals that this is from an earlier period.Masonry with heavy timber vigas at Pueblo Bonito. The vigas supported the floor of the next story up. Note different style of masonry, without all the small stones.
Overall, it was a productive few days in New Mexico. It was great to visit Chaco Canyon, one of the most impressive cultural sites in the United States, as well as visit with folx at Jemez and Pecos. As many of you know, the Peabody Institute sponsored the long-running Pecos Pathways student travel program, and there has been a lot of interest in creating a new version of that trip. I’m not sure if or when that might happen, but we will work on further contacts, assess interest on campus, and see what happens. Certainly all of the above would be important stops!
The Peabody 