Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Wendel A. White photographed African American materials housed in private and public collections for his project “Manifest: Thirteen Colonies.” His subjects are both rare, singular objects — such as a twisted fragment of stained glass from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing — and some are connected to unknown figures, such as the owner/maker of a shoe (shown here), perhaps an African American Civil War soldier.

White’s work is on view at the Peabody through April 13, 2025, and White’s monograph, “Wendel A. White: Manifest | Thirteen Colonies,” (Radius Books/Peabody Museum Press) is now available. Don’t miss the book launch and conversation this Thursday, September 26th, and the related free ArtsThursdays on the same evening. https://tinyurl.com/ManifestBookLaunchConversation

Read the Gazette article: https://tinyurl.com/ManifestGazette

Civil War-era brogan-style shoe (1863-1865). North Carolina Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, N.C. © Wendel A. White.

Visual artist Wendel A. White (Wendel White: Photographic Projects) photographs material culture, objects, documents, and books held in public collections to explore the complexities of American history, slavery, abolition, concepts of race, and Black life and culture.

As part of the program Manifest | Thirteen Colonies Book Launch and Conversation, marking the launch of his book Wendel A. White: Manifest | Thirteen Colonies (Radius Books/Peabody Museum Press, 2024), White will have a conversation with contributors to the book. They will discuss White’s body of work, the construction of race, and the ways in which artifacts, material culture, art, and photography shape historical narratives, memories, and contemporary perspectives on Black life and culture.

Free hybrid event. September 26, 2024, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. Register: https://tinyurl.com/ManifestBookLaunchConversation.

Speakers: Wendel A. White, Distinguished Professor of Art, Stockton University; 2021 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University

Cheryl Finley, Inaugural Director of the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective AUC Art Collective; Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Art & Visual Culture; Spelman College; Associate Professor, Department of Art & Visual Studies, Cornell University University

Leigh Raiford, Professor of African American Studies, African American Studies at University of California, Berkeley

Deborah Willis, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging, NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Conversation moderated by Brenda Tindal, Chief Campus Curator, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Visit the Peabody Museum for free before and after the program to see Wendel White’s exhibition Manifest: Thirteen Colonies, and join us for the related ArtsThursdays. Copies of Wendel A. White: Manifest | Thirteen Colonies will be available for sale. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 4:30 pm.

The Proyecto Templo Mayor of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia was created in 1978 after the discovery of a huge monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess. Since then, other impressive public monuments and religious buildings have been discovered in downtown Mexico City in the area occupied by the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan.

Archaeologists recently uncovered the largest Aztec sculpture ever found–of the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli. After providing an overview of the history of archaeology in Mexico City, speaker Leonardo López Luján, Director, Proyecto Templo Mayor; Senior Research Professor, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, will undertake a formal, iconographic, and symbolic analysis of the Tlaltecuhtli stone to unveil its functions and meanings. He will also describe the exceptionally rich offerings buried under this sculpture as well as the possible presence of a royal tomb at the foot of the Templo Mayor.

Free hybrid lecture: the Archaeology of Tenochtitlan: An Overview
October 4, 2024, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA. Free parking. Register in advance to attend in-person and online: https://tinyurl.com/MatosMoctezuma2024

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma Lecture Series. Cosponsored by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard , the Moses Mesoamerican Archive, Harvard Divinity School, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month! As part of the free all-ages event ¡Celebremos El Salvador! (Sunday, September 22), artist Mario Quiroz will present his photographic video essay, “Pupusas, Tamales, and a New Salvadoran American Identity.”

He says, “ I live at the crossroads of art, politics and ordinary everyday life. I am a witness as much as a character. My own experience of living in a bi-lingual and bi-cultural world empowers me to carry a message between two worlds. That is where my art practice resides. That is my podium, my inflammatory speech, my message of peace, my message of enough is enough. I am a witness of my time. And that is how I define myself.”

Stay for Mario’s artist talk, watch folk dances by Grupo Torogoz, and participate in activities across two museums!

Leer en español: https://tinyurl.com/CelebremosElSalvadorEs

Photo: Mario Quiroz

Happy International Chocolate Day! Interest in the tasty chocolate flavor of the cacao plant goes way back in the Americas. On view in the exhibition “Resetting the Table,” this Maya greenstone tablet (700–1100 BCE) features a lord holding a cacao plant as a staff.

Cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate, was domesticated in Central America around 1,500 years ago. The Maya and other people of the region were the first to use its highly-valued seeds to make a variety of fermented beverages. Learn more about the exhibition: https://tinyurl.com/PeabodyResetting

Peabody Museum Expedition, E. H. Thompson, Director, 1907-1910, 10-71-20/C7410

¡Únete a nosotros para una vibrante celebración de la cultura e historia natural de El Salvador en los Museos de Ciencia y Cultura de Harvard! Este evento familiar presenta el ensayo fotográfico en video de Mario Quiroz, “Pupusas, Tamales y una Nueva Identidad Salvadoreña Americana,” y bailes folclóricos por el Grupo Torogoz.

Domingo, 22 de septiembre, 1:00-4:00 pm
Museo de Historia Natural de Harvard (26 Oxford Street) y Museo Peabody de Arqueología y Etnología (11 Divinity Avenue)
https://tinyurl.com/CelebremosElSalvadorEs

Pinta un colgante tradicional de semilla de copinol, aprende sobre la cerámica antigua salvadoreña con un arqueólogo, y participe en una búsqueda del tesoro por América Latina. Los niños pueden participar en diversas actividades interactivas mientras disfrutan de comida salvadoreña (disponible a la venta).

No te pierdas la Hora de Cuentos en español y una rifa gratuita para tener la oportunidad de ganar una canasta de regalos del museo. Este evento es gratuito y abierto al público. ¡Todos están invitados a explorar, aprender y celebrar con nosotros

Entrada gratuita. Estacionamiento gratuito en el estacionamiento de 52 Oxford Street Garage. Presentado por el Museo de Historia Natural de Harvard, el Museo Peabody de Arqueología y Etnología y los Museos de Ciencia y Cultura de Harvard en colaboración con el Consulado General de El Salvador en Boston.

A Guna woman with her grandchild. San Blas Islands of Guna Yala, Panama, 1971. Photo by Norbert Sperlich and Elizabeth Katz. Gift of Elizabeth Katz, 972-32-00/1.2

Happy National Read a Book Day! Wishing you a relaxing read this weekend with the companion of your choice. This is from one of Frederick Wulsin’s travels in China, 1921-1925.

He traveled throughout the East in a variety of positions, and his photographs of Chinese province of Shansi and his National Geographic-sponsored expedition to Northwest China documented daily life, dress, rituals, housing, transport, travel, rural, and urban scenes.

Gift of Frederick R. Wulsin, 56-55-60/15920.18.15

September is Intergeneration Month, connecting generations and encouraging people of all ages to befriend and learn from each other. Museums are great settings for making those connections!

Photo © Tony Rinaldo

We are happy to continue our Teen Saturdays series this fall. The first (in-person) workshop kicks off on Saturday, September 14th. Teens will tour the tomb of a 4,000-year-old Egyptian Queen with virtual reality!

The workshops are designed to build community and improve the museum experience for multicultural and Spanish-speaking teens. Workshops are presented bilingually in Spanish and English.

$10 fee includes free admission to all HMSC museums following the workshop. Teens receive a membership worth $100 after attending three or more 2024 fall semester Teen Saturday Workshops. Or, will receive a free admission pass (worth $15) for a return visit if you attend one of the four sessions.

Register (by 9/13), leer en español and find out about future themes: https://tinyurl.com/SeptTeenSaturdays.

On Sunday, September 22, join us for a free, all ages celebration of El Salvador’s culture and natural history. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

The event features Mario Quiroz’s photographic video essay, “Pupusas, Tamales, and a New Salvadoran American Identity,” and folk dances by Grupo Torogoz.

Paint a traditional copinol seed pendant, learn about ancient Salvadoran pottery with an archaeologist, and go on a Latin America scavenger hunt. Kids can participate in various interactive activities while savoring Salvadoran cuisine (available for purchase).

Don’t miss Spanish Story Time and a free raffle for a chance to win a museum gift basket!

Leer en español: https://tinyurl.com/CelebremosElSalvadorEs.

Designer: Patricia Hernandez

Have you tracked down the sea monsters in our museums? Pick up a copy of the "Sea-ing Monsters" scavenger hunt at our desks and decide for yourself—sea monster or not? Complete them all and claim your Sea Monster Appreciation Society prize at the Shop at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

Stelae 6, Xook Glyph (3rd floor - Encounters in the Americas)
The ancient Maya were fascinated with sharks, or xook (‘shōk’). Xook refers to both real sharks and an ancient sea monster featured in Maya creation myths. Evidence of xook can be found in Maya art and writing. This glyph shows the monster with one giant tooth, a blunt shark-like nose, and many curved lines representing fins. Shark teeth, including fossilized megalodon teeth, have been found in Maya offerings and burials.

We’re marking World Photography Day. Artist and educator Stephanie Syjuco was born in the Philippines, and she made this image—a photographic intervention—part of her series called “Block Out the Sun.”

Barely visible beneath her hands is a photo from the Missouri Historical Society: a group Filipinos who were put on display at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. In the Peabody Museum’s online exhibit “Balikbayan | Homecoming,” Filipinos and Filipino Americans were invited to select anything from the Philippine collections in the care of the museum and offer a response. https://tinyurl.com/HomecomingOnline

Syjuco found an early 20th-century photo of floating hands, and juxtaposed one of her “Block Out the Sun” photos, explaining, “I rephotograph images of Filipinos taken at the St. Louis World’s Fair, and use my hands in a similar fashion, but floating above a visible background. When I stumbled across the five pairs of floating hands—[see the next image]—in the Peabody collection I couldn’t help but pause and consider the time (100+ years) and distance between that photograph and my series, which attempts to gain back a type of visual agency.”

Stephanie Syjuco, "Block Out the Sun," detail, 2019. Photographic intervention in the archives of the Missouri Historical Society. Archival pigment print mounted on aluminum. 10 x 8 inches; Photograph of five sets of hands, labeled "Bontoc Igorot hands." From the W. C. Forbes collection of photographs, primarily taken by Dean C. Worcester in the Philippines circa 1905.

Happy National Book Lovers Day! Wendel White photographed African American material culture housed in collections throughout the thirteen original United States colonies and Washington, DC. for his multiyear project Manifest Thirteen Colonies.

As the 2021 Gardner Fellow in Photography at the Peabody Museum, White’s work is featured in the current “Manifest” exhibition, and a new book, Wendel A. White: Manifest | Thirteen Colonies (Radius Books / Peabody Museum Press, Summer 2024).

The images include materials linked to famous people (James Baldwin's inkwell, a book by Phillis Wheatley), events, and to everyday use. The book includes text by Brenda Dione Tindal, Cheryl Finley, Deborah Willis, Leigh Raiford, and Peabody Museum Curator of Visual Anthropology Ilisa Barbash. https://tinyurl.com/ManifestExhibition

We had fun at the Hawaiian Featherwork class yesterday. Instructors from Kula Manu, a student-led club from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama on the island of O’ahu, HI, led the workshop.

Attendees learned about the history of the group's ancestors and the beautiful tradition of Hawaiian featherwork. Keep an eye out for other museum classes on different topics: https://hmsc.harvard.edu/programs/upcoming-programs.

Follow Kula Manu on Instagram:

Our partner museum, the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, is hosting a fun family activity afternoon this Sunday.

Can't make it, the museum is always free and open Sunday through Friday 11am-4pm. https://tinyurl.com/FamilyActivitiesHMANE

Join us this coming Sunday (July 28th) for free family activities in the museum! https://tinyurl.com/FamilyActivitiesHMANE

Harvard Museums of Science & Culture volunteers will lead a live story reading and hands-on, family-friendly activities. Recommended for ages 5–12. Admission to the museum is free!

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 12pm-2pm. Mark your calendars for the next one on August 25!

Wendel White: Photographic Projects, the photographer and Robert Gardner Fellow behind the exhibition and book Manifest: Thirteen Colonies (Radius Books), sat down with the "About Photography" blog. https://tinyurl.com/AboutPhotographyWendelWhite

He talks about his inspiration for his photographs of objects from archives across the U.S. that tell the untold stories of African American resilience and heritage.

Wendel says, "This project is deeply connected to aspects of surprise and discovery. I think of the work as the visual and creative response to my research efforts and direct conversations with scholars and communities. I have often made plans to visit a collection, knowing that they have some materials that are related to my project, but on many occasions, I find other materials that I did not know existed and those moments are remarkable.”

Find out more about Wendel's work and journey by listening to a recent HMSC Connects! episode: https://tinyurl.com/WendelWhitePodcast.

Secrets to Capturing History Through Photography - Wendel A. White’s Manifest | Thirteen Colonies — about photography Step into a hidden world where history and art collide. In Manifest | Thirteen Colonies, Wendel A. White takes you on an evocative journey through the archives of America’s earliest settlements, unveiling the powerful, untold stories of African American resilience and heritage. Photography B

Happy National Hammock Day! A woman rests in a hammock that is likely her bed in this 1932–33 photo taken in what is now Guyana on the northern coast of South America. Former Peabody Museum staffer Dr. John Gillin did anthropological research among the Kalihna—then known as the Carib Indians—for the museum.

According to Minority Rights International Group, which maintains a directory of worldwide Indigenous groups, by the time this photo was taken under British colonial rule, the numbers of the Kalihna “had become greatly reduced and some had even taken up full time farming around the coastal riverheads and in the lowland forests.” They report that the Kalihna are now 10.5% of the Guyana’s population., and the majority live in the country’s interior, away from the populous coast.

2004.24.14028

These visitors are keeping cool in the Manifest: Thirteen Colonies exhibition, a new show The Boston Globe called “sweeping in implication and expressivity.”

Wendel White (Wendel White: Photographic Projects) photographed evidence of Black life in the thirteen original colonies and Washington, DC.

See the show, and the connected exhibitions in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, both open 9-5 daily. https://tinyurl.com/VisitHarvardPeabody

Photo © Tony Rinaldo

Peabody Museum The Peabody Museum shares cultural heritage from around the world. We welcome you to engage and learn in person or online

Happy World Music Day! Pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas produced some of the earliest and most complex ceramic ocarinas known. Similar wind instruments were found among ancient cultures of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The American ocarina is believed to have been introduced to Europe in 1527 by Aztec musicians visiting the court of Spanish King Charles V. See more in the online exhibit: https://tinyurl.com/OcarinasExhibit

Four hole ocarina, bird form, Costa Rica, PM 51-50-20/18544; Four-Hole Ocarina, Unknown animal, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, 17-3-20/C8064

Solstice tonight at the museums! 5pm-9pm. We look forward to seeing you!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝! 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭: 𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬://𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐮𝐫𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭.

Event details: https://tinyurl.com/HMSCSummerSolstice2024.

Photo © Caitlin Cunningham Photography LLC

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝! 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭: 𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬://𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐮𝐫𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨: 𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬://𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐮𝐫𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐇𝐌𝐒𝐂𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒.

Photo by Tony Rinaldo

We are honored to host New Inca Son: Music & Dance of the Andes as performers at this Thursday’s Summer Solstice Celebration. https://tinyurl.com/HMSCSummerSolstice2024

The group, composed of Peruvian and Bolivian musicians, performs a wide repertory of traditional Andean folk melodies, original compositions, and Andean interpretations of modern popular songs. New Inca Son's signature instrument is the pan flute, one of the world's most ancient instruments. They go on the Divinity Ave stage at 7pm!

New Inca Son is a NEST (New England States Touring) artist, an initiative of NEFA. Learn more: https://www.creativeground.org/profile/new-inca-son. This performance is presented in collaboration with Conexión.

Photo by Alex Montaño

Excited the new Wendel A. White (Wendel White: Photographic Projects) photography exhibition, “Manifest: Thirteen Colonies” was selected as a “must-see” summer exhibition pick by Boston Art Review: “a remarkable project that evokes both memory and wonder.”

Read the full review: https://tinyurl.com/BostonArtReviewManifest

Visit the exhibition 9am-5pm, 7 days a week, including Juneteenth and July 4th.