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University Archives and Records Center
University of Pennsylvania

Guide to the
University Memorabilia
Collection, 1787 - 2006

MEM

Over 1,500 items

Prepared by DiAnna Hemsath
2006, Revised 2007

Access is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center.

INTRODUCTION

In addition to thousands of written and printed documents, photographs and other visual images, the University Archives also houses a burgeoning memorabilia collection. Numbering over 1,500 items, memorabilia enhance and complete millions of words of historical text with their unique, three-dimensional quality.

Memorabilia, sometimes known as ephemera, lend color and texture to well-documented history. Concepts, lifestyles, and personalities relating to Penn's history become more accessible with a first-hand look at the rich patina of ceremonial silver, the vivid red and blue enamel of a waving pennant pin, the craftsmanship of an intricately carved cane, or the soft leather cover of a Class Day program with its red and blue silk cord. Equally important, however, is the role that memorabilia can serve in providing an historical record where there is no other known existing documentation.

Memorabilia frequently commemorate important historical celebrations. A red-and-white Wedgwood china transfer pattern series trumpeted the University's bicentennial anniversary in 1940, and featured important buildings and schools on campus. Predating that series was another Wedgwood set in 1929, a more ornate blue and white transfer pattern also featuring landmark University buildings. There have been a variety of other porcelain plates and objects discovered, many featuring College Hall. Far less frequently, likenesses of important university figures are represented in memorabilia form, i.e., Benjamin Franklin, Provost Smith, and Joseph Wharton.

Intercollegiate sports are celebrated across a vast array of ephemera. For example, a series of pennant-waving "hoo-rah" girl postcards and lithographs portrayed Victorian-dressed women cheerleaders in the 1905-1907 era. Tobacco companies popularly issued premiums in the form of school-imprinted leathers, silks, and rugs from 1890-1910, coinciding with the advent of Ivy League football. The premiums mark a time of keen school spirit, as well as the frequent purchasing of the cigarette packages that included them.

Pennsylvania tradition is reflected in the many pieces of ephemera which have been collected. There are endless variations and designs of red and blue, countless typefaces spelling out "Pennsylvania" or in earlier times, "U of P" or "Penna." The recurring presence of the University seal, either in its current form, or the design which existed prior to 1933, is also an enduring Pennsylvania symbol. Though a Quaker is commonly thought of as the Pennsylvania mascot, there have been very few representations found bearing such an image.

PROVENANCE

A small Memorabilia collection was first assembled at the University of Pennsylvania by George E. Nitzsche (1874-1961). In his capacity as Recorder of the University, Nitzsche amassed thousands of papers capturing the fundamental history of Penn. When the University Archives was established in 1945, Nitzsche's collection was incorporated.

Since that time, the University Archives continued adding to the Memorabilia collection through donations by alumni, students, faculty and staff, as well as by purchase. Beginning in 2002, a concentrated acquisition effort by alumna Susan Molofsky Todres (CW'75, WG'77), in close collaboration with Director of Archives Mark Frazier Lloyd, has resulted in hundreds of additions to the collections.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The memorabilia collection spans items dating from the late 1700's to the twenty-first century. The items in this collection are related to University of Pennsylvania founders and stewards, as well as to Penn history, traditions, organizations, schools and centers, athletics, and intellectual pursuits. Included are souvenirs, invitations, programs and broadsides, prints and paintings, trophies and medals, stamps and seals, banners, pennants and flags, calendars, postcards and matriculation cards, clothing and jewelry, scientific and medical instruments, sports apparel and equipment, architectural relics, furniture and household objects, ceramics and silver, and items purely whimsical.

ARRANGEMENT OF SERIES AND SUBSERIES

The objects in the memorabilia collection are organized according to the nomenclature standards set forth in the following book:

James R. Blackaby, Patricia Greeno and the Nomenclature Committee. The Revised Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging. A Revised and Expanded Version of Robert G. Chenhall's System for Classifying Man-Made Objects. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 1995.

Each memorabilia object is classified in a hierarchical order; first by category, then by classification and finally by object term. For example, the object term "pincushion" falls under the classification "Textile Working Tools and Equipment," which falls under the category "Tools and Equipment for Materials." The University of Pennsylvania Archives uses the terms "series," "subseries" and "description" in place of the terms "category," "classification" and "object term," respectively.

While the Archives owns material in all the categories outlined by the Revised Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging, the categories most often represented in the Archives collection are "Communication Artifacts," "Tools and Equipment for Science and Technology" and "Tools and Equipment for Materials."

A summary of the organizational structure from the Revised Nomenclature for Museum Cataloging book follows:

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Category (Series): Structures-Artifacts originally created to define space for human activities or to be used as components of space defining artifacts.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Building
• Building Component
• Site Feature
• Other Structure

Category (Series): Building Furnishing-Artifacts originally created to facilitate human activity and to provide for physical needs of people generally by offering comfort, convenience or protection. Clothing is excluded from this definition.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Bedding
• Floor Covering
• Furniture
• Household Accessory
• Lighting Device
• Plumbing Fixture
• Temperature Control Device
• Window or Door Covering

Category (Series): Personal Artifacts-Artifacts originally created to serve the personal needs of an individual as clothing, adornment, body protection, or an aid for grooming.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Adornment
• Clothing

• Footwear
• Headwear
• Outerwear
• Underwear
• Accessory

• Personal Gear-An artifact originally created to be used by an individual as a personal carrying device; as a protective apparatus; as a personal or physical aid; or as personal smoking equipment and supplies.
• Toilet Article

Category (Series): Tools and Equipment for Materials-Tools, equipment, and supplies originally created to manage, oversee, capture, harvest, or collect resources and to transform or modify particular materials, both raw and processed.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Agricultural T&E
• Animal Husbandry T&E
• Fishing and Trapping T&E
• Food T&E

• Food Processing T&E
• Food Service T&E
• Forestry T&E

• Glass, Plastics & Clayworking T&E
• Leather, Horn & Shellworking T&E
• Masonry & Stoneworking T&E
• Medalworking T&E
• Mining and Mineral Harvesting T&E
• Painting T&E
• Papermaking T&E
• Textileworking T&E
• Woodworking T&E
• Other T&E for Materials

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Category (Series): Tools and Equipment for Science and Technology-Tools, equipment, and supplies used for the observation of natural phenomena or to apply knowledge gained from such observation. Tools in this category tend to be made to enlarge or record our understanding of the world or to help express such understanding.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Acoustical T&E
• Armament T&E

• Firearm
• Edged
• Budgeon
• Artillery
• Ammunition
• Body Armor
• Accessory

• Astronomical T&E
• Biological T&E
• Chemical T&E
• Construction T&E
• Electrical and Magnetic T&E
• Energy Production T&E
• Geological T&E
• Maintenance T&E
• Mechanical T&E
• Medical & Psychological T&E
• Merchandising T&E
• Meteorological T&E
• Nuclear Physics T&E
• Optical T&E
• Regulative & Protective T&E
• Surveying & Navigational T&E
• Thermal T&E
• Timekeeping T&E
• Weights & Measures T&E
• Other T&E for Science & Technology

Category (Series): Tools & Equipment for Communication-Tools, equipment, and supplies used to enable communication. This category includes those classifications for literal and abstract communication -"Printing T&E" and "Musical T&E." This category does not include things produced as communication, such as works of art and documents.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Data Processing T&E
• Drafting T&E
• Musical T&E
• Photographic T&E
• Printing T&E
• Sound Communication T&E
• Telecommunication T&E
• Visual Communication T&E
• Written Communication T&E
• Other T&E for Communication

Category (Series): Distribution & Transportation Artifacts-Artifacts originally created to transport or distribute animate and inanimate things. This category also includes artifacts originally created to facilitate such transportation or as an adjunct to such transportation. This category includes propelled vehicles such as automobiles and wheelbarrows as well as containers that facilitate distribution.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Container
• Aerospace Transportation
• Land Transportation

• Human Powered
• Motorized
• Accessory

• Rail Transportation

• Equipment
• Accessory

• Water Transportation

• Equipment
• Accessory

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Category (Series): Communication Artifacts-Artifacts originally created as expressions of human thought. Communication artifacts comment on, interpret, or enhance people's environments. Communication artifacts can function symbolically or literally. This category excludes the tools and equipment that are used to create communication artifacts.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Advertising Medium
• Art
• Ceremonial Artifact-Artifacts originally created for carrying on governmental, fraternal, religious, or other organized and sanctioned societal activities. These artifacts are intended to evoke, symbolize, or express certain aspects of the traditions or heritage of a community or group of people. Usually, they are associated with rituals or ceremonies.
• Documentary Artifact-an artifact originally created to communicate information to the people. "Documentary Artifacts" are not generally intended to elicit a specific response in regards to products, services, or events. Instead, they present a point of view, an image, or a set of ideas, often with the aim of enlightening or swaying the attitude of the people.
• Exchange Medium-An artifact originally created to be used as a medium of exchange.
• Personal Symbol-An artifact originally created to communicate a particular personal belief, achievement, status, or membership. This classification includes articles of adornment or clothing worn primarily for their symbolism. "Personal Symbols" differ from "Ceremonial Artifacts" in that they express individual ideas, not ideas of the group.

Category (Series): Recreational Artifacts-Artifacts originally created to be used as toys or to carry on the activities of sports, games, gambling or public entertainment.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Game
• Public Entertainment Device
• Recreational Device
• Sports Equipment
• Toy

Category (Series): Unclassifiable Artifacts-Artifacts originally created to serve a purpose that cannot be identified at the time the object is cataloged.
Includes classification (subseries) terms:

• Artifact Remnant
• Function Unknown
• Multiple Use Artifact-An artifact originally created to serve a variety of purposes that extend beyond the range of one classification.

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