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Maryanne Schultz is pursuing a doctorate in archaeology in the Department of Anthropology. She was the graduate assistant in the Marian E. White Anthropology Research Museum for five years and the GA (and volunteer) in the Anthropology Library for seven years. She now serves as director of the Visual Resources Center in the School of Architecture and Planning.
What is the Marian E. White Anthropological Research Museum?
The Anthropology Research Museum houses a collection that consists primarily of North American archaeology, but also has a modest collection of ethnographic artifacts, some biological materials and geological samples. The museum officially was opened to the public in 1979, but the idea for the museum dates back to the 1960s when Dr. Marian E. White laid the groundwork for establishing a museum in the anthropology department. Professors Warren Barbour, Sarunas Milisauskas and Stuart Scott further contributed to the development of the museum. Milisauskas currently serves as director. The museum is primarily a research facility. Besides storing the extensive archaeological collections, the museum fulfills requests for research materials for various projects (i.e. theses and dissertations) and provides materials for teaching demonstrations. With the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) by Congress in 1990, the museum has had official dealings with several Native American groups as well. A non-circulating Anthropology Library is associated with the museum.
Where is it located? Is it open to the public?
The Anthropology Research Museum is located on the second floor of the Millard
Fillmore Academic Core at the Ellicott Complex, below the main anthropology
departmental offices (380 MFAC). It is open to the public. However, since its
current primary objective is as a research facility, there are not many exhibits
to see. There are a few glass-case displays on the second floor and in the departmental
offices, but the most prominent artifact to see is the 47-foot tall Totem Pole.
The museum is accessible via the stairwell next to the elevators in MFAC. It
tends to be open Monday through Friday during business hours and often into
the evening. However, even if the doors to the stairwell are locked, the Totem
Pole can be viewed from the third floor of MFAC (down the hall from the department
offices). The vantage from the third floor really gives a nice perspective on
the pole's height and allows for a closer view of the carvings at the highest
points. The museum's Web site http://wings.buffalo.edu/anthropology/museum/index.htm
offers some images of artifacts, and detailed images of the Totem Pole can be
found at http://wings.buffalo.edu/anthropology/museum/pole.htm.
The Anthropology Library also is open to the public. The library is located
immediately below the departmental offices (accessible by the stairwell adjacent
to the offices or via the Spaulding plaza). Each semester, the library's schedule
changes. This fall semester, it is open Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. and Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Although it is a non-circulating
library, there are some really good references available. Articles that have
been placed on "reserve" by the anthropology faculty for various courses also
are available at the library.
Who was Marian E. White?
Marian E. White (1921-1975) was a well-known archaeologist in New York State and a professor of anthropology at UB. She excavated extensively in the Niagara Frontier region of Ontario and New York for approximately 20 years and concentrated her research on Iroquois agriculture, warfare and settlement patterns. White originally was from Hartland Corners in Niagara County, and received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1942. She joined the Army Air Force during World War II. In 1952, she continued her education at the University of Michigan and in 1956, was the first woman to receive a doctorate from that university's Department of Anthropology. Before coming to UB, White was a junior anthropologist with the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences. She also served as an assistant curator of anthropology at the Buffalo Museum of Science and as an assistant curator of archaeology at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. In 1969, she established the highway salvage program at UB, now known as the Archaeological Survey.
What types of artifacts are housed in the museum?
More than 95 percent of the museum's North American collection comes from Western New York. The kinds of archaeological artifacts in the collection include pottery, lithics (stone artifacts), bone artifacts (worked and unworked animal bone), and ethnobotannicals (organic remains). The materials represent more than 1,500 sites and top 1 million artifacts. Most of the artifacts range in age from the Late Woodland to historic period (A.D. 700-1700s). A smaller number of North American artifacts are from earlier periods of occupation, some as early as Archaic (c. 7000 BC). A portion of the collection represents groups that archaeologists refer to as the Neutral, Wenro, Erie, and Seneca. The Seneca are the only contemporary Native American group, and they claim lineal relationship to the other groups. The collection also has ethnographic artifacts, primarily from the Samburu of Kenya (liquid containers, hunting implements, personal adornments), and from Polynesia. The museum also has an extensive slide collection. The Anthropology Library houses a collection of mostly anthropological books and journals. It also has student undergraduate honors program projects, theses and dissertations from the Department of Anthropology. UB is one of a select group of universities with access to the Human Relations Area Files, which is a current, comprehensive database of worldwide cultures used for cross-cultural research. The Anthropology Library has a hard-copy version of the HRAF files. An online version is available for UB patrons.
Tell me about the Totem Pole.
The Totem Pole, carved from a Northwest Pacific Coast red cedar tree, originally stood at Burden Lake near Albany, N.Y., from 1904-1958. The story goes that the pole was a gift to Matt Larkin, the "father of the jukebox." Apparently, Larkin used some of his large profits to establish a sporting refuge for his friends on Burden Lake. It was said that Larkin's guests were treated royally, with completely furnished apartments where each bedroom was equipped with new pajamas, toothbrush, hairbrush, etc., so that nobody could say "I can't stay, I didn't come prepared." Not knowing what to give Larkin, his friends decided upon a hand-decorated totem pole from Alaska. Upon its arrival from the Northwest coast to Albany, a wood-carving friend altered the pole to incorporate the likeness of several of his friends—including baseball great Christy Matthewson and H.S. Mills, once known as a "coin-operated machine tycoon"—and added a skeleton with top hat and trumpet at top (the heads no longer exist and the skeleton is not on display). Later, the Katz family took over the estate and enlarged it, where it became known as the Totem Lodge Country Club. It was said at this time that some of the greatest Broadway stars performed at the lodge on the weekends. After falling upon bad times, the Totem Lodge was sold to David Schoenholt. In 1958, a violent storm with 45 mile-an-hour gales caused the Totem Pole to fall. The Schoenholt family donated it to the Anthropology Museum in 1978. The Totem Pole arrived at the museum in six segments. Five of the six were conserved over a period of 11 years and refitted as two columns in 1987, where the two halves of the Totem Pole face each other in the open museum space. Most of the work and materials used on the Totem Pole were provided by a volunteer team led by Jonah Margulis, former Buffalo Public Schools psychologist and administrator, and Sumner Nunley, a former Buffalo chemistry teacher and acting head of science for the district before his retirement. Frank Dinan of Canisius College developed a special combination of urethane monomers to infill the Totem Pole. The reaction of the urethanes formed a special foam to fill decay and insect damage, and also provided strength for structural support in its rebuilding. Although it had been suggested that the Totem Pole had been carved by the Haida Indians on the Charlotte Islands off Alaska around 1904, it is likely it was carved by a non-native artist who had recourse to authentic totem poles that served as a departure point—but stylistically, the pole is different from the tribal styles of the Northwest coast. Regardless, the museum's Totem Pole is a striking example of early 20th century North American material cultural history, especially from the point of view of the spread of the "totem pole" as being symbolic of Native American culture throughout the Northwest and beyond to North America.
What's your background? Are you an archaeologist?
Yes, I am an archaeologist, but I did not start out to become one. As an undergraduate, I majored in biochemistry, art history and history. I also have an associate's degree in studio art. At one time, I had intentions of entering a program for art conservation. However, after experiencing my first excavation, I realized I would rather do fieldwork than strict laboratory work. I have been fortunate to have performed fieldwork in a variety of places.
What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have answered it?
Perhaps a question about donations. Anyone who has artifacts or books to donate should call the Department of Anthropology at 645-2414 to make arrangements. It is important for people to be aware that their donations are a very important asset to any departmental collection.