PEA Plans to Renovate Anthropology Museum Into Copy Center

The 40-year-old Anthropology Museum, located in the Academy Building basement, will close in early June to make room for a new copy center that will replace the current center in the Information Technology (IT) building.

According to Director of Facilities Management Mark Leighton, the change is a result of the upcoming library renovations, which will relocate IT library employees to the current copy center of the IT building. “After reviewing locations throughout campus [to find a replacement for the copy center], the Academy Building made the most sense due the high use of the departments in the Academy Building and space that was available,” Leighton said.

When the plans of terminating the museum were presented to the History Department, several concerns were brought up, namely where the existing artifacts would go and what effect noise from the new copy room would have on nearby classrooms. Chair of the History Department William Jordan expressed mixed feelings. “There are a few teachers in the department who would use the exhibits from time-to-time in their teaching—especially in the Native American course and Anthropology,” he said. The loss also posed a problem as to where to place the existing artifacts. “I hope we can find a good home for the artifacts, but neither the [Lamont] Gallery nor the library can take them,” Jordan said.

History and Anthropology instructor Kent McConnell noted the department’s lack of material-based learning. “It tends to be so text-based which is natural in many ways because of our pedagogy,” McConnell said. “But life doesn't happen just through text一life happens through objects.”

McConnell emphasized how exposing students to the materials people had access to is integral to understanding the environments these people inhabited. For him, such artifacts play an important role in disproving the notion that “the further back [in time] you go, the less materials [people] had and the less sophisticated were those materials since in some respects it’s quite the opposite at times.”

Constructed with a $30,000 donation from Howard Phillips ’19 in 1976, the museum provided a space for the Lawrence Crosby North American Indian artifacts that had previously been stored in the storage areas of Phillips Hall and the old science building. Donald Foster, head of anthropology at the time, was in charge of directing the museum and displaying the collection of artifacts.

However, following his retirement, many of the collections left the museum since “he had had a number of collections that were brought there through acquaintances of his,” according to McConnell. As the Academy was unable to hire another anthropologist, the museum became inactive.

In light of the upcoming storage issue, the History Department is debating whether the remaining artifacts should be placed in the hallway displays of the Academy Building basement. According to History instructor Nolan Lincoln, “[the renovation] sparked a lot of conversation in the department about whether we should display it outside.”

Additionally, Lincoln noted that the switch to hallway displays may prove more effective in displaying anthropological work to the community. “Ironically, we might bring more awareness about the artifacts we have.”

While the Anthropology Museum will be missed, Director of Technology Services, Scott Heffner highlighted the perks of the new copy center. “By moving the Copy Center to the Academy Building, we will make it more convenient for our users,” Heffner said.

Heffner also explained the IT department’s hopes to take advantage of the copy center’s closer campus proximity to better support Exonians. “The [current] Copy Center is self-funded through a pay-for-printing model which is why we currently only offer services to Student Clubs and Associations and not directly to students,” he said. “We are considering how we could extend our services to students through the Lion Cards.”

Due to the museum’s lack of open hours over the past two years, few students have used it for their class or even been inside. “Though I took the class, I was never brought into the museum and the museum was never discussed in class,” lower Emilio Abelmann said.

Lower Isa Matsubayashi shared Abelmann’s sentiments. “We never even talked about it … It’s a shame,” Matsubayashi lamented. “I would’ve loved to visit the museum for class and link what we learned in class to the resources we have on campus.

Ultimately, McConnell wishes for Exeter to find new ways for students to interact with the resources of the museum and learn more about anthropology. “I hope the school takes into consideration that it does have this wonderful gift.”