An Emissary from Berlin: Franz Boas and the Smithsonian Institution, 1887–88

Abstract

AbstractEthnographic objects in museums are physical evidence of the networks through which they circulate and manifestations of the scientific terrain as inscribed by those networks. Combined with archival documentation of their intra‐institutional circulations, these objects can also aid in the reconstruction of the historical development of science. This avenue of research offers a new perspective that brings object collections into dialogue with the history of science and highlights the under‐realized research value of the millions of objects that lie tucked away in collections storage. This article focuses on the first transaction of ethnographic material between the Königliche Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Reconstructing the contexts and networks through which a particular accession came to reside in the NMNH, this research documents the process by which material exchange promoted international communication between practitioners in the emerging science of ethnology. [exchange networks, Franz Boas, Berlin, Washington, D.C.]