GPS City GuideCambridgePeabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Stop 9 of 30 · Cambridge audio walking tour

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Harvard University campus · 1866 · Founding by George Peabody

What you'll hear here: about 90 seconds on Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology — how it came to be, who it mattered to, and what to look for while you're standing in front of it.

Look at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology on Divinity Avenue, founded through George Peabody's 1866 gift to Harvard's Cambridge campus. Affiliated with Harvard, the Peabody was founded through an October 8, 1866 gift from financier and philanthropist George Peabody, a native of South Danvers (now eponymously named Peabody, Massachusetts). Peabody committed $150,000 to establish the Peabody Professor‑Curator, to purchase artifacts, and to construct a building; he directed his trustees to organize the construction of 'a suitable fireproof museum building, upon land to be given for that purpose.' Today this institution is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with a particular emphasis on the ethnography and archaeology of the Americas.

It is caretaker to over 1.2 million objects, some 900 feet (270 m) of documents, 2,000 maps and site plans, and about 500,000 photographs. The museum is one of the four Harvard Museums of Science and Culture open to the public. As you stand here, imagine the generosity and vision that created this collection and how these objects and archives connect you to other places and peoples.

Inside wait 1.2 million objects; outside, Divinity Avenue carries the life of Harvard past the door.

Where it is

Coordinates
42.3782, -71.1148
Area
Harvard University campus
Era
1866 · Founding by George Peabody
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.