"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum
abstract: In this thesis, I examine the inclusion of American Indians as museum subjects and participants in Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum. To determine the forces that informed Peale's curatorship, I analyze Peale's experiences, personal views on education and scientifi...
Other Authors: | |
---|---|
Format: | Dissertation |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29872 |
id |
ndltd-asu.edu-item-29872 |
---|---|
record_format |
oai_dc |
spelling |
ndltd-asu.edu-item-298722018-06-22T03:06:11Z "The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum abstract: In this thesis, I examine the inclusion of American Indians as museum subjects and participants in Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum. To determine the forces that informed Peale's curatorship, I analyze Peale's experiences, personal views on education and scientific influences, specifically Carl Linnaeus, George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and Thomas Jefferson. Peale created a polarized natural history narrative divided between Anglo-Americans and races that existed in a “natural state.” Within the museum's historical narrative, Peale presented Native individuals as either hostile enemies of the state or enlightened peacekeepers who accepted the supremacy of Americans. Peale's embrace of Native visitors demonstrated a mixture of racial tolerance and belief in racial hierarchy that also characterized democratic pedagogy. I derive the results by examining Peale's correspondence, diaries and public addresses, as well as administrative documents from the museum such as accession records, guidebooks, lectures and museum labels. I conclude that although Peale believed his museum succeeded in promoting tolerance and harmony among all cultures, his message nevertheless promoted prejudice through the exaltation of “civilized men.” By studying the social and intellectual constraints under which Peale operated, it is possible to see the extent to which observation of and commentary on ethnic and racial groups existed in America's earliest public culture and shaped early American museum history. Contemporary museums strive for cultural preservation and tolerance, therefore analysis of Peale's intentions and effects may increase the self-awareness of today's museum professionals. Dissertation/Thesis Keller, Laura Ellen (Author) O'Donnell, Catherine (Advisor) Toon, Richard (Advisor) Osburn, Katherine (Committee member) Arizona State University (Publisher) History Museum studies American history American Indian ethnography Museum Peale public culture eng 143 pages Masters Thesis History 2015 Masters Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29872 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2015 |
collection |
NDLTD |
language |
English |
format |
Dissertation |
sources |
NDLTD |
topic |
History Museum studies American history American Indian ethnography Museum Peale public culture |
spellingShingle |
History Museum studies American history American Indian ethnography Museum Peale public culture "The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
description |
abstract: In this thesis, I examine the inclusion of American Indians as museum subjects and participants in Charles Willson Peale's Philadelphia Museum. To determine the forces that informed Peale's curatorship, I analyze Peale's experiences, personal views on education and scientific influences, specifically Carl Linnaeus, George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and Thomas Jefferson. Peale created a polarized natural history narrative divided between Anglo-Americans and races that existed in a “natural state.” Within the museum's historical narrative, Peale presented Native individuals as either hostile enemies of the state or enlightened peacekeepers who accepted the supremacy of Americans. Peale's embrace of Native visitors demonstrated a mixture of racial tolerance and belief in racial hierarchy that also characterized democratic pedagogy. I derive the results by examining Peale's correspondence, diaries and public addresses, as well as administrative documents from the museum such as accession records, guidebooks, lectures and museum labels. I conclude that although Peale believed his museum succeeded in promoting tolerance and harmony among all cultures, his message nevertheless promoted prejudice through the exaltation of “civilized men.” By studying the social and intellectual constraints under which Peale operated, it is possible to see the extent to which observation of and commentary on ethnic and racial groups existed in America's earliest public culture and shaped early American museum history. Contemporary museums strive for cultural preservation and tolerance, therefore analysis of Peale's intentions and effects may increase the self-awareness of today's museum professionals. === Dissertation/Thesis === Masters Thesis History 2015 |
author2 |
Keller, Laura Ellen (Author) |
author_facet |
Keller, Laura Ellen (Author) |
title |
"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
title_short |
"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
title_full |
"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
title_fullStr |
"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
title_full_unstemmed |
"The Art of Civilization": America on Display at Peale's Museum |
title_sort |
"the art of civilization": america on display at peale's museum |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29872 |
_version_ |
1718700755454525440 |