Glory, Trouble, and Renaissance at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology: (Critical Studies in the History of Anthropology)

Glory, Trouble, and Renaissance at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology chronicles the seminal contributions, tumultuous history, and recent renaissance of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology (RSPM). The only archaeology museum that is part of an American high school, it also did cutting-edge research from the 1930s through the 1970s, ultimately returning to its core mission of teaching and learning in the twenty-first century. 

Essays explore the early history and notable contributions of the museum’s directors and curators, including a tour de force chapter by James Richardson and J. M. Adovasio that interweaves the history of research at the museum with the intriguing story of the peopling of the Americas. Other chapters tackle the challenges of the 1990s, including shrinking financial resources, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and relationships with American Indian tribes, and the need to revisit the original mission of the museum, namely, to educate high school students. Like many cultural institutions, the RSPM has faced a host of challenges throughout its history. The contributors to this book describe the creative responses to those challenges and the reinvention of a museum with an unusual past, present, and future.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations    
Series Editors’ Introduction    
Acknowledgments    
Introduction: Present and Past at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology    
Malinda Stafford Blustain and Ryan Wheeler
1. A Biographical History of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology    
Nathan D. Hamilton and Eugene C. Winter Jr.
2. A History of Research: Focusing on the Peopling of the Americas    
James B. Richardson III and James M. Adovasio
3. A.V. Kidder, Pecos Pueblo, and the Robert S. Peabody Museum: A Continuing Legacy    
Linda S. Cordell
4. Laying the Foundations for Northeastern North American Archaeology    
Brian S. Robinson
5. Recent Research at Maine Sites    
Nathan D. Hamilton and Donald A. Slater
6. A Retrospective Interpretation of the Origins of American Agriculture    
Mary Eubanks
7. Trials and Redemption at the Peabody Museum    
Malinda Stafford Blustain
8. Negotiating NAGPRA: Rediscovering the Human Side of Science    
James W. Bradley
9 . Pecos Pathways: A Model for Lasting Partnerships    
Lindsay Randall and Christopher Toya
10. Teaching Science at the Peabody Museum    
Jeremiah Hagler
11. Experiential Learning and the New Peabody Museum    
Donald A. Slater and Nathan D. Hamilton
12. Reflections and Stories
Using Archaeology as a Basis for Learning: How Archaeology Can Teach Almost Anything!    
Margaret Conkey
Perspectives from Indian Country    
Hillary AbÉ
The Piette Program in France    
Claire Gallou
Just Down the Road: A Former Student’s Perspective on the Peabody Museum and Its Approach to Secondary Education    
Kristi Gilleon
From Research to Education: The Peabody-Phillips Academy Connection    
Rebecca Miller Sykes
Open Doors: A Retrospective on the Robert S. Peabody Museum    
Abigail Seldin
List of Contributors    
Index    

About the Author :
Malinda Stafford Blustain is the former director of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. Ryan Wheeler is the director of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. He is a former editor of the Florida Anthropologist.