Stewart Culin
| Stewart Culin | |
|---|---|
Stewart Culin, c. 1920
|
|
| Born |
Robert Stewart Culin July 13, 1858 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | April 8, 1929 (aged 70) Amityville, New York |
| Occupation | Ethnographer |
Stewart Culin (July 13, 1858 – April 8, 1929) was an American ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. Culin played a major role in the development of ethnography, first concentrating his efforts on studying the Asian-Americans workers in Philadelphia. His first published works were "The Practice of Medicine by the Chinese in America" and "China in America: A study in the social life of the Chinese in the eastern cities of the United States", both dated 1887. He believed that similarity in gaming demonstrated similarity and contact among cultures across the world.
Born Robert Stewart Culin, a son of Mina Barrett Daniel Culin and John Culin, in Philadelphia, Culin was schooled at Nazareth Hall. While he had no formal education in anthropology, Culin played a role in the development of the field. His interest began with the Asian-American population of Philadelphia, then composed chiefly of Chinese-American laborers.
His first published works were an 1887 article for a medical journal, "The Practice of Medicine by the Chinese in America" and his speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science on "China in America : a study in the social life of the Chinese in the eastern cities of the United States". In 1889 Culin published a report about Chinese games. In 1890 he wrote an article about Italian marionettes was inspired by a visit to a marionette theater in New York City.
Active in several ethnographic organizations during the late 1880s, Culin became involved with the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago during 1893. As an assistant curator, Culin organized several game-related exhibitions. In addition, 1891 saw the publication of two papers. The first treated the street games of city boys, the second dealt with Chinese gambling games, providing explanations on Fan-Tan and Pak Kop Pin. At the World Exposition, Culin met Frank Hamilton Cushing. The two became friends and endeavored to create the first cumulative documentation on the world's games.
In 1892 Culin became Director of the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Paleontology. Married on March 18, 1893, to Helen Bunker, Culin published on the games exhibit at the 1891 Chicago exposition. In 1899 he became curator at the Free Museum of Science and Arts in Philadelphia on American and general ethnology.
...
Wikipedia