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Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College Art & Archaeology Collections
One of the highlights of the Art and Archaeology Collections of Bryn Mawr College is its African collection, which has grown rapidly since 1990, when Bryn Mawr alumna Margraret Feurer Plass '17 left select pieces from her extensive private collection to the college. Mrs. Plass, recognized as a world-renowned Africanist, traveled and collected for forty years and made donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to the British Museum in addition to Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr's Plass collection exemplifies the depth of her collecting, ranging from ancient Ethiopean terracottas to twentieth century ceremonial accoutrements. But the majority of the collection was given by Helen Katz Neufeld '53 and her husband, Mace Neufeld. The Neufelds collected pieces from East, West, and Central Africa, dating predominantly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition, Bryn Mawr Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Philip Kilbride, has a small collection on deposit at the College, consisting of objects collected over the past thirty years, primarily in East Africa. Including all of the contributions made to Bryn Mawr College, the number of African art and ethnographic objects in this collection exceeds 350.
Bryn Mawr has held several exhibitions of the African collection since it has been aquired, including a collaborative exhibition organized and sponsored by the African Studies Consortium of the University of Pennsylvania, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore Colleges. The most recent exhibit of Bryn Mawr's African collection was installed primarily in Canaday Library's Rare Book Room, but with ancillary exhibits on display in various academic buildings with the intention of reaching audiences from all disciplines, such as the exhibition of African rock and mineral samples displayed in Bryn Mawr's Park Science Building. In addition, the College's Collections allows its student workers the unique opportunity to be directly involved in the development of all aspects of such exhibits. The availabilty of Bryn Mawr's African collection to students, faculty, and independent researchers provides valuable, one-of-a-kind hands-on research on many aspects of African culture. The extensive body of material, which includes such objects as masks, figures, headdresses, and textiles promises to be exciting and engaging for any visitor. Although the collection is not housed in a museum space, there is a laboratory area avaialable for viewing, research, and presentation.
Bryn Mawr College Collections
Thomas Hall, Third Floor
Bryn Mawr College
101 North Merion Road
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
The African Collections are accessible to students, faculty, staff, alumnae of Bryn Mawr College, and outside researchers, Monday through Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm or by appointment.
Contact: Tamara Johnston, Registrar of the College's Collections.
Phone: 610.526.5022
Fax: 610.526.5337
Website: http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/