ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

 

The exhibit "Lines and Legacies: The Harry L. George Native American Collection" showcases an impressive selection of Native American objects collected by Harry L. George on the second floor of the Frederick Avenue location of the St. Joseph Museums Inc. Harry L. George was a textile broker at the turn of the 20th century in St. Joseph, Missouri, who amassed one of the largest encyclopedic collections of Native American objects in the early 1900s. 

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This important collection preserves significant items from the 1800s as well as the history of the culture of the collecting that was happening in the early 1900s. George corresponded with well-known collectors whose work led to the foundation of museums across the country such as George Heye (Museum of the American Indian), Herman Sweizer with the Fred Harvey Company (Heard Museum), and Grace Nicholson (Pacific Asia Museum). 

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"Lines and Legacies" features select objects from the Harry L. George Collection, discusses collecting practices that are the foundation of museums, provides a window to the lives of Native Americans at the turn of the 20th century, and ponders the legacy of these museum collections today.

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The Harry L. George Collection at the St. Joseph Museums is one of St. Joseph's greatest treasures. Experts such as Dr. Peter Welsh, Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Kansas, and Jonathon Batkin, Director of the Wheelwright Museum and author of The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, have identified this collection as uniquely significant and well-documented.