H. Phelps Clawson Papers, circa 1911-1973, undated

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

[Description and dates], Box/folder number, H. Phelps Clawson Papers, Central Library: Rare Book Room, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library.

Acquisition Information

The H. Phelps Clawson Papers were donated to the Rare Book Room of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library by Thomas D. Mahoney on June 24, 1975.

Processing Information

Collection processed by: Amy Vilz, November 2010

Finding aid encoded by: Amy Vilz, December 2010

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The H. Phelps Clawson Papers are open for research.

Use Restrictions

See librarian for information on reproducing materials from this collection, including photocopies, digital camera images, or digital scans, as well as copyright restrictions that may pertain to these materials.

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Biographical History

Hamilton Phelps Clawson was born December 27, 1892. Keen curiosity led him to many careers, including poet, archaeologist, banker, magazine manager, and museum director. Clawson's family was well-known in Buffalo; his father John L. Clawson owned Clawson and Wilson Co., was part-owner of Hens and Kelly department stores, and was a director at Marine Trust and Marine Midland Banks.

H. Phelps was educated at Yale, and worked briefly at the National City Bank of New York. During World War I he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was eventually promoted to lieutenant. In the early 1920s, Clawson began publishing poems. His first book, Transmutation and Other Poems, was published in London in 1923. There he met his first wife, Russian actress Valia Venitsky (the marriage was brief; they divorced in 1927). During this time Clawson began work as an archaeologist for the Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition in Egypt and the Sudan. He was part of the discovery of the tomb of Queen Hetep-heres, mother of Cheops (builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza). Clawson also worked as a manager of the short-lived magazine Panorama: New York's Illustrated Weekly (1928-1929). During the 1930s, he was appointed Curator of Anthropology at the Buffalo Museum of Science, where he instituted "The Corridors of Time," the first anthropology exhibits at the museum. In 1946, he married second wife, Louise McAllister Young. Settling in Chatham, New York, Clawson would be instrumental in the creation of the Shaker Museum and Library. His directorship at the Museum lasted 11 years.

Throughout his life, Clawson travelled the world. His archaeological pursuits brought him to Cairo, Egypt and Semna, Sudan. In 1911, he took a cruise onboard the luxury liner "Empress of Britain." Departing from Quebec, the cruise made its way to Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and France. A 300-mile walking trip in the South of France in 1933 and trips to Ireland and Brazil followed. The common thread through all of these journeys was the extensive photographic documentation Clawson created to record his experiences.

H. Phelps Clawson died April 5, 1975 at age 82 in Buffalo, New York.

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Scope and Contents

The collection is divided in three series: Personal, Photographs, and Professional work. Documentation focuses on Clawson's travels, work with the Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, and correspondence. Most of the materials are photographs.

Series I contains a modest collection of Clawson's personal records. Notable items include two brief travel journals: a 1933 walking trip in Provence, France, and a 1941 journal chronicling his trip to Sao Paulo, Caxambu, and Bahia, Brazil. Both diaries have charming pencil or ink sketches of sights Clawson found interesting, from a rural stone bridge to the manner in which the pineapple he was served was cut up. Correspondence with friends abroad is also included in this series.

Series II is comprised of photographs documenting Clawson's trips to Europe and in the United States, and his work with the Shaker Museum in Old Chatham, New York. All photos are loose with the exception of a bound [and fragile] album of his 1911 trip to Scandinavia, Russia, and Germany on the ship "Empress of Britain." Note: Photos from his work with the Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition are located in Series III, Subseries A.

Series III contains Clawson's professional work and consists of 3 subseries: Harvard University - Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; Poetry; and Shakers. Although each subseries is small, there are noteworthy documents. Expedition records include Clawson's transcription of "The Story of Sinuhe" as published in K.E. Sethe's Aegyptische Lesestucke, consisting of hieroglyphs, phonetics, and English translation. Numerous photographs and a brief list of objects sent from Semna to Harvard Camp at Giza Pyramids, Cairo round out the subseries. An accomplished poet, a selection of his published works is present in proof form [Subseries B]. Lastly, Clawson's stewardship as director of the Shaker Museum is covered in Subseries C, and includes photographs and Christmas cards from Shaker communities in Hancock, Massachusetts, Canterbury, New Hampshire, and New Lebanon, New York. Correspondence with Shakers covers a 10-year period [1949-1958]; the main correspondent is Eldress Emma B. King.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

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Inventory

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