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| [a] British Museum RF |
Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.
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Please
note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown
Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an
image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur
(lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the
appropriate people.
After almost a month now of going through William Edgar Geil's "stuff" (and he has a lot), I feel that I have gained some insight into his research process.
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| [b] Pass DHS |
Geil used a variety of techniques to get information. A lot of the research seems to have been done for him, by people who had access to books he didn't possess. Geil also appears to have copied whole sections from books—imagine what he would have been able to accomplish with a photocopier! Another way Geil gathered information was by interviewing people he met on his travels. His archive is full of outlandish stories and histories told to him by strangers.
As I digitized more and more objects, I began to wonder if Geil had ever done any archival research—if he would be able to relate at all to what we're doing here in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. So I was delighted to find passes to the British Museum's Reading Room and to the Student's Room of the Oriental Books and Manuscripts Department among his papers.
The two passes were issued on the same day, December 22, 1913, and were good for six months. In order to gain access to the library, researchers had to apply in writing to the Principal Librarian, who then issued them a ticket. If the researcher wished to renew their ticket after six months, they had to apply to the director, enclosing their original ticket and hoping that they showed "sufficient reason" for the renewal.
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| [c] Restrictions DHS |
The strict time limit on the tickets made me think back to my museum studies classes, and the discussions we had about the connection between museums and power. Many museums, the British Museum included, were "open to the public" in name only, especially in their early days. While technically anyone could visit, the British Museum restricted access in a number of ways. Guests had to make a written application to the director for a set number of tickets sold each day, and the museum was only open during hours when the leisure class would be able to attend, not members of the working class. Visitors were also not allowed to walk through the galleries themselves, but rather were escorted by officers of the museum. Even the intimidating architecture of the museum building itself mirrored the oppressive, hierarchical privilege structures of the culture that built it.
I can’t help but wonder if Geil’s excessive use of the title “Dr.,” which seems so unnecessary and even vain to us, was actually the only way for him to gain access to the kinds of research material he needed to do his work. (See Amara Pugen's blog from October 1 titled "Don't Call me Reverend"). It legitimized him as a researcher and academic, making him someone who was allowed to work in such an esteemed institute as the British Museum. There are definitely aspects of Geil and his work that are ridiculous. However, I think it is important to remember to look a little bit deeper, and work harder to see the cultural implications behind the way he presents and thinks about himself.
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| [d] Research RF |
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