Sylvanus Griswold Morley diaries,1905-1947

Mss.B.M828

Date: 1905-1947 | Size: 39 item(s), 23 volumes, typed (some multi-part).

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Abstract

Beginning with his college life as an undergraduate at Harvard (1905-1906), Morley's diaries continue through his earliest travels and explorations of Central America (1907-1944), with information on the study of Mayan hieroglyphs, publications, the study of Central American ruins, and the manners and customs of the jungle Indians. Five volumes are devoted to four separate archaeological expeditions: Copan expedition (1937), Uxmal expedition (1941-1942), Central American expedition (1944), and Guatemala and Honduras expedition (1947). Formal and detailed field notes form the bulk of Morley's archaeological work. There are no diaries for 1908-1911, 1913, 1926-1930, 1933-1936, 1938-1940, and 1943.

Background note

Sylvanus Griswold Morley was an archaeologist and was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1940.

Scope and content

These diaries are typewritten versions of Morley's diaries, typed up from the handwritten originals at the Peabody Museum at Harvard.

Native American Images note : 106 ink sketches and 105 pencil sketches by archaeologist Sylvanus Morley to illustrate his excavation descriptions of Mayan sites in Yaxchilan (1931), Calakmul (1932), Copan (1937, 1947), and Uxmal (1941-42). Primarily Mayan glyphs, images include diagrams of stairways, pyramids, and ball courts. Referenced in Murphy's Historical American Sketches, Freeman's Guide to manuscripts relating to the American Indian, with portions of the journals published, In Search of Maya Glyphs (1970).

Digital objects note

This collection contains digital materials that are available in the APS Digital Library. Links to these materials are provided with context in the inventory of this finding aid. A general listing of digital objects may also be found here.

Collection Information

Physical description

39 volumes, typed.

Provenance

Presented by Mrs. Sylvanus G. Morley, 1955.

Location of originals:

Handwritten originals at Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Related material

An annotated, edited and illustrated edition of Morley's diaries, by Prudence M. Rice and Christopher Ward, can be found at http://www.mesoweb.com/publications/Morley/index.html

Indexing Terms

Corporate Name(s)

Harvard University

Genre(s)

Diagrams.
Diaries.
Sketches.

Geographic Name(s)

Calakmul Site (Mexico)
Central America -- Description and travel.
Copan (Honduras)
Uxmal Site (Mexico)
Yaxchilan Site (Mexico)

Subject(s)

Archaeological expeditions -- Central America.
Archaeological expeditions -- Honduras
Archaeological expeditions -- Mexico
Archaeology -- Central America.
Indians of Central America -- Languages -- Writing
Indians of Central America -- Social life and customs
Indians of Mexico -- Languages -- Writing
Mayan languages -- Writing
Mayas

Detailed Inventory

Vol. 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1905-01-01-1905-12-31	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:259153
Vol. 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1906-01-01-1906-12-17	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:256894/
Vol. 3, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1907-01-01-1907-09-30	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:271751
Vol. 3, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1907-02-03-1907-05-11	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:271772
Vol. 4. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1908-01-01-1908-03-22	Request Item
Vol. 5. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Quirigua Field notes	1912-02-24-1912-04-17	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:322705/
Vol. 6. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1914-01-01-1914-08-24	Request Item
Vol. 7. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1915-02-01-1915-05-11	Request Item
Vol. 8. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Uaxactun Discovery	1916-04-25-1916-05-31	Request Item
Vol. 9, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1917-04-26-1917-09-19	Request Item
Vol. 9, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1917-09-20-1917-11-08	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:322796/
Vol. 9, part 3. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1917-11-09-1917-12-31	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:302208
Vol. 10. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Guatemala City	1918-01-01-1918-02-28	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:309740/
Vol. 11. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Excavations at Quirigua	1919-05-01-1919-06-08	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:323642/
Vol. 12. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1920-05-01-1920-06-07	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:328424/
Vol. 13, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1921-01-01-1921-02-28	Request Item
Access digital object: https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/text:335905/
Vol. 13, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1921-03-01-1921-04-21	Request Item
Vol. 13, part 3. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1921-04-22-1921-06-07	Request Item
Vol. 14, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1922-01-10-1922-03-05	Request Item
Vol. 14, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1922-04-18-1922-05-13	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-01-31-1923-03-14	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-03-15-1923-04-15	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 3. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-04-16-1923-05-11	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 4. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-05-11-1923-06-05	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 5. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-06-05-1923-06-30	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 6. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-07-01-1923-07-30	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 7. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1923-07-31-1923-08-31	Request Item
Vol. 15, part 7 (insert). Rhoads, Dorothy Frances. Telegram to Sylvanus Griswold Morley.	1922-04-23	Request Item
Vol. 16, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1924-02-22-1924-04-13	Request Item
Vol. 16, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1924-04-28-1924-07-07	Request Item
Vol. 17. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley	1925-01-12-1925-05-19	Request Item
Vol. 18, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Yaxchilan Expedition	1931-03-22-1931-04-18	Request Item
Sketch from vol. 18, part 1. Mayan glyphs	1931	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2729
Vol. 18, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Yaxchilan Expedition	1931-04-19-1931-05-15	Request Item
Sketch from vol. 18, part 2. Mayan glyphs	1931	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2728
Sketch from vol. 18, part 2. Mayan temple	1931	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2726
Vol. 19, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Calakmul Expedition	1932-04-03-1932-04-17	Request Item
Sketch from vol. 19, part 1. Mayan glyphs	1932	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2730
Sketch from vol. 19, part 1. Mayan glyphs	1932	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2732
Vol. 19, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Calakmul Expedition	1932-04-13-1932-05-01	Request Item
Vol. 20. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Copán Expedition	1937-01-13-1937-02-23	Request Item
Vol. 21. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Uxmal Expedition	1941-02-10-1942-02-05	Request Item
Sketch from vol. 21. Great Pyramid, Uxmal	1941	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2727
Sketch from vol. 21. Mayan glyphs	1941	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2731
Sketch from vol. 21. Mayan glyphs	1941	Request Item
Access digital object: http://diglib.amphilsoc.org/fedora/repository/graphics:2725
Vol. 22, part 1. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Central American Expedition	1944-02-12-1944-03-20	Request Item
Vol. 22, part 2. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Central American Expedition	1944-03-21-1944-04-27	Request Item
Vol. 23. Diary of Sylvanus Griswold Morley--Guatemala and Honduras Expedition	1947-03-16-1947-04-13	Request Item
Vol. 23 (insert). Newspaper clippings	1955-03	Request Item
Newspaper clippings from the New Mexican: "Mrs. Sylvanus Morley Succumbs at Espanola" describes the death of Frances Rhoades Morley (Sylvanus Griswold Morley's widow), and "Mr. Citizen--What He Thinks: Vay Morley Was Pioneer Worker in Move for Santa Fe Architecture" by Boaz Long, Museum of New Mexico, describes Sylvanus's work in Santa Fe.