George Byron Gordon

Background

George Byron Gordon was born on August 4, 1870, at New Perth, Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was the son of James and Jane McLaren Gordon, and, as the names attest, of Scotch ancestry.

Education

After attending the schools of his native country, Gordon studied at the University of South Carolina.

From 1890 to 1893 and again from 1901 to 1903, he was a student at Harvard University, receiving at the end of that time the D. S. degree in anthropology.

Career

From 1894 to 1900, Gordon was the chief of the Harvard archeological expedition to Honduras in Central America. The expedition’s main field of work was at Copan, the ruins of which formed the subject of a number of his publications.

In 1903, he was called to the University Museum in Philadelphia as assistant curator in the department of anthropology, and in the following year, he became curator of the department and lecturer in anthropology in the University of Pennsylvania.

The second of these positions he held until 1907 when he became an assistant professor of anthropology. In 1915, he withdrew from teaching to devote his whole time to the Museum.

He had been appointed a director of the Museum in 1910, having been selected for this position with the hope that he could coordinate and reorganize its work. In this, he was eminently successful, holding the directorship until early in 1927, when his tragic death resulted from a fall which fractured his skull.

Gordon’s scientific interests were confined to anthropology until 1910. His special field of research was American anthropology.

Achievements

• As curator of the anthropological section of the Museum, Gordon led an expedition to Alaska, thus gaining first-hand knowledge of the far North similar to that which he had previously gained of the S. When he became director of the Museum, his interest at once broadened, and he devoted his energies to the task of making it a record of the history of mankind. Shortly after he became a director, Charles Custis Harrison became president of the Museum’s board, and the two worked together toward this end. Expeditions were sent to Egypt, Palestine, and Babylonia, in each of which countries notable work was begun. Not only was the Museum enriched from these sources, but a section of Chinese Art was added. In addition to these works, he contributed numerous articles and reviews to the American Anthropologist, the Museum Journal, and other periodicals.

Works

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  • The Serpent Motive in the Ancient Art of Central America and Mexico

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel; With Introd. by G.B. Gordon; Volume 5

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Prehistoric Ruins of Copan, Honduras: A Preliminary Report of the Explorations by the Museum, 1891-1895; Volume 1

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Don Juan. Canto the Seventeenth. London-1870

    (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

Views

Like many Canadians, Gordon was not entirely in sympathy with his American surroundings, and during the World War, he did what he could to arouse Canada to do her share in preserving the British Empire.

Personality

While Gordon possessed many attractive personal qualities, he found it difficult to cooperate in enterprises of which others were leaders and had the reputation of being an exacting master.

Connections

Father:

James Gordon

Mother:

Jane McLaren Gordon