Kelsey Museum of Archaeology records, 1890-2001 - University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library - University of Michigan Finding Aids (original) (raw)

Introduction

The Francis W. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology was founded in 1928 to house, care for, and exhibit the university's growing collection of ancient artifacts acquired through purchase, gift or as the result of archaeological excavations by university faculty.

Francis W. Kelsey, Professor of Latin Language and Literature, 1889-1927, began the university's archaeological apart of his extensive travels and research in the Mediterranean, Near East and North Africa. In 1924 Kelsey organized the first of a series of excavation in Egypt and Iraq under the auspices of the Institute for Archaeological Research with funding provided by Horace Rackham.

Professor Arthur E.R. Boak directed the initial excavations at Karanis, Egypt, which continued through 1935 under the Professor Enoch E. Peterson. Major excavations were also conducted at Dimé and Terenouthis. Kelsey chose Professor David Robinson of Johns Hopkins University to lead the Asia Minor expedition. The Michigan team initially assistance William Ramsey excavation of the site of Roman Antioch at Pisidia. Robinson later received permission form the Turkish authorities to begin excavations at Sizma, near Konia. The core of the Museum's collection derives from these excavations.

After Kelsey's death in 1927 a Museum of Classical Archaeology was established as part of the University Museums, with Professor John G. Winter of the Department of Latin and Greek as director and Dr. Orma Fitch Butler as curator. In 1940 the museum became a separate reassert unit of the University under the title Museum of Art and Archaeology. as renamed the Museum of Archaeology when the Art Museum was made a separate entity. The Board of Regents recognized Kelsey's pioneering work by renaming the museum the Francis W. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in 1953.

From its founding, the Kelsey Museum has been located in the former Student Christian Association building on State Street.

The Kelsey Museum now houses a collection of nearly 100,000 objects from the civilizations of the Mediterranean. A selection of these artifacts are featured in two permanent galleries: Egypt and the Ancient Near East, and Greece, Etruria, Rome, 5000 BC - AD 900, as well as in a gallery with annual changing exhibitions. The museum also sponsors research, educational programs for children, oversees fieldwork projects, and serves as the home for the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology.

Museum Directors

Museum Curators

Arthur E.R. Boak

Arthur E. R. Boak (as he was known), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 29, 1888. He received a Master of Arts degree from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario in 1907, and then attended Harvard where he received a second Master's degree in 1911 and the Ph.D. in 1914. He joined the University of Michigan in 1914 and taught history for the next forty-four years.

Boak was considered to be one of the most prominent of American and world scholars in ancient history. He was a Henry Russell Lecturer in 1949-1950 and was awarded the Jerome Lectureship in 1951-1952. Earlier, he had served on the staff of the University of Michigan expedition to Karanis during the 1924-1925 season and again in 1931-1932.

Boak was active in many societies: he was a fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters, a member of the American Historical Association, American Philological Association, The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, Association Internationale de Papyrologues, the U.S. Naval Institute; the Archaeological Institute of America, the Bavarian Academy of Arts, Science and Letters, the Medieval Academy of America, the Research Club of the University of Michigan; he served on the Board of Editors and Council of the American Historical Association and the Council of Mediaeval Academy.

Boak was the author or co-author of eleven books, including The History of Our World (1954) and A History of Rome to 565 A.D. (1955). When he died on December 16, 1962, Boak was eulogized for his devotion to his students and his contributions to the field of history.

Campbell Bonner

Campbell Bonner was born in Nashville, Tennessee on January 30, 1876. He received the A.B. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1896, and the A.M. (in 1898) and Ph.D. (in 1900) from Harvard. Bonner studied at the University of Berlin during the winter of 1900-01, and traveled extensively in Greece and Italy in 1901. He taught at Peabody College for Teachers at the University of Nashville from 1906 to 1907 and then came to the University of Michigan where he taught for the next forty years, earning the title of Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1947.

Bonner's specialty was deciphering inscriptions on gnostic gems and stones; he was also noted for his translations of ancient Greek writings. He served as president of several societies: the American Philological Association (1933), the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (1918-1919) and the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters (1923-1924). Bonner was a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Philosophical Society, and Phi Beta Kappa; a fellow of the American Academy of Science, a corresponding fellow of the British Academy, and served on the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

His published writings include A Papyrus Codex of the Shepherd of Hermas (1933), The Last Chapters of Enoch in Greek (1937), The Homily of the Passion by Melito Bishop of Sardis (1940) and Studies in the Magical Amulets (1949).

Campbell Bonner died in 1954.

Institute of Archaeological Research

A group of records designated by the office of origin as the "Institute of Archaeological Research" (hereafter known as the I.A.R.), are actually the files of one continuous Committee. The responsibilities and name of the Committee evolved over the years; however, the original purpose of the Committee remained as when it was first convened, namely interest in Near East research. Although records of the Advisory Committee on Near East Research and the Near East Research Committee were filed under "N," these records actually preceded "Institute" records. The I.A.R. later became the Committee on Research. Following is a brief summary of the formation of this committee.

Shortly after World War I, Francis Kelsey took a leave of absence from the University and made several trips to Europe to purchase additional artifacts for the University of Michigan collections. Costs were underwritten by friends of the University. In 1923, Horace Rackham of Detroit gave $100,000, payable over two years to support research in the humanities. This donation made possible the first of many expeditions to Egypt, notably to Karanis in the Fayoum district. An informal group known as the Advisory Committee on Near East Research was established in January 1924 to oversee this fund and formulate general policies regarding the expedition. President Marion Burton, Deans John Effinger and Alfred Lloyd, Professors Arthur Boak, Campbell Bonner, John Winter, Henry Sanders and Frank Robbins and Librarian William Bishop served as advisors.

The first expedition was divided into sections and began work at Karanis, Antioch in Pisidia and Sizma in 1924. Work at Karanis continued until 1935. A small expedition was sent to Carthage in 1925 but work terminated there after one season. In the mid-thirties, digging resumed at Dimé which was surveyed about the time that work began at Karanis. In 1935, the last excavations took place at Terenouthis, now called Kom Abou Bilou.

After Kelsey's death in 1927, the Board of Regents gave the Advisory Committee specific authority to direct all activities connected with the Karanis expedition and changed its title to the Committee on Near East Research. However, several years later further changes became necessary. On April 30, 1931, the Board of Regents mandated that the designation Institute of Archaeological Research was to replace the Committee title. There were several reasons: an Institute would suggest more permanence and prestige than a "Committee," an Institute would command more respect when seeking funds and grants, and the new title and structure would facilitate the coordination and control of various projects. The charter of the I.A.R. was to promote archaeological excavations, carry out the study and publication of archaeological material and foster other studies associated with archaeological work.

Institute officers consisted of a Director, who supervised the affairs and policies of the Institute, and an Executive Secretary, who managed the business affairs and took care of all official correspondence and publicity. These two, together with one other member chosen from the Institute, constituted the Executive Committee. They were appointed annually by the Board of Regents on nomination by the Institute and held office until successors were appointed. In fact, most members served on this committee for a number of years. New people were appointed if a member asked to be excused or if a vacancy arose due to the death of a member.

In addition to the Egyptian expeditions sponsored by the University from 1924 to 1937, the I.A.R. in conjunction with the Toledo Museum of Art, in 1928 financed an expedition begun by Professor Leroy Waterman at Tel Umar in Iraq. Support continued from 1929 to 1930, and from 1930 to 1931, support was carried on with the additional help of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Work ceased for several years during the economic depression, then resumed from 1936 to 1937 under Clark Hopkins.

Aside from funds allocated for the expeditions, an appropriation of $250,000 spread over five years was given by the General Education Board to assist in work related to the expeditions and performed in Ann Arbor. Sixteen volumes were published by the University in the Humanistic Series; these included reports on the excavations and monographs devoted to papyri, ostraca, Egyptian textiles and Parthian pottery.

In the fall of 1938, the by-laws of the University were being revised by Provost E. B. Stetson; he suggested that the group consider a new name, as the name I.A.R. "did not appear to express with entire accuracy the Institute's purposes." In 1941 the Regents accepted the following changes. The President would appoint a Committee on Research, to be attached to the Museum of Art and Archaeology, whose focus would be Mediterranean lands and the Near East. Its duties were specifically limited to "the acquisition of archaeological materials, including papyrological and paleographical collections from these regions, and to the formulation of plans for their study and publication." The Committee was also empowered to establish regulations for the use and study of collections by scholars who were not connected with the University. The Committee was to promote and be responsible for the general direction and oversight of archaeological excavations, including preparing budgets and nominating personnel to serve in the field.

After the Regents approved these recommendations, the obligations and membership of the Institute were transferred to the new Committee on Research. Among others, these members included the President, Dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, and Dean of the Graduate School; the Director of the Museum of Art and Archaeology served as an ex officio member of the Committee. The officers and members of the Executive Committee on Research were the same as those of the Institute and they continued to carry out essentially the same duties as previously. This Committee functioned until 1949.

Thomas Spencer Jerome

Thomas Spencer Jerome, benefactor of the Jerome Lectureships given bi-annually at the University of Michigan and the American Academy in Rome, was born on January 24, 1864 in Saginaw, Michigan. Son of ex-Governor David Jerome and Lucey Amelia Peck Jerome, he attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1884 with the A.B. degree, He spent the next year studying law, then went on to take a Master of Arts degree at Harvard in 1887.

He practiced law in Detroit for the next decade; however, he looked forward to early retirement so that he could devote himself to the study of ancient history. In 1898 Jerome was appointed by the Secretary of War as Counsel to the Transportation Division headed by Colonel Frank J. Hecker in Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. According to Col. Hecker, "...Jerome rendered most valuable service to the government, and was of great assistance to me personally in the difficult duties I had...." He cited Jerome's conversance with the Spanish language, his legal training and quick mind as great assets in expediting arrangements with the Cuban railroad officials to transport the Army of Occupation. Jerome also negotiated the building of track from the Bay of Havanna to the Cuban railway system, thereby avoiding use of the warehouses and docks inhabited by the Spanish soldiers, an area which was known to be infested with yellow fever.

Jerome went on to serve as Consular Agent in Sorrento, Italy (1900-1901), then took up permanent duties as Consular Agent in Capri, Italy. There he immersed himself in the study of ancient civilizations. It is interesting to note that in his reply to the Michigan Alumni questionnaire in 1901, he lists under occupation, "Retired, resident in Capri, Italy," but in 1910, under the same heading he answered, "Historical Student." Despite the pain brought on by his recurrent gastric illness, Jerome spent the years in Capri reading, studying and writing about history. He amassed a great quantity of notes which were carefully filed. From these he wrote monographs, articles, gave a series of lectures at the American Academy in Rome (1911), in Capri (1912) and presented a paper in London before the International Congress of Historical Studies (1913). Jerome published a book in 1914 Roman Memories in the Landscape Seen From Capri. He was editing and re-writing a major portion of his manuscripts for-publication of a larger work dealing with the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire at the time of his death on April 12, 1914 from a gastric hemorrhage. He was buried in a nearby cemetery on his beloved island of Capri.

Francis Willey Kelsey

Francis Willey Kelsey, for whom the Archaeological Museum at the University of Michigan is named, was born in Ogden, New York, May 23, 1858. After graduating from the University of Rochester in 1880, he went on to study in Europe (1883-1885). Kelsey received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rochester in 1886 and became a professor of Latin at Lake Forest College (1882-1889): in 1889 he took the chair previously held by Professor Henry Frieze at the University of Michigan, as Professor of the Latin Language and Literature. He was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Rochester in 1910.

Kelsey's interests were many fold, his efforts tireless, and his mind always eager to tackle a new subject or devise new methods of attacking old problems. As an educator, Kelsey was loved by pupils and esteemed by his colleagues: pupils and professionals alike increasingly sought his advice and counsel on a myriad of matters. Kelsey was respected as a learned, accurate writer and editor. He was compared to University of Michigan President James Angell in his use of "calm, serene, high-minded, simple English." His accomplishments as a writer and editor kept him at the forefront of classical education. Always a champion of a sound classical education, he edited Greek and Latin in American Education (1911). His editions of Caesar's Gallic War, Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectute, Laelius de Amicitia, Cicero's Orations, Ovid, Lucretius and Xenophon's Anabasis (with Professor Zenos) are considered first class resource books even today, some 85 years after publication. He translated August Mau's Pompeii, Its Life and Art and was at work on a huge detailed /study of Pompeii When he died in 1927. The many articles contributed to scholarly and popular journals reflected his interests in education, the classics, religion, and archaeology. From 1890 until his death he was the editor (with Professor Percy Gardner) of the Handbooks of Archaeology and Antiquities published by Macmillan: he edited with Professor Henry Sanders more than fifteen volumes in the Humanistic Series published by the University of Michigan.

Kelsey was active in many professional societies also reflecting his broad interests: these included the Schoolmaster's Club, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Historical Association, the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, the Classical Association of Great Britain, and the Deutsches Archeologisches Institut. He was a corresponding member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belle- Lettres of Paris. Kelsey served as President of the American Philological Association, 1906-1907, and President of the Archaeological Institute of America, 1907-1912. During his "five year tenure, the Institute launched new ventures, such as sponsorship of an expedition to Cyrene in 1910-1911. Kelsey was also instrumental in shaping policy for the schools of archaeology both here and abroad: he helped establish new schools in addition to maintaining a continued active interest in the management of those already in operation.

Kelsey's interest in archaeology prompted him to organize five expeditions to the Near East for the University of Michigan from 1919 until his death. In 1920 Kelsey supervised a detailed survey of the battlefields of Julius Caesar in France and Belgium; he then went to Turkey where he explored Roman ruins and studied ancient manuscripts found there. Excavations at Pisidion-Antioch and Sizma in 1924, revealed ruins of a church where Paul may have preached, and fine examples of Roman antiquities. He directed a 1925 expedition to Carthage, and excavations in Karanis revealed a typical Egyptian town in the Graeco-Roman period.

Kelsey made numerous and lasting contributions to the University of Michigan. Paul Bulkley, Assistant Secretary at the University, once suggested to Kelsey that a book be written titled, "The Gifts [to the University of Michigan] Which Have Come Through Professor Kelsey." Kelsey had a deep love for music and for many years he served as President of the Musical Society. Through his personal efforts, the Choral Union Series flourished and grew by attracting such performers as Caruso and Paderewski to Ann Arbor. Kelsey was a prime force in securing funds to build Hill Auditorium. President Harvey Hutchins called him "visionary" when Kelsey suggested locating the auditorium on the site it occupies today. He was instrumental in efforts to secure the great organ which was exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair, and brought it to Michigan as a memorial to Henry Frieze; the cost was underwritten by the many people personally contacted by Kelsey. However, his dream of building a large, moveable stage so that grand opera could be performed at the Hill auditorium was not to be. Kelsey urged that Albert Stanley's work on Greek Themes in Modern Musical Settings be published in the Humanistic Series:-and secured the Stearns collection of rare musical instruments for the University.

Kelsey actively monitored a plan for the campus of the University, advocating strict adherence to its proposals, so that the campus would retain its beauty and dignity with the passing years. The donation of a bronze fountain by the mayor of Ann Arbor found a suitable campus location through Kelsey's efforts. His visions of continued growth led to contacts with Horace Rackham who contributed generously to the Near East Expeditions. Through his efforts, the Pendelton Library in the Michigan Union was built and stocked. Many scholarships and fellowships were established and underwritten by the benefactors he solicited. It was also Kelsey's idea to publish the Frieze Diary.

Kelsey sought to attract the best minds to the Latin Department and was tireless in his efforts to secure funds for scholarly projects which would enhance the reputation of the University. One of these projects was the Humanistic Series, to encourage scholars to publish manuscripts which would stand as singular contributions to scholarship and win international recognition. After an unsuccessful attempt to finance this plan through the Regents, President Angell advised Kelsey to see Regent Arthur Hill, Chairman of the Finance Committee. Hill was so taken with the idea, that he gave Kelsey a personal donation of $300 to get things started. The first volume of the Humanistic Series appeared in 1904. Philanthropist Charles Freer of Detroit, also impressed with Kelsey's idea, chose the Humanistic Series as the medium to make available facsimiles of his manuscripts to scholars. So close was their collaboration that Freer left a bequest to the University in order to continue publication in connection with his collections, even though the collections themselves were deeded already to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Association with Charles Freer also brought to the University the Dattari Coin collection, an outstanding collection consisting mainly of Egyptian coins dated from just before the founding of Alexandria to the middle of the fourth century A.D. Other coin collections came to the University through Kelsey also and it was Kelsey's contacts through Freer which led to the acquisition of the great papyri collection.

Charles Freer and Thomas Spencer Jerome, an alumnus of the University of Michigan, were close friends. Although it is not clear how Kelsey became acquainted with either gentleman, Kelsey's diaries reveal that he knew them well enough to have been invited to lunch at their villa in Capri, Italy in 1901. After Jerome died in 1914, Kelsey went to Italy in 1915 to oversee Jerome's estate, divide his library collection between the University of Michigan and the American Academy in Rome, and rescue his monumental manuscript on "Roman Morals", which he was writing at the time of his death. This manuscript was to be published by G.P. Putnam.

Returning to America by ship, Kelsey met Dr. David Askren, a missionary and physician, then working in the Fayoum district of Egypt; through him, Kelsey heard of the existence of rare papyri. Appointing Askren an agent for the University and working through Maurice Nahman, an Egyptian dealer in antiquities to whom Freer had introduced him, Kelsey was able to secure a number of rare and valuable papyri in 1920. These were divided between the University of Wisconsin and Michigan; however, Michigan's collection is considered even today to be the finest in the western hemisphere.

As a further word regarding Kelsey, Jerome and Freer, Kelsey assigned to Professor John Winter of the University of Michigan the task of readying Jerome's manuscript for publication. Working from Jerome's unfinished manuscript and detailed notes Aspects of the Study of Roman History finally was published in 1923. Kelsey's advice was instrumental in carrying out Jerome's bequest to the University to "further historical research" by establishing the Jerome Lectureship at the University and the American Academy in Rome. The Jerome Lectures bring outstanding classical scholars to Ann Arbor and Rome, bi-annually to deliver a series of lectures. Winter was selected to present the first Jerome Lecture. As a final note on Kelsey's relationship with Freer, Kelsey wrote to Charles Freer in 1904, asking that he consider giving a $500 Fellowship to John Winter; Freer did so, anonymously.

Kelsey's humanitarianism led him to assist other poor scholars as well by quietly asking benefactors for anonymous assistance to them. His efforts also crossed nationalistic lines. German Colleagues acknowledged Kelsey's efforts in securing private contributions after the war to continue their work on the great Latin Thesaurus. He aided in the work of the Near East Relief Committee after the Armenian Massacre: he was Secretary in the State of Michigan for the Belgium Relief Committee, whose mission was to feed and clothe the children in Belgium after World War I.

Kelsey also was an active participant in his church and was a dedicated family man. He married Isabel Badger in 1886, and had two daughters and one son. He returned to Ann Arbor after the 1926 expedition in poor health and intense pain, yet he managed to keep up his correspondence until he died on May 14, 1927. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Ann Arbor.

Francis Kelsey left behind a remarkable series of contributions to the academic world in general and the University of Michigan in particular. His papers are an accurate reflection of those contributions and his many interests.

Robert H. McDowell 1894-

Born in Persia in 1894 and a native of Alexandria and Syria, McDowell graduated from Wooster, Ohio Preparatory School and then from Wooster College in 1915. He received a Masters and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University two years later in 1917. McDowell served as a Lieutenant in British Military Intelligence during World War I. He was the first Treasurer of the American Relief Committee in Iran in 1917 and the first Director of Near East Relief in Turkey after the war. McDowell became a Research Associate in Mesopotamian Studies at the Kelsey Museum and did field work in Tell Umar, Iraq and Seleucia and Tigris from 1935 to 1936. His published writings in the Humanistic Series focused on the results of those expeditions. He entered the U.S. Army in 1942 as an intelligence officer and was awarded the Bronze Star in 1945 for meritorious service in Yugoslavia. McDowell became associated with the history department at the University of Michigan in 1945 and resigned in February 1946 to take a position with the Federal Government in Washington, D.C.

Enoch Ernest Peterson

Enoch E. Peterson was born on September 24, 1891 in Liberty Pole, Wisconsin, and later moved with his family to Fargo, North Dakota. He graduated from the preparatory and college departments of Luther College in Deborah, Iowa in 1912 and taught Latin there, first to preparatory, and then to college students. He entered the University of Michigan in 1921 as a graduate student and earned a Master's Degree one year later. The University sent him to Edinburgh in 1923 to do special research under Sir William Ramsay, the distinguished Anatolian scholar, in preparation for proposed excavations at Antioch in Asia Minor, and he remained in Edinburgh until 1925.

During this same time, Peterson did extensive field research for the University of Michigan excavations, first under David M. Robinson at Antioch in Pisidia during the summer of 1924, then at Carthage in North Africa under Francis Kelsey in the spring of 1925 and finally under James Starkey at Karanis in Egypt during the 1925-1926 season. Kelsey was so impressed with the young man's aptitude for research and his qualities of leadership, that he recommended Peterson be appointed Director of the expedition for the 1927-1928 season. Peterson served in that capacity, and went on to oversee other University sponsored excavations in Egypt, Karanis, Dimé, and Terenouthis until all operations were finally halted in 1935.

During this period Peterson developed a love for Egypt and the desert, and he would recall his experiences in that area with great pleasure. He devoted himself to field work. Peter - son's instincts and methodology led his team to successfully uncover an entire city of the Greco-Roman period, thereby permitting the study of daily life in an ancient city. In addition, numerous relics were positively identified and dated, enabling archaeologists to classify similar pieces whose exact origins and functions had heretofore been unclear.

Upon his return to the University of Michigan in 1935, he was appointed Egyptian Curator of the Museum of Art and Archaeology and taught laboratory courses in numismatics and other antiquities in 1938. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Luther College in 1941. Peterson succeeded John Winter as Museum Director in 1950, serving in that capacity until he retired in 1961.

During the post-Karanis years, Peterson also worked continuously and diligently to publish the results of his efforts in Karanis. In addition to his reports published in the Humanistic Series, Peterson gave many lectures on the subject, and wrote about the coins of Karanis with Rolfe Haatvedt, and on the topography and architecture of Karanis. Course 51, which he taught in the 1950's, incorporated the knowledge and experience accrued during the archaeological expeditions. Upon his retirement in 1962, the Regents named Peterson Director Emeritus of the Kelsey Museum and Lecturer Emeritus in Classical Studies. Peterson died in September 1978 in Fargo, North Dakota.

Louise Shier

Louise Shier, born in Detroit on September 28, 1906, attended high school there. She earned all her degrees at the University of Michigan: A.B. in 1927; M.A. in 1928; Ph.D. in Oriental Languages in 1933 and an A.M. in Library Science in 1936. Miss Shier started at the Kelsey Museum as a student, and remained to become Assistant Curator, Associate Curator, and Curator until her retirement in 1977. She also served as Museum Director for a short time in the early 1970s. She contributed to an article published in the Humanistic Series by Professor Worrell, and wrote Terracotta Lamps from Karanis, Egypt which was published in 1978. Miss Shier was a member of the American Oriental Society, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Research Center in Egypt and she served for a number of years as Secretary of the Women's Research Club of the University of Michigan. Miss Shier passed away in 2015.

John Garrett Winter

John Garrett Winter, first Director of the Museum of Art and Archaeology (since renamed the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology), was born in Holland, Michigan on February 14, 1881. He received the A.B. degree in 1901 from Hope College in Holland, and taught Latin and Greek there for two years. He earned the A. M. degree from the University of Michigan in 1904 and the Ph.D. degree in 1906. He taught Latin and Greek at Michigan, then in 1919 became Professor of the Latin Language and Literature and served as Chairman of the Latin Department from 1928 - 1946.

Francis Kelsey in his position as head of the Latin Department chose Winter to edit the manuscripts of Thomas Spencer Jerome, a former graduate of the University, whose generosity led to the establishment of a lectureship in classical studies. In 1929, Winter gave the first Jerome Lecture at the University and the American Academy in Rome. He was named Russell Lecturer for 1935- 36.

When the Museum of Art and Archaeology was established in 1929, Winter was appointed Director and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1950. He was also Director of Fine Arts (1928 - 1946), member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, and a member of the Advisory Council of the American Academy in Rome. He was a member of a number of professional and scholarly societies, including the Societe Royal Egyptienne de Papyrologie, the American Philological Association, (he served as President in 1944), the Internationale de Papyrologues, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Association of University Professors, the Netherlands American University League, Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, the Research Club of the University of Michigan and Phi Beta Kappa.

Winter wrote a number of books and articles, including Prodomus of Nicolous Stenos (1916) Life and Letters in the Papyri (1933), and Michigan Papyri (Vol. III) (1936). He was editor of the Aspects of the Study of Roman History (1923, Jerome's book) and served as general editor of the Humanistic Series from 1928-1950. Winter was noted for the citations, which he wrote and read at all commencement and other ceremonial occasions. John Winter died on March 23, 1956 and is buried in Arborcrest Cemetery in Ann Arbor.