Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

06/04/2026

The Boston Globe says “one look, and you keep looking” at the photos in the new exhibit From Iran: A Visual Testimony, by artist Azadeh Akhlaghi. Read the article:
https://tinyurl.com/BostonGlobeFromIran

Azadeh's stages and photographs pivotal moments from Iran's tumultuous 20th-century history for which no visual records exist. Drawing on meticulous archival research and a background in cinema, Akhlaghi directs professional and nonprofessional actors to recreate these historical events as complex, dramatic tableaux. Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/FromIranExhibit

Credit: Detail from The First Iranian Women’s Movement, Dr. Kahhal’s Office, Tehran | December 1, 1911.

06/01/2026

Artscope Magazine writes “…masterful.....this photographer succeeds in achieving a near impossible task: she gives history back to the people who lived it, through the bodies of those who live today,” of the new “From Iran: A Visual Testimony” exhibition by photographer Azadeh Akhlaghi.

She reimagines key moments in 20th-century Iranian history in carefully researched and elaborately staged large-scale photos. Read the full review: https://tinyurl.com/ArtscopeFromIran (subscriber link). Learn more about the exhibition:
https://tinyurl.com/FromIranExhibit

Image: detail of Women Political Prisoners Performing “The Little Prince,” Women’s Ward, Qasr Prison, Tehran | 1975. © Azadeh Akhlaghi.

05/31/2026

“Roger Marshutz is one of the best photographers you’ve probably never heard of,” said the Peabody Museum's Curator of Visual Anthropology Ilisa Barbash, at a recent free public program featuring her upcoming book "The Forgotten Home Front: Roger Marshutz’s Photographs of Pusan, South Korea, 1952-1954” coming from the Peabody Museum Press.

In a story from the Harvard Gazette, Barbash and her coauthor Sean Kim describe how Marshutz is "best known as a Hollywood photographer, capturing iconic images of the luminaries of the mid-20th century: Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman. But he honed his skills as an Army photographer in Pusan.”

Read the full story: https://tinyurl.com/MarshutzGazette

05/27/2026

Meet Luis-Daniel Beauchamp, a second-year Harvard graduate student focusing on Caribbean history and the Taíno history of Borikén/Puerto Rico. Drawn to the Peabody Museum by the realization that so many objects from his homeland are here in Cambridge, Luis-Daniel describes his research in three words: tradition, ancestral, and powerful.

One of the most magnificent—yet less known—parts of the collection he wishes everyone knew about are the Taíno stone collars. Carved with incredible skill, these stone rings were worn as "regalia by caciques (chiefs) during important ceremonies,” he says. “They would make a great addition to exhibitions, although they are quite heavy!”

By centering Borikén Taíno objects, his work sheds light on a region of Indigenous history, creating a vital resource for modern descendants seeking to reconnect with their ancestral heritage.

“Historically, museums in North America have paid less attention to objects from South America and the Caribbean, and I think by studying Boriken Taíno objects one can learn so much about a part of the United States that few people think about."

Luis-Daniel portrait by Tony Rinaldo; 76-27-30/9580 Gift of the Smithsonian Institution.

05/26/2026

Congratulations to Andrew Bair, one of the Peabody Museum’s “virtual archaeologists in the classroom,” soon to graduate from Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Through the museum, Andrew has visited students in grades 3-12 virtually to explain how archaeologists like himself study the human past. https://tinyurl.com/AndrewBairGSAS

05/24/2026

To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, a silk taffeta sash formerly worn by George Washington will be on view in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology starting tomorrow, Monday, May 25th. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐌𝐒𝐂 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐲.

Washington is shown wearing this sash in a 1776 painting by American artist Charles Willson Peale. Washington—thirteen years away from being elected president of the United States—wears regalia befitting his status as the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

Read more about how the sash made its journey to the Peabody, and an account of the relationship between Peale and George Washington:
https://tinyurl.com/PeabodySash

The sash will be on view in the 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘐𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 gallery starting 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟓 through 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. Additionally, artifacts related to the American Revolution excavated from Harvard Yard and Fort Independence are on display in the Peabody lobby cases through April 20, 2027.

Silk taffeta sash, formerly worn by George Washington
979-13-10/58761
Gift of the heirs of David Kimball

Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741-1827). George Washington, 1776. Oil on canvas, 44 x 38 5/16 in. (111.7 x 97.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 34.1178.

05/22/2026

"When visual artist Azadeh Akhlaghi began staging photographs of pivotal moments in Iranian history, she thought that with enough research, she could uncover the truth of each moment.”

By the end, she wasn’t so sure.

Read the full story about Akhlaghi and her new exhibition "From Iran: A Visual Testimony” at the Peabody Museum.
https://tinyurl.com/FromIranGazette

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘻𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘩: 𝘕𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳/𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺

Photographer brings 11 key scenes from the 20th century to life in a new exhibit at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology.

05/21/2026

A famous American fashion statement helps bring Revolutionary history to life.