Milwaukee Public Museum

Crow war shirt, late nineteenth century, from the North American enthonology collections. MPM Enthnology 303.


Potawatomi bag from the North American ethnology collections, early twentieth century. MPM Ethnology collections 55489.

Both archaeology and ethnology are strongly represented in the MPM collections. Currently there are approximately 57,000 catalogued items or lots in archaeology, with approximately 36,000 catalogued items in ethnology (62% archaeology, 38% ethnology).

With the exception of a single totem pole, all anthropology holdings are housed on-site. Most collections are housed in three connected basement rooms totaling 5,554 ft² of environmentally monitored storage, with restricted access tracked by electronic key-card locks.

Collections are fully catalogued and well-organized, although most are housed in substandard open wooden shelving units. While space is currently limited, and there is little to no expansion room in areas of significant collections growth, repatriation of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects over the next several years may temporarily relieve some of the overcrowding in some areas. New cabinets and compactor storage are planned as longer-term solutions.

Archaeology (including physical anthropology) and Ethnology collections are separately catalogued, and all objects are separately indexed by entry (main catalogue books and separate catalogue cards) and locality (separate location card set).

Catalogue information about the Ethnology and Archaeology collections is currently being recorded in the collections management database system KE Emu. The KE Emu system has also been adopted by the museum’s History section as well as core museological sections (e.g. registration, conservation). KE Emu supports the management of digital assets, and the museum plans to use the integrated web interface provided by KE Emu to publish collections online.