WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
ROBERT L. SCHUYLER, Ph.D.
(professor of archaeology and anthropology, museum curator)
CONTACT INFORMATION
DeceasedRobert L. Schuyler, Ph.D.
Associate Curator In Charge, Historical Archaeology Section
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
33rd and Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324
(215)898-6965 office
(215)898-0657 fax
schuyler@sas.upenn.edu
BIOGRAPHY
Robert L. Schuyler (pronounced "Skyler") earned his B.A. in Anthropology (1964) at the University of Arizona (Tucson) and a Ph.D., also in Anthropology, at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1975. His dissertation was entitled, "Anthropological Perspectives in Historical Archaeology."Dr. Schuyler has taught at the University of Maryland, City University of New York (CUNY), and since 1980 at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1980 he served as President ("Executive Officer") of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology (CUNY) and in 1982 as President of the national Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA). In 2009 he was awarded the J.C. Harrington Medal in Historical Archaeology, the highest recognition for scholarship in his discipline.
Dr. Schuyler was a life member of the Washington County Historical Society.
Sadly, this great man passed away on May 13, 2023.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, UTAH ACTIVITIES
1980: Dr. Schuyler brought two student assistants out to Washington County for a two-week survey of abandoned Mormon towns and cemeteries. He got interested in the old ghost town of Silver Reef.1981: Dr. Schuyler brought a field school from Penn to carry out a survey and surface collection of the Main Street and Chinatown area of Silver Reef.
1982: Dr. Schuyler and a team from the University of Pennsylvania excavated the old Elk Horn Saloon site in Silver Reef.
1983: Dr. Schuyler carried out archival research on Silver Reef in Salt Lake City, California, and the Midwest.
1984: Dr. Schuyler returned to extensively search local Washington County records (St. George) on Silver Reef.
1985: Dr. Schuyler and a team from Penn excavated the surface of the former Case/Wagner Drug Store in Silver Reef.
1986: Dr. Schuyler continued archival research in Silver Reef in St. George.
1987: Dr. Schuyler and a Penn team excavated the backyard of Margaret Grambs' Cosmopolitan Restaurant in Silver Reef which has since been reconstructed.
1988: Dr. Schuyler visited the Stormont Mill site (Babylon) and did archival research on Silver Reef in Reno, Nevada.
1989: Dr. Schuyler did archival research on Silver Reef at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson.
1990-2012: Dr. Schuyler and his students continued archival research on Silver Reef at Penn including a complete analysis and break-down (copying) of the Silver Reef Miner and the major Salt Lake newspapers.
1990-2012: Dr. Schuyler and students in his lab classes at Penn cleaned, labeled, and inventoried the Silver Reef archaeological collections at Penn.
May-June 2013: Dr. Schuyler returned the large Surface collection (107 boxes) to the Silver Reef Museum and with the help of volunteers completed the inventory of these materials at Silver Reef.
2014: Dr. Schuyler was working in Washington County.
5/3-23/2015: Dr. Schuyler was working in Washington County.
He gave public lectures on May 9 and May 16.
5/??-??/2016: Dr. Schuyler was working in Washington County.
He gave public lectures on May 7 and May 14.
5/2-10/2018: Dr. Schuyler was working in Washington County.
He helped the Silver Reef Museum sort through its collection of artifacts on May 3, 4, and 7.
People were able to bring related artifacts for evaluation. For the flyer, click here.
He gave a public lecture on May 5 about the saloons of Silver Reef.
PHOTOS
WCHS photos:WCHS-03082 Photo of Dr. Robert L. Schuyler speaking to a group in the old Cosmopolitan Restaurant
WCHS-03083 Photo of Dr. Robert L. Schuyler speaking to a group on a guided walk in Silver Reef
PUBLICATIONS
Silver Reef Project: Creation of a "Historic Ethnography" For aNineteenth Century American Mining Town on the Western Frontier
University of Pennsylvania, University Museum Research Projects, pp. 61-63
http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/.../Silver.pdf
REFERENCES
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Anthropology, Robert L. SchuylerMeet the Curators, Robert L. Schuyler
by Deborah I. Olszewski
A New Look at the Old West: Prof Chronicles Mining Town
by Adam Levine
The Daily Pennsylvanian, April 28, 1989, Page 3
Artifacts returning to Silver Reef
by Brian Passey
St. George Spectrum, June 1, 2013
WCHS 2013 Flyers:
Dr. Robert L. Schuyler Lecture on Silver Reef, 5/16/2013
Visits with Dr. Robert Schuyler about Silver Reef during June 2013
Walk & talk tours of Silver Reef with Dr. Robert Schuyler, June 12 & 19, 2013
WCHS 2014 Flyer:
Public Events with Dr. Robert L. Schuyler at Silver Reef, 5/10,16,17/2014
WCHS 2016 Flyers:
Silver Reef Museum Events with Dr. Robert L. Schuyler (media release), 5/7,13,20,21/2016
Silver Reef Museum Events with Dr. Robert L. Schuyler (flyer), 5/7,13,20,21/2016
WCHS 2018 Flyer:
Dr. Robert Schuyler at the Silver Reef Museum, 5/3,4,7/2018