Gladys and Saul Weinberg Papers, 1930-1980

ACQUISITION

The papers of Saul and Gladys Weinberg were received in 1996 in two installments. The first included the records of the Elateia excavations, which were under the care of Prof. Jane Bier of the University of Missouri at Columbia, until recently. The second installment contained all the remaining material, in the property of Gladys Weinberg until then.

In 2002 the American School acquired Saul Weinberg’s personal copies of ASCSA entrance exams (see Box 1, Folder 9) with his notes.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

A. Saul Weinberg (1911-1992)

Born in Chicago, Saul began his studies in architecture at the Armour Institute of Technology, transferred to the University of Illinois for the B.S. in architecture and M.S. in architectural history in 1933. He earned a Ph.D. from John Hopkins in 1935. Form 1937-39, and again in 1946-48, 1950 and 1959, he was a member of the staff at Corinth. He also excavated in Crete, in Cyprus, at Elateia in Greece, and in Israel at Jalama and Tel Anafa. Made a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1975, ten year later, with his wife Gladys, he received the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Archaeology and in 1986, the Percie Schimmel Award of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, for archaeological exploration in Bible Lands.

His teaching career began at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago where he was a lecturer in Aegean prehistory from 1939 to 1941. After the war he held the position of Lecturer on Greek Archaeology at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. From there he moved to the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1948 where he progressed from Assistant to Full Professor of Classical Languages and Archaeology from 1955 to 1960, together with his good friend Homer Thomas, he reestablished Missouri’s Department of Art History, which he chaired until 1976.

Weinberg was the author of several books and numerous articles which discussed the connections between the Aegean and the Near East during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. In 1943, Saul Weinberg published the Geometric and Orientalizing pottery of Corinth in Corinth VII, 1. In 1960, he published the Southeast Building, the Twin Basilicas, and the Mosaic House as Corinth I, 5. His 1970 chapter in the Cambridge Ancient History on the Stone Age in the Aegean remains today the most useful review of the problems in this rapidly changing field of scholarship.

[this biographical essay has been adapted from the following two articles: K. Warner Slane, “Saul Weinberg 1911-1992,” American School of Classical Studies Newsletter, Spring 1992, p. 15; and S. C. Herbert, “Saul S. Weinberg, 1911-1992,” American Journal of Archaeology 97 (1993), p. 567-569.]

B. Gladys Weinberg (born Davidson)

Education and Employment

1930 B.A. New York University

1932-33 ASCSA Fellow in Archaeology

1935 Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University

1935-38   ASCSA Special Fellow in Achaeology

1940-43   Assistant Curator of Ancient art, art Museum, Princeton University

1943-45   Foreign Service Auxiliary, U.S. State Department

1946-47   Assistant Librarian, ASCSA

1947-48 Acting Librarian, ASCSA

1952-67   Editor, Archaeology Magazine

1962-73 Curator of Ancient Art, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia

1973-77 Assistant Director, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia

1977-    Research Fellow, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia

Publications

Small Finds from the Pnyx, Vol. 1 (with Dorothy Burr Thompson), Hesperia Suppl 7 (1943)

Corinth, Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 12, The Minor Objects (1952)

The Antikythera Wreck Reconsidered (editor and co-author), Transactions of the American Philosophical Sociery, vol. 55 (1965)

Excavations at Jalame, Site of a Glass Factory in Late Roman Palestine (editor and co-author) 1988

Selected Glass Vessels in the National Museum, Athens, 1992

Numerous Articles in American Journal of Archaeology, Hesperia, etc.

COPYRIGHT

Requests to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Archivist.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The papers of Gladys and Saul Weinberg, 1930-1980, consisting of correspondence, notes, and photographs provide information about their archaeological—field and scholarly—work in Greece, esp. in Corinth and Elateia. The material has been divided into three subgroups: a) Saul Weinberg Papers; b) Gladys Weinberg; and c) Gladys and Saul Weinberg Papers. Saul Weinberg’s papers consist of correspondence and archaeological notes concerning his scholarly publications. Gladys Weinberg’s papers are of similar nature. The body of records related to Saul Weinberg’s excavations at Elateia is incomplete. Finally, the third subgroup consists of photographs taken by either Gladys or Saul—mostly in the 1930’s—documenting a large number of Greek archaeological sites, as well as activities of friends and local people.

The last part of the finding-aid includes a number of unprocessed records received in 2003 after the finding-aid had been completed.

CONTAINER LIST

A. Saul Weinberg Papers

SERIES I: Correspondence and various archaeological notes

BOX 1

Folder

1 Correspondence

2 Notebook (1934)

3 Notes on prehistoric pottery at the Nat. Museum (1955)

4 Notes for article “KTL from Corinth” [ published in Hesperia 43 (1974) 522-534]

5 Mycenaean Corinth

6 Paper of Julian Hill Whittlesey about the East Area at Corinth (1931)

7 Notes on Corinth digs (analysis of pottery lots from Lechaeum Road)

8 Photographs of National Museum at first installation after WW II.

9 ASCSA exams (1925-1934) with preparatory notes

SERIES II: Excavations at Elateia

BOX 2

Folder

1 Related Correspondence

2 Excavation Notebook (1959)

3 Pottery Analysis Notebook

4 Catalogue Cards

5 Photos

6 Photos

7 Negatives

8 Drawings [flat storage]

B. Gladys Weinberg Papers

SERIES III: Correspondence and various archaeological notes

BOX 3

Folder

1 Correspondence

2 Notes on Corinth kilns

3 Photos related to article “The Avar Invasion of Corinth,” published in Hesperia

4 Notes on Geometric graves from Corinth

5 Notes on the Isthmus Cemetery

6 Oscar Broneer Fund

C. Gladys and Saul Weinberg Papers

SERIES IV: Photographs

BOX 4 People, events, and sites

BOX 5 Album with photos (1933)

BOX 6 Snapshots and negatives from various parts of Greece (1930’s)

BOX 7 Photos (1930-1950 including photos from the excavations at Olynthos)

BOX 8 Film (1936-1937; views of Corinth, Istanbul; Gladys Davidson, Charles Morgan); “Beta” version of film; two folders with 600 negatives

Unprocessed Papers (Accession # 2003-01)

BOX 9  Saul Weinberg

Folder

1 Correspondence regarding other scholars

2 Academic / Employment Records

3 Academic / Professional Honors

4 Clippings and Notices

BOX 10  Gladys Davidson Weinberg

Folder

1 Personal Correspondence

2 Letters of Condolence on Saul’s death

3 Letters of Condolence on Saul’s death

4 Donation in Memory on Saul Weinberg

5 AIA Award to Gladys and Saul Weinberg

6 Oscar Broneer’s 90th Birthday

7 Miscellaneous Newspaper Clippings and Notes

PROCESSING HISTORY

The papers of Saul and Gladys Weinberg were processed by Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan in 1999.

For more information, please contact the Archivist:
Dr. Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan:
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
54 Souidias Street, Athens 106 76, Greece
phone: 210-723-6313 Fax: 210-725-0584
Contact via E-mail