Robert Peck--Alert Archivist Who Saved Geo. Washington's (& Others') Hair From Being Tossed Out
In 2019, Robert McCracken Peck, curator of art and artifacts and senior fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University gave an interview to NPR's "Science Friday" in which he related the story of how, decades earlier, he rescued an important nineteenth-century hirsute collection, that included hair from George Washington's pate from being tossed into the dustbin of history. Below is a sample of the interview's transcript, and beneath that you may click to hear the entire interview. I would add that I am a big fan of Bob and his work at the academy. eighteen years ago, it was Bob Peck who first showed me the Browne collection of tresses, and--no less important for my research--the remarkable trove that the academy retains of Browne's correspondence. In addition to the below interview, I would recommend Bob's wonderful book--a combination micro-essay and full-color viewbook describing and depicting Browne's "hair pile" as that nineteenth century collector denominated his hairy cache.
43 years ago, Bob Peck started a new job at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly, the oldest natural history institution in the US. Just under a month into the job, he spotted some cool-looking metal boxes sitting in the Academy’s hallway destined for the trash. Thinking these boxes might make a cool end-table for his apartment, Bob, of course, snagged them. Only to find they weren’t empty boxes. Inside was a strange kind of collection– a collection of hair.
Inside these boxes were human hair, animal hair, hair from mummies, and hair from– get ready– from 13 US presidents. Bob had stumbled on the collection of Peter Browne, a citizen scientist whose collection of hair says as much about 19th century science as it does about the diversity of the stuff topping our heads. Today, Bob is the curator of art and artifacts at the Academy. And he’s written a book about Browne’s idiosyncratic collection. It’s called Specimens of Hair. And he joins me now to talk about it. Bob welcome to Science Friday.
BOB PECK: Thank you. Glad to be with you.
JOHN DANKOSKY: Maybe you can describe what you saw when you opened these metal boxes, some 43 years ago.
BOB PECK: Well, of course, at first I thought they were just empty boxes, since they were in the trash. But there, to my surprise, were some albums– dozens and dozens of albums, actually– beautifully leather-bound. And in each page were little tufts of hair. First few albums were sheep wool. And then we got into animal hair. And then, finally, human hair. Some of which was perfectly anonymous, but I began recognizing names on some of the other sheets that caught my attention.
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