Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the creator of the fonds.
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1951-2012 (Creation)
- Creator
- Brown, Jennifer
Physical description area
Physical description
12 cm of textual material
ca. 100 photographs
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Professor Jennifer Stacey Harcourt Brown was born on 30 December 1940, in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown’s parents, Professor Harcourt Brown of Brown University and his wife Dorothy were good friends of Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd, who were long associated with Trent University. Her father and Professor Kidd became friends through similar research interests. Their families visited one another throughout the summer months in Providence, Rhode Island, and at their summer island place near Perry Sound. Browns family visited the Kidds in Scarborough and later in Peterborough. Professor Jennifer Brown’s uncle, Quentin Brown, was a generous supporter of the Archives at Trent University and accessioned over 100 records into the collection.
Professor Brown was invited by Professor Kidd to participate in the Serpent Mounds archaeological dig at Rice Lake when she finished high school. She was a student digger for 10 weeks during the summer of 1958. She then went on to complete an archaeological dig in San Carlos, Guatemala, during the summer of 1959.
Professor Brown received a BA Honours in Ancient and Medieval Culture from Brown University in 1962. She received her AM in Classical Archaeology from Harvard University in 1963 and her PhD in Cultural and Social Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1976.
Professor Brown has published many books in which one in particular has received Honourable Mention for the Canadian Historical Association’s Sir John A. Macdonald Prize. This book is titled Strangers in Blood, published by The University of British Columbia Press.
Custodial history
Fonds was in the custody of Professor Jennifer Brown before being donated to Trent University Archives in 2019.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of documents from Professor Jennifer Brown’s experience participating in an archaeological dig at the Serpent Mounds and her relationship to Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Fonds received from Professor Jennifer Brown in 2019.
Arrangement
Fonds arranged as received.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
None
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Related fonds in TUA: 74-1003, 93-011, 11-006 and 14-012
Accruals
General note
Box: 1
Folder 1: 1958 Photos – Serpent Mounds and Negatives
Group photo of student archaeologists from the Serpent Mounds field season, summer of 1958. Newspaper article of the same photo with student archaeologists names. Dated 24 June 1958 in the Peterborough Examiner. Green envelope with ca. 60 photo negatives. Series of photos in envelope labeled “Excavations at Serpent Mounds 1958 to be deposited in Archives of the Royal Ontario Museum.” In the envelope contained ca. 11 photos and a letter to Professor Brown from Professor Kenneth Kidd. Letter to Professor Brown from Helen Devereux containing a series of ca. 6 photos from Serpent Mounds excavations, summer 1958. Letter to Professor Brown from Professor Kenneth Kidd containing ca. 20 photos from Serpent Mounds, 1958.
Folder 2: Articles, Publications, re Serpent Mounds, Various dates
ROM Bulletin of the division of Art and Archaeology booklet. UofT June 1958 No.27. ROM Bulletin states that in 1956 the field season was funded by the Serpent Mounds Foundation of Peterborough. This fund was established by the citizens Peterborough who were interested in the project, by the Royal Ontario Museum and by the Province of Ontario. Newspaper clipping from Toronto, 21 January 1956, titled “Mystery of the Rock Paintings”. Newspaper clipping from Peterborough Examiner, Friday, 4 July 1958, titled “Three Burials in Mound.” Newspaper clipping from Peterborough Examiner, Wednesday, 16 July 1958, titled “Best Find Yet at Mounds.” Trent University News Release surrounding the Serpent Mounds Excavations. Titled “Trent University to Conduct Excavation in Serpent Mounds Park”. Dated for release on Saturday, 13 March 1965. Newspaper clipping from Peterborough Examiner on 16 June 2002. Discussed the addition of historical plaque at Serpent Mounds on Rice Lake. Excerpt from Anthro. Newsletter, March 1987 p.4. announcing the death of Professor Richard B. Johnston on 8 January 1987. Newspaper clipping from summer 1958 titled “Camp Next Door to History”. Serpent Mounds Provincial Park information booklet from Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. Canadian Heritage Newsmagazine, dated August – September 1981. Page 42-43 in the Archaeology section, discusses the Serpent Mound excavations.
Folder 3: KIDD, K.E. Huron Ossuary (1953); Historical Site Archaeology In Canada (1969), Beads, etc
Paper published in Ontario History by Kenneth E. Kidd in 1949 titled, “The Identification of French Mission Sites in the Huron Country: A Study in Procedure”. Journal publication by Kenneth E. Kidd, titled “The Excavation and Historical Identification of a Huron Ossuary.” Reprinted for Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology from American Antiquity Volume 18, No. 4 April 1953. Journal Publication by Kenneth E. Kidd, titled Trade Goods Research Techniques. Reprinted from American Antiquity, Volume 20, No. 1, July 1954. Journal Publication by Kenneth E. Kidd titled “A Woodland Site Near Chatham, Ontario” by the Transactions of the Royal Canadian Institute.
Folder 4: Letters 1958-60; Cathy Nott, Peterborough, ON to Jennifer S.H. Brown, post-Serpent Mounds
Printed article regarding Cathy Nott’s father, Dr. Robert Frederick Nott, being one of the founders of the Peterborough Medical Centre. There are 9 letters of correspondence from Cathy Nott to Professor Brown discussing their lives post-archaeological dig at the Serpent Mounds. Christmas card from John Whyte to Professor Brown; another student from the Serpent Mounds.
Folder 5: Professor Jennifer Brown to family, letters from Serpent Mounds, summer 1958
List of participants from the Serpent Mounds archaeological dig during the summer of 1958. Series of 18 letters Jennifer Brown sent to her family about her experiences at the Serpent Mounds. Many consisted of her discussing returning to the mounds the following year and her choices of University’s to attend. Camp song – Serpent Mounds 1958. One photo of the student archaeologists and Professor Richard B. Johnston (the director of the project) at the Serpent Mounds, June 1958.
Folder 6: 1958-59 Correspondence re. Professor Brown working at Serpent Mounds
Letter from Professor Richard B. Johnston stating her application was received and she was accepted to be a member of the Serpent Mounds excavation team for 1958. Dated 26 April 1958. Letter from Professor Kenneth Kidd regarding Professor Brown’s application for the excavation season of 1959 at the Serpent Mounds. Dated 2 March 1959. Letter from Professor Richard B. Johnston stating that he might not be allowed to hire Americans due to restricted funds. Dated 3 April 1959. Letter from Professor Kenneth Kidd telling Professor Brown he will ask for Professor Richard B. Johnston to reconsider her acceptance into the 1959 field season. Dated 16 April 1959. Letter from Professor Richard B. Johnston stating he cannot accept Professor Brown in to the summer 1959 field season due to restricted funds. Dated 8 May 1959. Small post card from Professor Richard B. Johnston stating his excitement for Professor Brown to be conducting excavations in Guatemala during the summer of 1959.
Folder 7: 1955-1990 Letters between Professor Brown and Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd
Letter to Professor Brown from 5 February 1987 noting that Professor Richard Johnston of Serpent Mounds had passed due to complications after lung transplant. Letter to Professor Brown from Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd dated 22 November 1990, regarding the death of her father Harcourt Brown. Professor Kenneth Kidd found the notice in the paper the previous week. Print out of a Memoriam for Professor Kenneth Kidd. Passed away in Peterborough, Ontario, on 26 February 1994, at the age of 87. Record of Trent Fortnightly from Thursday, 3 May 1990. Mentions Professor Kenneth Kidd receiving an honorary degree for his founding of the Anthropology Department in 1964.
Folder 8: Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd correspondence to the Browns – 1991 -2012
22 letters from Martha Kidd to Professor Brown and her husband Wilson. 50th wedding anniversary invitation for Professor Kenneth and Martha Kidd, dated 9 October 1993. Professor Kenneth Kidd death announcement from the Anthropology Newsletter, September 1994. Memorial Service Programme for Kenneth E. Kidd held at Wenjack Theatre at Trent University on 18 March 1994. Two newspaper clippings inside with death notices. 80th birthday invitation for Martha Ann Kidd. Newspaper clipping about Martha Kidd and her dedication to working with the Peterborough Historical Society. Dated 27 October 1996 from the Peterborough Examiner. Letter to Professor Brown from Martha Kidd via email regarding her new email address dated 8 December 1999. Newspaper clippings regarding the death of Martha Kidd on 30 July 2012 at the age of 94.
Book: Canadians of Long Ago. The Story of the Canadian Indian by Kenneth E. Kidd. Longmans, Green and Co, 1951.
Handwritten letter inside “To Jennifer, with best Christmas wishes, from Uncle Kenneth E. Kidd.”
Book: The Archaeology of the Serpent Mounds Site by Richard B. Johnston. Art and Archaeology, Occasional Paper 10. Royal Ontario Museum – University of Toronto, 1968. Death notice of Richard B. Johnston taped on inside of cover. Loose paper of drawing of the cottage at the Serpent Mounds by Jennifer S. H. Brown.