Francis W. Kelsey was born in Ogden, New York on May 23rd, 1858 and died in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1927. He Graduated with a Bachelors degree from the University of Rochester in 1880. After studying in Europe from 1883-1885, he received a Ph.D. from Rochester in 1886. Kelsey assumed the Chair in Latin Language and Literature at the University of Michigan in 1889. Throughout his tenure at Michigan, he remained committed to the exploration of all facets of classical scholarship. Kelsey approached the study of Graeco-Roman culture and society as a means of illuminating the origins of Western Christian civilization. To this end, he was active in the emerging "science" of Archaeology.
Kelsey devoted considerable time and effort to the documentation and study of archaeological sites in the Near East. In his travels to the East and South of the Mediterranean Kelsey was seeking traces of Greek and Roman influence and the origins of the Christian West. The sites he chose to visit and photograph belie this fundamentally Western orientation.
In all, Kelsey mounted 5 expeditions to the Near East. The first of these took place from 1919-1920, shortly after the cessation of hostilities in W.W.I. Kelsey felt that the economic and demographic dislocations engendered in the War provided a unique opportunity to collect early Christian manuscripts at advantageous prices. In addition to collecting artifacts, Kelsey had three other primary goals for the expedition. He sought to visit archaeological sites that had been previously excavated or were currently under excavation. Kelsey also expressed interest in photographing and surveying sites for possible future University of Michigan excavation. Finally, he hoped to photograph monuments and artifacts of archaeological significance. A number of ancillary goals unrelated to Kelsey's archaeological pursuits also influenced the itinerary of the expedition. Included among these was the promotion of missionary endeavors and a concern for the fate of Christian peoples in Armenia.
This first Near Eastern expedition consisted of a somewhat diminutive party. Kelsey had originally hoped to travel with an orientalist, two missionary doctors, a photographer, and a photographers assistant. He was ultimately accompanied by a photographer, G. R. Swain, and his fourteen year old son traveling in the guise of photographer's assistant. The threesome was intermittently joined by Kelsey's wife, Isabel, as circumstances permitted.
The expedition of 1919-1920 began in Europe in September of 1919. After a brief stay in Paris, Kelsey toured the sites of Julias Caesar's battles in France. The vision of these ancient grounds was rendered poignant for Kelsey by the presence of war materiel of recent vintage. In echo of ages past, Caesar's fields had been hotly contested during W.W.I and bore the scars of aggression.
The expedition proceeded across the North and East of Europe and reached Turkey by December, 1919. The expedition continued on to Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Greece before returning to France in June, 1920. Kelsey and his attendants spent the summer of 1920 touring Western European sites and finally returned to Ann Arbor in October.
Throughout Kelsey's expedition of 1919-1920, transportation posed recurring difficulties. The War had taken its toll on transportation systems. Difficulties in travel were exacerbated by the unstable political situation in the Near East. Final dissolution of the Ottoman Empire had created unresolved tensions tenuously held in check by the occupying forces.
Kelsey wrote a great deal of correspondence regarding the 1919-1920 expedition. This correspondence deals primarily with circumstances surrounding the purchase of early Christian manuscripts, and the problems encountered in securing passage during various stages of the expedition. Kelsey's correspondence provides a psychological context for understanding the diverse motivations behind the expedition of 1919-1920. When the photographs which comprise this exhibit are viewed in historical and psychological context, they provide a window onto the world of the emerging "scientific" archaeologist.
