The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology occupies two connected buildings: Newberry Hall, a 19th-century stone building on State Street that houses our administrative offices and classrooms, and the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing on Maynard Street, home to our permanent galleries, rotating exhibitions, and collections.
Newberry Hall was originally built as a home for the Students’ Christian Association. Construction on the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the oldest structures on the University of Michigan campus, began in 1888 and was completed three years later. Dedicated on July 21, 1891, Newberry Hall was named after John S. Newberry—a railroad magnate whose widow, Helen Newberry, contributed $18,000 to the eventual $40,000 cost of construction. Contained within this Richardsonian Romanesque building was a Tiffany window commissioned by brothers E. Crofton Fox and Charles Fox in honor of their father. The window—located in what is now the library of the Kelsey Museum—is one of only two in Ann Arbor.
The Students’ Christian Association was not officially affiliated with the University of Michigan, and in 1921, the organization leased Newberry Hall to the university for classroom space. The archaeological collections were moved into the building in 1928, but it was not until1937 that Newberry Hall was sold to the university. In 1953, the Museum of Classical Archaeology was officially named after Francis W. Kelsey—founder of the University of Michigan’s rich archaeological collections.
In 1993–1994, after suffering from staff overcrowding and inadequate artifact storage facilities, the Kelsey Museum underwent the first of two significant renovations. A new third floor was added in the space formerly occupied by a choir loft left over from the building’s days as a Christian association. Thanks to the generosity of donors Eugene and Emily Grant, this addition contained a Sensitive Artifact Facility and Environment for climate-controlled collections storage, in addition to a new registry, conservation lab, and object-study area.
Then in 2003, a generous gift from Ed and Mary Meader of Kalamazoo funded construction of the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing, added on to the back of the existing Newberry Hall. The Upjohn Wing provides more than 20,000 feet of study, storage, and display space in a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled facility that now holds all of the Kelsey collections and—as of November 2009—presents a new installation of the Kelsey's permanent collection.
Clockwise from above: Newberry Hall at night; Newberry Hall during construction, ca. 1890; the Tiffany window in the Kelsey library; the Upjohn Exhibit Wing.
