What's new at the Mu? Learn about Ethiopian Expedition of 1903

Margy Vogt
·2 min read
This Abyssinian shield, crafted of hippopotamus hide and silver was used by Ethiopian (Abyssinian) defensive forces in the battle of Adwa in 1896. It was a gift to the Massillon Museum from Mrs. Horatio Wales.
This Abyssinian shield, crafted of hippopotamus hide and silver was used by Ethiopian (Abyssinian) defensive forces in the battle of Adwa in 1896. It was a gift to the Massillon Museum from Mrs. Horatio Wales.
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A new exhibition, Ethiopian Expedition of 1903, in the Massillon Museum’s second-floor Edward and Louise Mahoney Family Gallery, highlights the diplomatic mission of three Massillon men through images and artifacts.

Highlights

President William McKinley appointed his friend, Independent Editor and Publisher Robert Peet Skinner of Massillon, to open trade and diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and the United States. After McKinley’s assassination, his successor, President Theodore Roosevelt, reaffirmed the mission, marking one of the earliest official engagements by the United States with sub-Saharan Africa. The mission was successful and the agreement continues to this day.

Horatio Watson Wales, third generation of his family to reside at Spring Hill Farm, and Dr. Abraham Per Lee Pease of Massillon accompanied Skinner, serving as secretary and medical doctor respectively. Emperor Menelik II and the American contingent traded many artifacts. In exchange for American typewriters and arms, the Ethiopians gave items such as a hippopotamus hide and silver shield and a bronze and horsehair helmet.

Pease collected ethnological and archaeological artifacts, purchasing some objects in local markets. He organized them methodically, developing a printed catalog of his treasures. Bronze crosses and animal bone jewelry are included in this exhibition along with wood and metal spears.

This 12-inch tall bronze and horsehair Abyssinian helmet was a gift to the Massillon Museum from Irene McLain Wales, wife of Horatio Wales the secretary of the 1903 expedition.
This 12-inch tall bronze and horsehair Abyssinian helmet was a gift to the Massillon Museum from Irene McLain Wales, wife of Horatio Wales the secretary of the 1903 expedition.

Why visit?

The Pease collection was first exhibited at the turn of the last century in the McClymonds Public Library on Fourth Street, precursor to Massillon Public Library. Ninety years ago, in 1933, when the Massillon Museum opened in the historic building it would share with the Massillon Public Library for more than 60 years, artifacts from the Pease collection were among the first to be exhibited.

Details

WHAT – MassMu hosts exhibit of Ethiopian Expedition of 1903

WHEN – 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE – Massillon Museum, 121 Lincoln Way East, Massillon

MORE – massillonmuseum.org or 330-833-4061

This article originally appeared on The Independent: What's new at the Mu? Learn about Ethiopian Expedition of 1903