Department Of Culture

Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology

History

The beginning...

Founded in 1974 from the collection of the late Guyanese archaeologist, Dr. Denis Williams, the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology and Art History (as it was originally called) was the first Museum of Anthropology in the English speaking Caribbean. Although it was planned to site the Museum in the town of Bartica, this was changed at the last moment due to the fuel crisis of 1974, which caused the original funds allocated to be withdrawn. In 1980 the Museum, now renamed the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, was moved to its present location, 61 Main Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown. Following this move, the collections of Sir Everard Im Thurn, Dr. Walter Roth and Mr. John J. Quelch were transferred from the Guyana National Museum. Dr. Williams's archaeological collections were also transferred from the Department of Culture. A typological study from the collections of Dr. Betty J. Meggers and the late Dr. Clifford Evans of the Smithsonian Institution was donated to the Museum and in 1991, Guyanese Cultural Anthropologist, Dr. George P. Mentore, donated an ethnographic collection from the Wai-Wai of southern Guyana. The Museum's collections eventually included excavated artifacts from all of the ten administrative regions of Guyana as well as small ethnographic and archaeological collections from elsewhere.

It is generally believed that John Sharps (1845-1913) was the architect of the building, which was constructed before 1890. Duncan McRae Hutson, a Guyanese barrister-at-law and legislator, bought it in 1891. When Mr. McRae Hutson's wife passed away in 1942, he sold the building to the Government of British Guiana. The Government used it to house the Teachers Training College and later,the Attorney General's Chambers. In 1976, the National Trust of Guyana gazetted the building as a national historic monument, and in 1978 the building was acquired by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Social Development.It was then decided that the building be used as a Museum. The Walter Roth Museum was officially opened to the public in 1982.

This Museum is named in honour of Walter Edmund Roth (1861-1933). Dr. Roth was a noted anthropologist, administrator and surgeon who was born and educated in England. After qualifying as a surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital, London, he followed his two elder brothers to Australia. There, he held a succession of appointments including teaching and surgeon positions.  But it was with his later work on Australian ethnology that he made his mark. After serving successfully for several years as an Anthropologist and Protector of the Aborigines, he eventually moved to British Guiana in 1907 where he accepted an appointment as Government Medical Officer, Stipendiary Magistrate and Deputy Protector of Indians in the Pomeroon district. As early as 1908 Dr. Roth began writing about the Indians of Guiana in the local newspapers. In 1920 he was appointed Commissioner of the Rupununi. After many years of service in the interior of British Guiana, he finally retired in 1928 to become Curator of the Museum of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society (now renamed the Guyana National Museum) and Government Archivist. Due to his strong interest in anthropology, his work resulted in two major monographs on the Arts, Crafts and Customs of the Guiana Indians published in 1924 and in 1929 Additional Studies of the Arts, Crafts and Customs of the Guiana Indians was published by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington.Walter Roth died in the capital Georgetown in 1933 with the American flag flying at half-mast in honour of him.

From 1974 to present...

The first Director of the Walter Roth Museum was Dr. Denis Williams who served from its founding in 1974 up to his death in 1998. Dr. Williams, originally an artist and writer, had first been exposed to archaeology in the Sudan. This interest was rekindled when he returned to Guyana in 1968 to live in the Mazaruni district. He was eventually able to pursue this interest full-time when he was appointed Director of the newly created Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology and Art History in 1974. Dr. Williams's primary interests as a researcher were on Amerindian petroglyphs (rock engravings) and the paleoclimatic and archaeological investigations of the shell middens on the northwest coast of Guyana.  His skill as a writer served him well with his scientific papers and articles, as well as his numerous works of fiction.  In recognition of all his achievements, he received the Cacique Crown of Honour  and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, in 1989.

Over the years, the Walter Roth Museum has been engaged in numerous research projects in collaboration with international universities and institutions including Boise State University, the University of Virginia and the Smithsonian Institution.

The Museum's outreach program, Junior Archaeology was founded in 1987 and continues to the present time. This program enables Primary School children to experience hands-on learning in anthropology.

In collaboration with the University of Virginia and Boise State University the museum's offers training in Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology annually to university students.

In 1978 the museum published its first edition of Archaeology and Anthropology its annual journal. This publication continues to the present time and is now available online at: http://anthro.boisestate.edu/archaeology-and-anthropology-journal/index.html.

The Museum's main building was closed for rehabilitation from 1995-2003 and was reopened to the public in September 2003 under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

 

Mission Statement

The Walter Roth museum is a not-for-profit institution created by the Government of Guyana to collect, exhibit and conserve artifact relating to the ancient cultures of Guyana and to conduct anthropological research and disseminate knowledge of the Indigenous peoples (Amerindian Nations) of Guyana through its in-house and outreach programs.