This collection contains records that document various activities, developments, exhibits, and programs of the Drexel University Museum and its collections from 1797 until 2000. The bulk of records date from the 1930s to the 1980s. The collection was discovered in a partially processed state, which has made its original order difficult to ascertain. However, notes suggest that the curators’ correspondence and notes were kept in chronological order, and thus this arrangement has been preserved for the first series. The collection was previously processed with only three series. However, new accruals in March 2014 have lead to the elimination of one series and the addition of four series.

Thus, the collection has been arranged into six series: I. Curator correspondence and notes, II. Catalogues, inventories and reproductions, III. Administrative records, IV. Press and publications, V. Museum renovation projects, and VI. Photographs.

Materials in the collection include correspondence, research notes, catalogues, inventories, reports, clippings, newsletters, bulletins, news releases, photographs, grant applications, budgets, policies, pamphlets, plans, receipts, insurance policies and forms, and a radio script.

The first series, Curator correspondence and notes, provides an in-depth look of the responsibilities and activities of the curator. The records in this series span nearly a century, from 1895 to 1986. However, the majority of the records contained in this series originated between 1937 and 1941, and belonged to Dorothy Grafly, Drexel Museum curator from 1934 until 1945. The chronological order that these records were discovered in has been retained. As the series title suggests, the bulk of the records are letters written and received by Ms. Grafly and her assistant, Rita Moak. Represented are numerous subjects, which notably include the Works Projects Administration (W.P.A.), the Drexel art program, various exhibitions, and conservation efforts. Interspersed with the correspondence are notes, inventories, drafts for articles, newspaper clippings, and meeting minutes for the Advisory Art Committee. The series also has a subseries, Jean Henry, who was the museum curator in the 1980s. Her correspondence do not specifically pertain to her duties as a museum curator, but as an art and design consultant. It is unclear as to whether the research files on Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry were related to an exhibition or future publication on Drexel University history. The research files are simply photocopies of Drexel Institute catalogs, yearbooks, and programs from the late 1890s early 1900s.

The second series, Catalogues, inventories, and reproductions, is predominantly focused on the objects that the Museum has formerly and presently houses. Despite primarily dating to the 1930s, the records of this collection date from 1797 until 1984. Few collection catalogues are included in the series. Rather, the majority are auction catalogues detailing the sale of Drexel-owned objects, which most notably include the contents of the Wooten estate (1949), and the original manuscripts for Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue and Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend (1944). The series also contains a number of hand- and typewritten inventories. Many of these inventories are undated; however it appears that they date to the mid to late 1930s. Finally, included in the series are various reproductions and facsimiles of museum objects. Of interest are the facsimiles of various letters/autographs, including letters from Ralph Waldo Emerson to George W. Childs, and a letter from Abraham Lincoln to an unknown recipient.

The third series, Administrative records, contains records that document the museum’s activities, exhibits, and programs primarily during the 1970s and 1980s. The series has been further arranged alphabetically into nine subseries which represent a particular subject or function at the museum. The series consists of minutes, correspondence, agendas, exhibit brochures, budgets, earning reports, insurance policies and forms, policies, various reports such as annual, attendance, monthly, museum activity, museum status, grant, and conservation reports. The subseries, Museum initiatives, is particularly interesting as it includes Friends and membership program information at various cultural institutions in the Philadelphia area to use as a model for the Drexel Museum's start up program.

The fourth series, Press and publications, contains records that document, highlight, or publicize the museum and its collections during the 1950s and 1980s. The series consists of bulletins, newsletters, clippings, pamphlets, press releases, scripts, and student papers/theses. The Drexel Legends and Traditions file contains original drafts and design drawings of the brochure.

The fifth series, Museum renovation projects, contains records that document multiple museum renovation projects from the 1960s to 1980s. The series has been further arranged alphabetically into four subseries which represent each renovation project. The Frank Furness Centennial Bank building project in the mid 1980s is well documented and includes 27 black and white 4.5x6" photophgraphs. The series consists of correspondence, photographs, minutes, various reports, grant applications, plans, contracts, and strategic plans.

The sixth series, Photographs, contains one photograph of A.J. Drexel Lodge (1945), one photograph of a girl with one of the first typewriters (1881), one photograph of Jean Henry the museum’s curator (1984), a few photographs of Drexel family homes (undated).

Overall, the materials in the collection are in fair condition. However, much of the records of the curator correspondence and notes series are on highly acidic paper. Therefore, a number of these records are rather fragile and require a great deal of care.