Overview
On July 7, 1947. American anthropologist Cornelius Osgood(1905-1985) crossed a vast ocean and arrived in Seondupo, a Korean farming village on the island of Ganghwado.
He published The Koreans and Their Culture in 1951 based on his direct observations and documentation of different places throughout Korea, including Ganghwado. He also gifted 342 objects that he had collected during his research expedition to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
In 2017, the National Folk Museum of Korea conducted an ethnographical research of Seondupo, retracing Osgood’s steps and using his publication as a reference point. The survey was part of preparations for the “2019 Year of Incheon Folk Culture” and the first of its kind in the region since Osgood’s 70 years ago. In 2018, the results were compiled and published in two volumes. This exhibition presents the findings together with a selection of 64 objects from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. On display in Korea for the first time, the artifacts capture life and culture in 1947 Seondupo as if they came out of a time capsule. Thus this special exhibition offers a comprehensive view of the region which incorporates Osgood’s journey and collection of objects as well as our current outlook. Visitors are invited to explore Seondupo from diverse perspectives, comparing and contrasting the past and present and also the interpretations of a foreigner and Koreans.

* Cornelius Osgood(1905–1985, United States)
Cornelius Osgood, an anthropologist of Arctic and East Asian cultures, served as a professor at Yale University and curator at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. He made significant contributions to the Museum’s collection with various materials brought back from his research expeditions. His 1951 publication, The Koreans and Their Culture, offers a detailed account of Korean culture from a foreigner’s perspective.

* Yale Peabody Museum of Natural history
The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is a part of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1866 through an endowment from the philanthropist George Peabody(1795–1869). The museum houses more than 13 million specimens and objects in ten curatorial divisions which include anthropology, paleontology, and zoology. In addition to researching the collection, the Peabody Museum is expanding its activities to include exhibitions, publications, and educational programs.

Part I. Gazing at Seondupo
The first section of this exhibition presents Seondupo as it was in 1947 based on the records of Cornelius Osgood. In The Koreans and Their Culture, Osgood wrote that “The standard type of the region is the L-shaped building.” Featured here is a partial reconstruction of this type of housing furnished with folk objects that Osgood himself collected, showing the lives of Seondupo residents at the time.
This section offers a glimpse of a bygone way of life in installations that feature everyday spaces, including the men’s quarters(sarangbang), ladies’ quarters(anbang), wood-floored central hall(daecheong), storage room(changgo), and courtyard(madang). The books and clothing on display in the gentlemen’s quarters introduce visitors to the masculine culture of the time while sewing tools and household objects in the ladies’ quarters signify the feminine culture. The central hall contains games and tableware that represent a culture of hospitality. The storage displays implements like sickle and fish trap which indicate how the Seondupo people made their living. In front of the house is a courtyard where a wide variety of activities took place and which Osgood considered essential to understanding the lives of Koreans.
Seen through the perspective of Osgood, this section offers an opportunity to rediscover the often-overlooked quotidian aspects of life.

Part II. Documenting Seondupo: 1947 and 2017
The second section of the exhibition introduces objects and documentary materials from 1947 and 2017. Based on Osgood's survey of Seondupo on Ganghwado over the course of two months in 1947, it shows records from the seven-month ethnographic research of the village conducted by the National Folk Museum of Korea.
This part of the exhibition includes displays comparing everyday objects—hoe, flyswatter, and rice strainer—from 1947 and 2017. The material and function of these objects have transformed over time, and their juxtaposition offers a glimpse into the significance of continuity and change in the lives of the Seondupo residents.
Both of the research investigations in 1947 and 2017 aimed to understand the lives of the villagers by observing and interacting with them. Though conducted at different times by different people, the researchers’ efforts to understand the area’s culture are not dissimilar. Just as Cornelius Osgood’s records serve as a guide into Seondupo of the past, the Museum’s documentation will serve as a guide to present-day Seondupo 70 years in the future.