John Otis Brew

In 1931 "Jo", as he was known by his friends and colleagues, finished his residence requirements at Harvard and gained an invitation to join the Peabody Museum's Claflin-Emerson Expedition for archaeological reconnaissance which was located in northeastern Utah.

In 1931, Brew was made director of the Peabody Museum's Southeastern Utah Expedition to Alkali Ridge.

[2] In this particular report Brew recorded such outstanding detail and interpretations of the site that the first three chapters are still used as a fundamental reference today.

During this expedition Brew and his team investigated the Jeddito region on the Hopi Indian Reservation, where, among other things, they discovered a major Franciscan Mission built in the seventeenth century.

There he investigated Anasazi-Mogollon contact with the help of colleagues, including Watson Smith and Charles R. McGimsey III, from his work at the Awatovi Expedition.

[3] This expedition was originally planned to be carried out in the 1930s with the help of Donald Scott, who was the director of the Peabody Museum at the time.

These positions left Brew ample time to pursue his love for archaeological research and never interfered with his work.

IN an essay in the volume 100 Years of Archaeology, Brew notes that it was a festive event in which tobacco was smoked and cocktails were served for the first time inside the halls of the museum.

All of these activities showed what great enthusiasm Brew had for Harvard University, the Peabody Museum, and the fields of anthropology and archaeology.

[7] Brew also became actively involved with the National Park Service Advisory Board and UNESCO's International Committee for Monuments, Historic Sites, and Archaeological Excavations, for which he was chairman for a number of years.

Brew also enjoyed collecting trolley car memorabilia, which is now permanently housed in the Boston Public Library.