Curator's Corner - Dr. Lee's Cabinet of Curiosities

A friend of Dr. Simeon Lemuel Lee characterized him as a lifelong student and further stated that “few men possessed a wider range of knowledge.” Born in Fayette County, Illinois in 1844, “Lem” showed great interest in the world, and began collecting items of curiosity as a young boy on his family farm. This youthful pastime ended at the age of 19, when he enlisted in the 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry at the onset of the Civil War. His unit saw action in some of the most important Civil War battles, including the Vicksburg Campaign under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant. Lem rapidly moved up through the ranks and received a battlefield commission from First Sergeant to Second Lieutenant during the Mobile Bay Campaign when half his company was killed or wounded during the Battle of Fort Blakely.
Following the War, he graduated from the Physico-Medical Institute at Cincinnati. Dr. Lee moved to Carson City, Nevada in 1870, to Pioche in 1872, and returned to Carson City in 1879. While he was a practitioner of medicine and surgery, his preferred pastime was collecting. Like many Victorians, he acquired objects to expand his worldly knowledge, but unlike others, his collections reflected his innate curiosity of the natural and physical world, as well as the diverse cultures he shared space with across the Nevada landscape. His collections include everything from ore specimens, semiprecious stones, fine China, fossils, firearms, stamps, coins, and an impressive array of Native American basketry. Unlike most Victorian collectors, Dr. Lee kept a ledger of his basketry collection; often noting the maker, when and where it was purchased, and most importantly, to him, price paid.
After Dr. Lee’s passing in 1927, at the age of 82, a friend wrote that the life of Dr. Lee was not ordinary, and his characteristics would have made him an outstanding figure in any age. In 1934, Dr. Lee’s widow, Mrs. Lola Watts Lee, donated his collection to the State of Nevada as a memorial to her late husband. Dr. Lee’s curiosities became a sustainable portion of the founding collection for the Nevada State Museum when it opened on October 31, 1941.
Come see select objects from the Dr. S.L. Lee collection during our Curator’s Corner, on Wednesday, June 24nd from 10:00-12:00. Enjoy a short presentation by Anna Camp, Ph.D. Curator in Anthropology.