Henry Gillman

Who was Henry Gillman?

Henry Gillman was an ethnologist, curator for the Detroit Scientific Society, a librarian at the Detroit Public Library, and later he was affiliated with Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Early in his career he was a survey assistant for the U.S. Department of War and made charts of many Michigan locations.

In 1876, Gillman, working with the Peabody Museum and with the permission of the U.S. government, excavated the remains of the Fort Wayne burial mound. His findings were published in a report and the artifacts were given to the Peabody Museum. He had opened other mounds around Detroit and the River Rouge areas as well.