One of the founders of the ASPR, Charles Peabody has an important role in the organization’s history. In the early 1920s, he worked with Henri Martin and Mr. & Mrs. MacCurdy to establish the American School of Prehistoric Research in Europe. Charles Peabody had originally imagined that the school’s activities would be confined to France, but when the Managing Committee of the School decided to extend the scope of the ASPR’s research, Mr. Peabody was happy to adapt and continue supporting the school. The directed the ASPR’s 1922 summer term, and visited during the previous summer term, in 1921. In 1923, he became a permanent resident of Paris, but continued his involvement with the ASPR, as well as other archaeological organizations back in the US.
Dr. peabody has broad research interests that were bound by a common theme of old world prehistory. He received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1893, and he came from a family of influential scholars in the field of archaeology. His father was the founder of the Department of Archaeology at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and his great uncle, George Peabody, founded the Peabody Museum of Harvard University in 1866. In addition to sponsoring ASPR excavations, Dr. Peabody was actively engaged in fieldwork and office tasks.