Archibald Finney

Archibald Finney was the short, balding, energetic curator of the Marshall College Art Gallery at the Burke J. Carter Library.

Biography
Archibald Finney grew up in the American West near a Native American reservation where he developed an interest in their culture by learning from the older men there.

By the time he became curator at the Marshall College Art Gallery around 1936, Finney was an authority on Native American legends, concerned with documenting their history and artifacts. He also became known around Marshall College for his participation in the campus' History Day where he joined a small band of Native Americans to perform an authentic dance and displayed his skill with a bow, shooting a flaming arrow through the center of a flammable target.

As an admirer of Indiana Jones, Finney would sit in on the professor's lectures and listen to the stories of his expeditions when he could, but the museum's penchant for donations from alumni prevented the curator from requesting that Jones retrieve Native American artifacts.

Personality and traits
Finney was a short and balding man with a preference for tweed suits whatever the weather. He was impatient and energetic by nature, moving nervously through the museum making sure every display was correct, often dabbing sweat from his brow with a hankerchief.

In addition to being a skilled archer, Finney knew several Native American languages.