Photograph of Aventine Hill in Rome circa May 1925. A dirt road bracketed by a wooden fence and equally spaced trees is featured. A buggy is pulled along the side of the road in the foreground and the background features arched ruins.
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John M. Olin Library, Level 1, Newman Tower of Collections and Exploration

John Max Wulfing’s Passport to the Past

John Max Wulfing was born in 1859 to Charles and Hermine (Diekriede) Wulfing in St. Louis, MO. He was educated in both the United States and Germany before entering the family business and becoming a third-generation wholesale grocer in St. Louis.

Photograph of Aventine Hill in Rome circa May 1925. A dirt road bracketed by a wooden fence and equally spaced trees is featured. A buggy is pulled along the side of the road in the foreground and the background features arched ruins.
Rome (Aventine Hill), Russell Sturgis Photograph Collection, University Archives. “My hat is off to Mr. Wulfing, scholar and gentleman of the old school. ‘If you want to really see Italy,’ he says, ‘do it with a Ford and a ham sandwich.’” – Claude H. Heithaus, S. J. The Classical Bulletin (May 1925)

The wealth accumulated through his business success enabled Wulfing to engage in local philanthropy through Park Unity Church and to support German relief efforts and academic causes following World War I. His personal interests focused on archaeology and the classics.

Wulfing is best known for his ancient coin collection, which was donated in 1928 and forms the nucleus of the Wulfing Collection at Washington University in St. Louis. Less known is the substantial collection of Native American artifacts, Japanese tsuba (sword guards), and books that Wulfing collected until his death in 1929.

Wulfing added many objects to his collections during his travels across the United States, Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. This exhibition highlights some of those travels and the items he acquired along the way. To Wulfing, these were not just objects, but lenses into past times and cultures that served as invaluable teaching aids.

The Jon Max Wulfing’s Passport to the Past exhibition is curated by guest curator Jeremy Haag, courtesy of the Newman Numismatic Portal at WashU.

Header Image Credit: Rome (Aventine Hill), Russell Sturgis Photograph Collection, University Archives.