Charles and Lucy Voris Baird Collection

About the Collection

The Charles and Lucy Voris Baird Collection was donated to The University of Akron in 1939 by Betsy Baird Neville. The nearly 200 pieces were originally housed in the art school. Over the years, the collection spent time at the Akron Art Museum, Hower House Museum, and Myers School of Art before being transferred to the Institute for educational use in hands-on education for UA students and the community. Pieces were collected in modern-day Thailand, with some pieces from China and Japan, by Mrs. Neville when her husband Edwin served as U.S. Ambassador to Thailand from 1937-1940. The collection bears the name of Mrs. Neville’s parents who graduated from Buchtel College in 1878. Before the transfer to the Institute, the collection was last on exhibit in 1984.