The Division of Anthropology was established at the AMNH in 1873, only four years after the founding of the museum. During its first 17 years, the department was concerned almost exclusively with the acquisition and display of artifacts. The division acquired material more or less at random; there was no basic philosophy or particular geographical emphasis that guided this activity. This stage of its history lasted until 1890 when the first professional anthropologist, Frederic W. Putnam, was appointed Curator of Anthropology. He immediately began to engage the best anthropologists of the day, such as Franz Boas and Clark Wissler, two of the most important early figures in American anthropology.