The Pepper–Hearst expedition of 1895–1897 on the west coast of Florida was sponsored by Dr. William Pepper and philanthropist Phoebe Hearst, and led by the anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing. The pre–Columbian finds demonstrate a Shell Age phase of human development and culture.

William Pepper Jr., was an American physician, medical educator, and the eleventh Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1881 to 1894. He was an advocate for the establishment of a university affiliated hospital and led the finance and building committees for the construction of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1874. As provost, he oversaw a major expansion of the University including the construction of 13 campus building, the addition of the Wharton School of Business, and eleven new departments. In 1891, he founded the Free Library of Philadelphia.