PHILADELPHIA — An anthropology major who curated an exhibit about Lenape Indians living secretly in Pennsylvania is among three of this year's Rhodes Scholars with ties to the state.

Abigail P. Seldin of Tierra Verde, Fla., organized the exhibit "Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania," which opened at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in September.

The Penn student said although history books say the Lenape left the state by 1803, there were some who intermarried with whites and appeared to assimilate, but continued their indigenous traditions. Her exhibit is co-curated by Robert Red Hawk Ruth, chief of the Lenape Nation, and tribal secretary Shelley DePaul.

"I also have an interest in studying other secret cultures," Seldin said Sunday, hours after learning she had won the scholarship.

She said she admired the cultural survival despite the difficulty involved in maintaining traditions in secret.

This year's 32 Rhodes Scholars were picked from 769 applicants endorsed by 207 colleges and universities nationwide.

The scholarships, the oldest of the international study awards available to American students, provide two or three years of study. The students will enter Oxford University in England next October.

Another winner was Caitlin E. Mullarkey of Wilmington, Del., a biology major and chemistry minor at Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia. She wrote her thesis on a type of brain tumor.

"I'm extremely interested in getting into vaccine development," Mullarkey said Sunday, noting Oxford has a program looking into a possible vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Mullarkey said after her time at Oxford, she plans to return to the United States and pursue a combination M.D. and Ph.D. degree, then work in medical research, both in laboratory and clinical settings.

Mullarkey was the captain of the Swarthmore women's soccer team the last two years and holds the school record for the steeplechase.

The other Rhodes Scholar named Sunday with a Pennsylvania tie was Gregory E. Lippiatt, who is from York and attends Virginia Military Institute.