Details - [Richard Archbold's journal, 3rd Expedition to New Guinea]

[Richard Archbold's journal, 3rd Expedition to New Guinea]

Title

[Richard Archbold's journal, 3rd Expedition to New Guinea]

By

Archbold, Richard.

American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History. Department of Mammalogy. Archbold Expeditions Collection.
Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1938-1939)

Type

Book

Material

Archival material

Publication info

[1938-1939]

Notes

Entries are handwritten in ink and typewritten.

First leaf has writing on verso.

Journal entries recorded by Archbold as leader and pilot of the 3rd Expedition to New Guinea. Topics include the daily activities of Archbold, general activities of the expedition party members, and description of the localities and weather. Also organization and planning of movements and both scheduling and receipt of supply drops, the identification of campsites, the reconnaissance of Mt. Wilhelmina (Mount Trikora) in preparation to ascend, and descriptions of trade and ceremony with native inhabitants. Entries are sporadic and span August 11-September 30 and November 15-17, 1938 and June 11, 1939. Note that the journal Includes extremely little content regarding collecting activities. Locations specified include Lake Habbema, Mt. Wilhelmina, the Grand Valley Camp, the Scree valley camp, and Hollandia, now Jayapura. A final entry from June 1939 at Cocos Island describes observations of birdlife in that locality, which was traversed during the post-expedition transatlantic flight of the Guba II.

Richard Archbold was a sponsor of scientific study, mountaineer, aviator and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History from 1931. He established Archbold Expeditions (formerly Biological Explorations) which sponsored field work, a collection and curatorial staff at the American Museum of Natural History. He also founded the Archbold Biological Station in Florida in 1941 as a center for scientific research and ecological study. One of the first to recognize the value of air transport in expeditionary work, Archbold led three of the New Guinea Expeditions, the third of which culminated in the seaplane Guba II's historic transcontinental flight.

Cataloged through a 2015 Leon Levy Foundation Archives grant.