No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu
14.41 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) (20 document boxes) (4 12x17 boxes) (1 16x20 box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Black-and-white photographs
Manuscripts
Video recordings
Date:
circa 1885-1981
Introduction:
Materials in this record unit were donated to the Archives by Lucile Quarry Mann and the National Zoological Park between 1977 and 1988. During 1980 and 1981, Lucile
Mann narrated the 16mm motion picture on audiotape with scripts by Pamela M. Henson, Oral Historian. In 1985, the motion picture was transferred to a 3/4" videotape and the
taped narration was synchronized with the image.
Descriptive Entry:
These papers consist of correspondence from professional colleagues and government officials concerning entomology and live zoological collections as well as correspondence
from personal acquaintances concerning zoo visits, lectures, published works, social events, and the occasions of the Manns' retirement (and including photographs). Also included
are William M. Mann's correspondence to his mother in which he described his school activities and field trips abroad, and to Lucile Mann during his travels on the Smithsonian-Chrysler
Expedition to East Africa, 1926, and as Technical Observer for the Quartermaster Corps during World War II.
These papers also document the Manns' trips abroad: the Smithsonian-Chrysler Expedition to East Africa (Tanganyika) in 1926, British Guiana in 1931, the National Geographic
Society-Smithsonian Institution Expedition to the Dutch East Indies in 1937, to Brazil and Argentina in 1939, the Smithsonian-Firestone Expedition to Liberia in 1940, visits
to European zoos in 1929, 1938, and 1948, Lucile Q. Mann's trips, 1962-1974, and William M. Mann's entomological trips, 1912-1922. Documentation includes correspondence, diaries,
field notes, photographs, souvenirs, lists of animals brought back by the 1937 expedition, and newspaper and journal articles, in particular, articles by William H. Shippen
of Washington, D.C.'s Evening Star during the 1939 voyage to South America.
In addition, there are manuscripts and printed materials covering the Manns' trips and NZP experiences, including outlines for lectures and radio talks; drafts and outlines
for biographies of William H. Blackburne and William M. Mann; book reviews by William M. Mann; materials on the Mulford Biological Expedition to the Amazon River Basin; William
M. Mann's entomological monographs; a report to the Quartermaster Corps. and a scrapbook of newspaper articles on William M. Mann's autobiography, Ant Hill Odyssey
(1948).
Photographs include William M. Mann's collection of portrait photographs of individuals, mostly naturalists; photographs taken during the Manns' trips abroad; group photographs
of the Manns with acquaintances; photographs of animals and insects; and a photograph of Smithsonian officials and staff with President Calvin Coolidge, 1927. Audiovisual
materials include motion pictures of scenes filmed in Liberia, 1940, audiotapes containing a narration by Lucile Mann for the Liberian film, 1981, and videocassettes taped
from the motion picture and audiotapes, 1985.
Historical Note:
William M. Mann (1886-1960) was born in Helena, Montana. He attended Lyon School for Boys, Spokane, Washington, 1900-1902, and Staunton Military Academy, Virginia,
1902-1905. During a brief furlough from the academy in 1903, Mann worked as an animal cage cleaner at the National Zoological Park (NZP). After graduating from the academy
in 1905, Mann worked as a rancher in Texas and New Mexico where he also collected entomological specimens.
Mann attended Washington State College, Pullman, 1907-1909, and Stanford University, 1909-1911, where he received his B.A. Mann continued his entomological studies under
William Morton Wheeler at Bussey Institution, Harvard University, where he received his Sc. D. degree in Entomology in 1915.
Between 1911 and 1916, Mann made several entomological collecting trips abroad: as a member of the Stanford Expedition to Brazil, 1911; to Haiti, 1912; to Cuba and the
State of Hildago, Mexico, 1913; as a member of the Philip Expedition to the Middle East, 1914; and as a Sheldon Traveling Fellow to Fiji and the Solomon Islands, 1915-1916.
He also studied briefly in Switzerland, 1914.
Mann served as an entomologist for the Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1916-1925. During this period, Mann made entomological collecting
trips to Spain, Columbia, Central America, Mexico, and Cuba, and as assistant director of the Mulford Expedition to the Amazon River Basin, 1921-1922. He also did entomological
studies in Holland and Italy.
In 1925, Mann was appointed the fifth Superintendent of the NZP. In 1926, the title of Superintendent was changed to Director. Mann held that title until his retirement
in 1956. Mann's major achievements during his tenure as head administrator of the NZP included the Park's building program, 1927-1940, and his various expeditions to collect
live animals in order to increase the NZP population.
In 1944, Mann was appointed Technical Observer by the Quartermaster Corps, United States Army, to report on the living conditions in the United States military bases in
Fiji and the Solomon Islands. After his retirement in 1956, Mann was director emeritus of the NZP, and was made honorary research associate of the Smithsonian Institution.
Mann was also an honorary curator of Entomology at the United States National Museum during almost his entire career, and donated his entomological collection to the USNM.
Lucile Quarry Mann (1897-1986) was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan in 1918. She worked for Military Intelligence
in Washington, D.C., during the last remaining months of World War I. She served as assistant editor at the Bureau of Entomology, USDA, 1918-1922, and as editor for The
Women's Home Companion in New York City, 1922-1926.
In 1926, Lucile Quarry married William Mann, shortly after Mann's return from an animal collecting expedition to East Africa. As a wife of a zookeeper, Lucile Mann traveled
with her husband to Europe and on live-animal collecting expeditions. She also acted as a foster parent to many of the orphaned infant NZP-born animals at the Manns' apartment.
Lucile Mann worked in the NZP administrative offices from 1951 until her retirement in 1967, but she continued to work there part-time until 1971. She also was editor of
Tiger Talk, the NZP newsletter, and Spots and Stripes, the Friends of the National Zoo newsletter.
A taped interview with Lucile Mann was made in 1977 as part of the Archives' Oral History Project. The tapes and transcripts can be found in RU 9513.
Chronology:
1886 -- William M. Mann born, Helena, Montana.
1897 -- Lucile Quarry born, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1900-1902 -- William M. Mann attended Lyon School for Boys, Pullman, Washington.
1902-1905 -- William M. Mann attended Virginia Military Academy, Staunton, Virginia.
1903 -- William M. Mann worked at NZP as an animal cage cleaner under animal keeper, William H. Blackburne.
1905 -- William M. Mann worked as a rancher in Texas and New Mexico.
1907-1909 -- William M. Mann attended Washington State College, Pullman.
1909-1911 -- William M. Mann attended Stanford University. Received B.A., 1911.
1910 -- William M. Mann did entomological collecting along the Arizona-Mexican boundary.
1911 -- William M. Mann was a member of the Stanford Expedition to Brazil
1911-1915 -- William M. Mann attended Bussey Institution, Harvard University. Received Sc.D. in Entomology in 1915.
1912 -- William M. Mann went on an entomological collecting trip to Haiti.
1913 -- William M. Mann went on a entomological collecting trip to Cuba, and Hildago, Mexico.
1914 -- William M. Mann was a member of the Philip Expedition to the Middle East.
1915-1916 -- William M. Mann, as a Sheldon Traveling Scholar, went on a entomological collecting trip to Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
1916-1925 -- William M. Mann served as an entomologist for USDA, and as an entomological explorer, traveled to Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain, France, and Italy, and studied in Italy and Holland.
1918 -- Lucile Quarry received B. A. in English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and worked until November for Military Intelligence in Washington, D. C.
1918-1922 -- Lucile Quarry was an assistant editor for USDA's Bureau of Entomology.
1921-1922 -- William M. Mann was assistant director of the Mulford Expedition to the Amazon River Basin.
1922-1926 -- Lucile Quarry was an editor for The Woman's Home Companion in New York City.
1925 -- William M. Mann appointed Superintendent of NZP.
1926 -- Job title changed to Director of NZP
1926 -- William M. Mann went to Tanganyika as a member of the Smithsonian-Chrysler Expedition to East Africa, to collect animals for the NZP.
1926 -- William M. Mann and Lucile Quarry married.
1928 -- The Manns visited European zoos. (Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, and the Netherlands)
1931 -- The Manns went to British Guiana to collect live animals for the NZP.
1937 -- The Manns went on an around-the-world trip by sea as members of National Geographic Society-Smithsonian Institution Expedition to the Dutch East Indies to collect live animals for the NZP in Sumatra.
1938 -- The Manns visited European zoos. (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Danzig, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Scotland, and Ireland)
1939 -- The Manns visited Brazil and Argentina, to collect live animals for the NZP.
1940 -- The Manns visited Liberia as members of the Firestone-Smithsonian Expedition to Liberia to collect live animals for the NZP.
1944 -- William M. Mann served as Technical Observer for the Quartermaster Corps, U. S. Army in Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
1948 -- The Manns visited European zoos. (Great Britain, France, West Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands)
1951 -- Lucile Q. Mann began work at the NZP.
1956 -- William M. Mann retired from NZP.
October 10, 1960 -- Death of William M. Mann (age 74 years)
1967 -- Lucile Q. Mann retired from NZP.
1967-1971 -- Worked part-time at NZP.
1977 -- Oral history interview for SIA. (See RU 9513)
November 26, 1986 -- Death of Lucile Q. Mann (age 89 years)
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
![view Smithsonian-Chrysler Expedition to East Africa, 1926 digital asset: Men loading vehicle, 1926 [Image No. SIA2008-2299]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "Men loading vehicle, 1926 [Image No. SIA2008-2299]")
