The papers of Aleš Hrdlička, curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, offer considerable insight into the development of physical anthropology in the first half of this century. The papers include honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). In addition, there is material of a personal nature. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the USNM.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is comprised of both professional and personal materials. The professional material includes honors bestowed on Hrdlička, autobiographical notes, correspondence with many of the leading anthropologists of the day, anthropometric and osteometric measurements and observations (forming most of the collection), extensive photographs of Hrdlička's field work, manuscripts, research materials, and "My Journeys" (essentially a diary Hrdlička kept of his field work). The personal material primarily consists of correspondence with his first wife (Marie Dieudonnée Strickler) and other family members, but there are also financial records. The papers date from 1875 to 1966, but the bulk of the materials date from 1903 to 1943, the time of Hrdlička's career at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Hrdlička investigated all major questions confronting physical anthropologists of his day (the fossil record of early humans, the arrival of humans in the Americas, human variation, evolution, and eugenics) and made valuable contributions in all these areas. Hrdlička's interests in the establishment of physical anthropology as a distinct and important field, the welfare of the Czech people, early hominids, and variation within the human species are all documented in the collection as are the services he performed for various United States government agencies. He pursued field studies in many different parts of the world, but there are relatively few field notes as such among his papers. There is instead the edited journal "My Journeys," photographs, and physical anthropological forms. There is also relatively little material on his administrative involvement in the USNM. There is no material from Hrdlička's time at the Pathological Institution of the New York State Hospitals; after he resigned, fire destroyed the anthropological records Hrdlička collected as a member of the staff. There are materials in the collection which contradict, or at least complicate, many long-held criticisms of Hrdlička, particularly claims that he was racist and opposed feminist ideas. The collection contains materials of interest to genetic research, including anthropometric measurements, hair clippings and fingerprints.
There are a few items in the collection which are dated earlier than the collection's date span. These are publication dates, and the folders containing the items have been dated accordingly, but they have not affected the dates of the series or collection. There are also a few items which are dated after Hrdlička's death. These dates reflect the fact that the collection was added to by the Department of Physical Anthropology after Hrdlička's death and have been taken into account when formulating dates for the series and collection.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 37 series:
(1) Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1875-1940
(2) Early Personal Correspondence, 1883-1919
(3) Correspondence, 1885-1953
(4) News Clippings and Printed Matter, 1893-1953
(5) Financial Papers, 1910-1943
(6) Journeys to the Southwestern United States and Mexican Indians, 1898-1919
(7) Journeys to the Dakota, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, 1916-1917
(11) Journey to Egypt, Europe, and Russia, 1908-1909
(12) Journey to South America, 1910, 1910-1912
(13) Journey to the Far East, 1920, 1900-1930
(14) Journey to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe, 1924-1925
(15) Anthropometric Measurements of Indians Taken at the United States National Museum, 1904-1905, most undated
(16) Bone Studies, 1893-1929, most undated
(17) Old Americans, 1914-1930
(18) Children Who Run on All Fours, 1928-1936
(19) Early Man Studies, 1906-1930
(20) European Ethnic History, 1908-1938
(21) Miscellaneous Research Notes, 1887-1930
(22) Manuscripts of Writings, 1901-1944, most undated
(23) Writings by Other Authors, 1877-1942
(24) Anthropometry, undated
(25) "From My Journeys", 1898-1938
(26) -- American Journal of Physical Anthropology -- , 1918-1931
(27) American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 1924-1931
(28) International Congress of Americanists, 1900-1928
(29) Institute of Population, 1942
(30) Department of Anthropology, 1914-1943
(31) Lecture Notes, 1920-1932
(32) Maps and Charts, 1900-1932
(33) Miscellany, 1895-1954
(34) Index Cards, 1899-1948
(35) Bibliographic Index, undated
(36) Physical Anthropology Folios, undated
(37) Photographs, 1887-1944
Biographical Note:
Aleš Hrdlička was born in Bohemia in 1869 and came to America when he was thirteen. As a young man, he was trained in medicine at New York's Eclectic Medical College and the New York Homeopathic Medical College, receiving degrees from each. His first professional work was as a private practitioner, but he gave that up in 1894 when he joined the staff of the New York State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown. There, in addition to other duties, he began studies of the physical characteristics of inmates. This set in motion developments that would eventually lead him to become one of the world's most prominent anthropologists who has sometimes been referred to as "the founder of physical anthropology in America."
In 1896, in preparation for a research appointment with the Department of Anthropology in the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, Hrdlička went to Paris and studied with Leon Manouvrier. After his return to America, he worked for a short period with the Pathological Institute and came into contact with G.S. Huntington of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Hrdlička arranged and studied Huntington's large collection of skeletal material, thus gaining knowledge of a well-documented collection representing largely normal persons of European ancestry. He came to the attention of Frederic Ward Putnam, of the American Museum of Natural History, who arranged for his first anthropological field studies.
It was thus that Hrdlička became a member of the Hyde Expeditions to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. In 1898, he traveled to Mexico with Carl Lumholtz to study the Tarahumaras, Huichols, and neighboring tribes. In subsequent years, he returned to Mexico and the Southwest alone and studied physical characteristics and medical conditions of several American Indian tribes. With this experience and examinations of the Trenton and Lansing skeletal material for Putnam, Hrdlička came fully into the world of anthropology. In 1903, he was appointed head of the newly formed Division of Physical Anthropology in the United States National Museum.
While in his position at the Smithsonian, Hrdlička returned to the Southwest for studies of Pima and Apache children in 1905 and, in the following year, traveled to Florida to examine allegedly ancient remains of man. In 1908, he worked among a number of Indian tribes, including the Menominee, Oglala Dakota, Quinailt, Hupa, and Mohave, in a study of tuberculosis among them. In 1909, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in order to study living Egyptians and to examine remains of Egypt's past population. The following year took him to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico. In the first of these, he again examined allegedly ancient remains of man. In Peru, he made a large collection of skeletal material near Trujillo, at Pachamac, and in the Chicama Valley.
From 1912-1914, Hrdlicka undertook a physical anthropological exhibit for the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and, for this, traveled to eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Peru, and Florida. He also examined fossil remains of man in Europe and directed field work of other anthropologists in South and East Africa, St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Philippines, eastern Siberia, and the Ukraine. In 1915, for the Department of Justice, he assessed the racial makeup of Chippewas on the Leech Lake and White Earth reservations in Minnesota and also studied Dakota Indians. In 1917, his field work was directed toward white American families with longtime residence in the United States. In 1918, he carried out a survey of ancient sites in eastern Florida for the Bureau of American Ethnology. In 1920, he traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Manchuria in connection with an appointment to lecture at the Peking Union Medical College. As director of the American School for Prehistoric Studies in France, he again studied fossil remains of man in Europe in 1922 and 1923. In 1925, he carried out work in India, Ceylon, Java, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In 1927, he was again in Europe to deliver the Huxley Memorial Lecture before the Royal Anthropological Society in Great Britain. Between 1929 and 1938, he traveled frequently to Alaska to carry on an anthropological survey. In 1939, he traveled to Russia and Siberia.
Beginning with much of the skeletal collection of the Army Medical Museum, which had been transferred to the Smithsonian in 1898 before he was appointed there, Hrdlička amassed a bone collection that included, among many other specimens, the Huntington collection, casts of fossil remains of man, and a large and diverse North American collection. He also gathered a large collection of human brains. Over three hundred publications resulted from his study of this material, his field work, and his study of specimens in other museums. In addition, he was involved in many other activities. For United States government agencies, he provided services ranging from examinations of human remains for law enforcement officials to providing information and opinions concerning national origins and traits that were needed to interpret laws and form foreign policy. During World War II, he also advised government officials on policies to be pursued with certain national groups following the war.
In 1918, Hrdlička founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and remained its editor until 1942. In 1928, he was the major force behind the organization of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and served as its president from 1928 to 1932. He was also president of the Anthropological Society of Washington in 1907, the American Anthroplogical Association from 1925 to 1927, and the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1928 to 1929. He was chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1918 and secretary of the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council in 1917. From the 1920s to the 1940s Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and prepared exhibits for various eugenics congresses. In addition, Hrdlička was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. He represented the Smithsonian at several international gatherings of scholars, including meetings of the International Congress of Americanists.
Chronology
1869 March 29 -- Alois Ferdinand Hrdlička (Aleš Hrdlička) born in Humpolec, Bohemia
1882 September -- Emigrated to New York City
1888 -- While stricken with typhoid, met M. Rosenbleuth, a physician who arranged for Hrdlička to enroll at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City
1892 -- Enrolled in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital Published first article, "Scheme of Examination (Medical)," Publications of the Eclectic Medical College Graduated first in his class from the Eclectic Medical College
1894 -- Graduated first from his class from the Homeopathic Medical College Became research intern at the State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York, where he began his studies in physical anthropology Passed state board examination (allopathic)
1895 -- Joined staff of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals as associate in anthropology
1896 -- Studied anthropology under Leon Manouvrier in Paris
1896 August 6 -- Married Marie Stickler (Dieudonnée)
1898 March-July(?) -- Accompanied Carl Lumholtz on his expedition to northern Mexico, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and visited the Tarahumara, Huichol, and Tepecan Indians
1899 Spring -- Resigned from the Pathological Institute to take charge of physical and medical anthropological research on the Hyde Expeditions of the AMNH to the southwestern United States
1899 August -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to excavate the site of Pueblo Bonito and to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; visited Grand Gulch caves in southern Utah; included visits to the Navahos and southern Utes
1900 -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado to conduct somatological surveys among the Indians; included visits to the Apaches, Yumas, and Pueblo Indians
1902 January-September -- Hyde expeditions for AMNH to southwestern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico to conduct somatological surveys; included visits to the Tepecanos, Papagos, Opatas, Pimas, Yaquis, Mayos, Huichols, Otomis, Tepehuanes, Maricopas, Yumas, Yavapais, Paiutes, Walapais, and Havasupais
1902 October-December -- Hyde expedition for the AMNH to Mexico for Hrdlička to complete his somatological investigations; included visits to the Tepehuanes, Coras, Huichols, "Nahuas," "Aztecs," and Tarascans
1903 May 1 -- Became assistant curator in charge of the new Division of Physical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, at the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution
1905 -- Expedition under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology to Arizona and New Mexico to complete the observations on the tribes of this region; Hrdlička especially studied Apache and Pima Indian children
1906 February -- Expedition to western Florida to investigate remains of alleged ancient man
1907 -- President of the Anthropological Society of Washington
1908 -- Expedition to Indian schools and reservations in Wisconsin, Washington, California, Arizona, and South Dakota to study tuberculosis for a report to the International Congress of Tuberculosis
1908 December - 1909 May -- Traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Germany to examine human skeletal remains from an excavation in Egypt by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to study peoples of the Near East
1910 March 28 -- Promoted to curator in the Division of Physical Anthropology
1910 April-September -- Attended the 17th International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires and Mexico City Traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Panama
1912 -- Planned and directed seven expeditions for the physical anthropology exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition held at San Diego in 1915; expeditions included Hrdlička to Siberia and Mongolia and later to Peru; Riley D. Moore to St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; Philip Newton to the Philippine Islands; Vojtech Suk to Africa; Stanislaw Poniatowski to eastern Siberia; Kazimir Stolyhwo to the Birusa caves in Siberia and to the Ukraine; and Jindřich Matiegka to Bohemia
1912 May-Summer -- Traveled to London to attend 18th International Congress of Americanists Traveled to Siberia and Mongolia for the Panama-California Exposition
1912 September -- Traveled to Geneva for the 14th International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology
1913 January-April -- Expedition to Peru as part the effort for the Panama-California Exposition
1914 November 18 - 1915 January 18 -- Attended Panama-California Exposition
1915 May -- Research for the Department of Justice at the White Earth and Leech Lake reservations in Minnesota to determine non-Indian mixture among Chippewas
1915 December -- Served as General Secretary for the 19th International Congress of Americanists held in Washington
1916 Fall -- Traveled to Florida to examine remains of supposed ancient man
1917 March-July -- Served as Secretary on the Committee on Anthropology of the National Research Council
1917 Summer -- "Old American" research at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia and in Tennessee
1917 August -- Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, traveled to Oklahoma to visit the Shawnee Agency in eastern Oklahoma and the Kickapoo Indians in McCloud to search for adequate samples of pure blood Indians
1918 -- Elected to the American Philosophical Society Served as Chairman of Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and became its long-time editor Surveyed prehistoric sites on the southwest coast of Florida
1918 October 8 -- Death of his wife Marie
1920 -- Anthropometry published by the Wistar Institute Elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1920 Summer -- Married Mina (Vilemina) Mansfield
1920 January-May -- Visited Japan, Korea, Manchuria, northern China, Mongolia, and Hawaii Lectured at Peking Union Medical College in China
1920 Fall -- Visited Minnesota Chippewa (at the White Earth Reservation?) to help the Department of Justice setter the question of mixed and pure bloods among the Chippewa
1921 -- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
1922 -- Visited Spain, France, Germany, Moravia, and England Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from the University of Prague Chairman of the American delegation to the 20th International Congress of Americanists in Rio de Janiero
1923 -- Served three and one-half months as Director of the American School in France for Prehistoric Studies Visited England, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Italy
1925 -- The Old Americans published by Williams and Wilkins Co.
1925 March-October -- Traveled to Australia, Java, India, South Africa, and Europe on a trip sponsored by the Buffalo [New York] Society of Natural Science to obtain cranial measurements of Australian aborigines and Tasmanians, to investigate the Rhodesian Man site in South Africa, to survey the field of early man, and to collect data to support his hypothesis about the peopling of the Earth
1925-1926 -- President of the American Anthropological Association
1926 -- Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from University of Brno and D.Nat.Sc. degree from Brunn University
1926 May-September -- First fieldwork in Alaska: reconnaissance down the Yukon River to its mouth, around the Bering Sea and through the Bering Strait along the Alaskan coast to Point Barrow
1927 -- Received Huxley Memorial Medal and gave Huxley Lecture on "the Neanderthal Phase of Man" before the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain
1928 -- Helped found the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA)
1928-1929 -- President of the Washington Academy of Sciences
1928-1932 -- Served as first president of the AAPA
1929 -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Yukon River from Tanana to its mouth, to St. Lawrence and the Diomede Islands, to Cape Prince of Wales, up to Point Barrow and back to Unalaska Awarded honorary Sc.D. degree from Charles University, Prague
1930 -- Published The Skeletal Remains of Early Man, Vol. 83 Smithsonian Miscellaneous collections Published "Anthropological Survey in Alaska," Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 21-374
1930 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Kuskokwim River from Bethel down river to Apogak and up river to Stony River
1931 -- Children Who Run on All Fours published by McGraw-Hill Book Co.
1931 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1932 -- Kober Foundation lecturer of Georgetown University
1932 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site, trial excavations at Chief's Point and other sites, and a survey of Kodiak Island
1934 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed Cooks Inlet sites and the mainland opposite the Our Point site
1935 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site
1936 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: excavated at Our (Jones) Point site and surveyed the Dutch Harbor caves, some of the Aleutian Islands, and the mummy cave on Kagamil Island
1937 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands and Commander Islands
1938 Summer -- Fieldwork in Alaska: surveyed the Aleutian Islands, Dutch Harbor caves, and Commander Islands
1939 April 4 -- Testimonial dinner given by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in honor of his 70th birthday
1939 April-June -- Recuperated in London hospital after suffering a coronary occlusion
1942 March 31 -- Retired from curatorship at United States National Museum, becoming an associate in anthropology
1942 December -- Resigned as editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology
1943 -- Alaska Diary published by Cattell Press
1943 September 5 -- Died of heart attack
1944 -- Anthropology of Kodiak Island published by Wistar Institute
1945 -- The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants published by Wistar Institute
1969 -- Tenth Anthropological Congress of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences dedicated to Hrdlička in the 100th anniversary year of his birth
Selected Bibliography
1908 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physiological and Medical Observations Among the Indians of Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Bulletin 34, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1908.
1912 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Early Man in South America. Bulletin 52, Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912.
1919 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Physical Anthropology: Its Scope and Aims. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1919.
1920 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropometry. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1920.
1925 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Old Americans. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Co., 1925.
1930 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Skeletal Remains of Early Man. Vol. 83, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. City of Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1930. Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropological Survey in Alaska. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.
1931 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Children Who Run on All Fours, and Other Animal-like Behaviors in the Human Child. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1931.
1943 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. Lancaster, PA: The Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.
1944 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. Anthropology of Kodiak Island. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1944.
1945 -- Hrdlička, Aleš. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and Their Inhabitants. Philadelphia: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1945.
Related Materials:
Additional material in the National Anthropological Archives relating to Aleš Hrdlička can be found in the papers of William Louis Abbott, Henry Bascom Collins, Herbert William Krieger, and Frank Spencer; records of the American Anthropological Association, Bureau of American Ethnology, Department of Anthropology of the United States National Museum (National Museum of Natural History), Science Service, Anthropological Society of Washington, and the United States Army Medical Museum (anatomical section, records relating to specimens transferred to the Smithsonian Institution); and glass negatives of Indians collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution illustrations.
Additional related photographs can be found in Photo Lot 8, Division of Physical Anthropology collection; Photo Lot 9, Photographs of Indians for the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego; Photo Lot 24, Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum photographs of American Indians; Photo Lot 70, Department of Anthropology portrait file; Photo Lot 78, Miscellaneous negatives; Photo Lot 97, Division of Ethnology collection ("USNM" Collection); Photo Lot 73-26B, Aleš Hrdlička photographs relating to the Panama-California Exhibition; Photo Lot 73-26G, Miscellany; Photo Lot 77-48, Group portraits of International Congress; Photo Lot 79-38, Division of World Archeology collection; Photo Lot 83-41, Division of Physical Anthropology collection of photographs of human bones; and Photo Lot 92-46, Anthropology lantern slides.
Related films can be found in the Human Studies Film Archive under the accession numbers HSFA 1982.2.1, 1982.2.2, 1986.12.1, and 2015.13.1.
Hrdlička's extensive collection of reprints is maintained in the Division of Physical Anthropology.
Frank Spencer's doctoral dissertation "Aleš Hrdlička, M.D., 1869-1943: A Chronicle of the Life and Work of an American Physical Anthropologist" (1979) is the only book length biography of Hrdlička. The Frank Spencer papers, 1836-1999, are available at the NAA and contain original correspondence between Hrdlička and his first wife, Marie Strickler; his childhood report card from 1869; copies of family photos obtained from Lucy Miller, Hrdlička's niece; and an audio recording of Hrdlička speaking at Wistar Institute.
Further material may be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
The University of Alaska Anchorage holds diaries relating to Hrdlička's Expeditions to Alaska in 1936, 1937, and 1938 in the Alan G. May papers. The finding aid for this collection is avialable online at https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0690/ and a trascription of May's diaries from the expeditions is available online at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/11850
Provenance:
Hrdlička bequeathed his papers to the Smithsonian Institution. The Division of Physical Anthropology maintained them until they were deposited in the National Anthropological Archives in the 1960s. Some papers have come into the collection since then, most recently in 2018. These new accretions came to the collection through Donald Ortner, David Hunt, T. Dale Stewart, the Department of Anthropology, and the University of Alaska.
Restrictions:
Access to the Aleš Hrdlička papers requires an appointment.
Aleš Hrdlička papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The Repatriation Office, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, provided funds for the arrangement and description of the Aleš Hrdlička papers
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
William Jones World War II Scrapbook, NASM.2006.0067, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
The Charles Lewis Gazin Papers document his professional career during his tenure at the Smithsonian, 1932-1984, and, to a slight extent, his graduate work, 1927-1930.
Several aspects of Gazin's career receive extensive documentation in the papers: his administrative and curatorial duties at the Smithsonian; his field work and study trips;
his research and publication in vertebrate paleontology, especially early mammals; his involvement with professional organizations; his activities with colleagues in the scientific
community; and his interactions with the public. There are also correspondence, records, and papers of other scientists, some predating Gazin's career, which he apparently
collected. The papers contain very little concerning his personal life.
Gazin maintained a voluminous correspondence documenting most aspects of his professional career. Most of the correspondence, including Smithsonian memoranda, and exchanges
with colleagues and the public, is located in Series 1. However, a sizable amount, usually concerning specific subjects and organizations, is distributed throughout the collection.
Materials associated with Gazin's administration of the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology are similarly dispersed. Those reflecting the day-to-day operations of the Division,
such as memoranda, reports, budget notes, and informational publications, are concentrated in Series 2. The curatorial work of the Division is documented by records of specimen
loans; photographs of specimen preparation and mounting; and memoranda, scripts, inventories, and drawings relating to the design and presentation of exhibits. Comprehensive
discussion of Division activities is available in the Annual Reports, dating to 1906, which also document Charles W. Gilmore's tenure in the Division. These are located in
Series 3.
Records of Gazin's frequent field expeditions include accounts of expenses; lists of collected specimens; photographs; and, sporadically, field diaries and narrative reports.
As with other Division activities, the Annual Reports consistently provide the most complete descriptions of expeditions. Comprehensive coverage of Gazin's grant-sponsored
museum trips and field work, including research proposals, progress reports, itineraries, and correspondence, can be found in the National Science Foundation files within
Series 8.
Gazin's research is further documented by notes, drafts, and manuscripts relating to his publications and talks. Of note are the files relating to "Mammalian Faunal Zones
of Bridger Eocene" (see Bridger Zones files) and "A Study of the Eocene Condylarthran Mammal Hyopsodus" (see Hyopsodus files) which record the progression of the papers from
notes to printer's copies. Associated with Gazin's manuscripts are the scientific illustrations prepared for them. See Series 11.
Material reflecting Gazin's participation in professional societies is mostly located in the organization files located in Series 5. Those societies in which Gazin was
long and actively involved, such as the American Geological Institute, the Geological Society of America, and the Washington Academy of Sciences, are represented extensively
by correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes of meetings, and circulars, which in effect, document periods of their history.
A few organizations are represented in separate series. These records pertain to Gazin's research through the National Science Foundation (NSF), and his reviews of research
proposals submitted to NSF (Series 8); his various positions with the Earth Sciences Division of the National Research Council (Series 7); and his long-standing service to
the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) (Series 6). Correspondence, manuscripts, and charts included in the SVP files document the collective efforts of Gazin and his
SVP colleagues to define and correlate, by the incidence of vertebrate fossils, the geologic formations of the North American continental Tertiary.
Historical Note:
Charles Lewis Gazin (1904-1996) was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Raised on the west coast, his first acquaintance with prehistoric animals took place on a childhood
visit to the Los Angeles County Museum. As a student at the California Institute of Technology (CIT), he pursued a general interest in geology, receiving the B.S. degree in
1927 and the M.S. degree in 1928. In his graduate work, culminating in a Ph.D. earned at CIT in 1930, he focused on the study of vertebrate paleontology, his lifelong interest.
Gazin's long tenure in government service began in 1930 with his appointment as Junior Geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). While assisting USGS geologists
in studying and mapping geologic regions in Montana, Idaho, and California, Gazin also collected Miocene fossils for the United States National Museum (USNM). In 1932, he
became Assistant Curator in the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology at the USNM. Gazin served in that capacity until 1942 when, although maintaining a formal association with
the Division as Associate Curator, he took a military leave from the Museum to participate actively in the war effort. Rising in rank from 1st Lieutenant to Major in the U.
S. Army Air Force, he taught at the Air Force Intelligence School and also worked in radar intelligence, for which he received the Legion of Merit in 1946.
Gazin returned to the USNM in 1946 as Curator of the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, a position he held until 1967. During 1967 he served as Acting Chairman of the
Department of Paleobiology, before being named Senior Paleontologist. From 1970 to 1982 Gazin served as Paleobiologist Emeritus and from 1982 to 1984, as Curator Emeritus.
Gazin's research interests concern the vertebrate paleontology of the Tertiary and Quaternary of continental North America. Together with his responsibility for collecting
fossil material for the Smithsonian, these interests spurred considerable field work over his career. Between 1934 and 1969, except during World War II, Gazin led field expeditions
nearly every summer. Though he explored and excavated in much of the western United States, his efforts were concentrated on Hagerman, Idaho; southwestern Wyoming; central
and northeastern Utah; San Juan Basin, New Mexico; San Pedro Valley, Arizona; and Huerfano and Denver Basins, Colorado. From these and other arid locales, he recovered prodigious
quantities of mammalian fossils of Paleocene to Pleistocene age, in addition to fossils of Cretaceous dinosaurs and lizards. Most of the 99 works listed in his bibliography,
and nearly all of his longer publications, whether describing regional faunal assemblages or focusing on particular varieties of early mammals, are based upon this extensive
field work in the Rocky Mountain West.
During the winters of 1950 and 1951, Gazin conducted field work in Panama, returning to the Smithsonian with approximately ten tons of Pleistocene mammal specimens. Principal
among them were two skeletons of the giant ground sloth Eremotherium, exhibited since at the National Museum of Natural History.
In 1960 Gazin received a four-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that he extended into a seven-year study of early Tertiary mammals. Under the grant, he made
four field expeditions, mostly to Wyoming; trips to study museum specimens and fossil localities in Europe during 1960 and Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Argentina in 1962;
and numerous visits to inspect specimens in museums and universities in the United States. Gazin's study produced three major papers, published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections, as well as several shorter articles. With a second NSF grant, received jointly with Waldo R. Wedel of the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology in 1961, Gazin
participated in the collection and study of Pleistocene and recent mammals found in association with human artifacts near Littleton, Colorado.
Gazin also took an active role in several professional organizations. He was a charter member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, serving as its President, 1949-1950;
representative to the National Research Council, 1948-1951, 1957-1960; and on several committees working to define and correlate the North American continental Tertiary. He
assisted in drafting the constitution of the American Geological Institute and served as Director, 1956-1958, and 1962. He also chaired the National Research Council committee
on postdoctoral fellowships in the earth sciences, 1960-1963.
Chronology:
June 18, 1904 -- born in Colorado Springs, Colorado
1927 -- married Alice Van Dusen; had three children
1927 -- B.S., with honors, California Institute of Technology
1927 -- field work in Santa Barbara County, California
1928 -- M.S., CIT
1928, 1929 -- field work in eastern Oregon and northeastern Nevada
1930 -- field work in San Pedro Valley, Arizona
1930 -- first prize, best pre-doctoral presentation, Cordilleron Section, Geological Society of America
1930 -- Doctor of Philosophy, CIT
1930 -- appointed Junior Geologist, USGS
1930 -- field work for USGS in western Montana and northern Idaho
1930-1931 -- geologic mapping of San Andreas fault zone in southern California for USGS; fossil collecting in the Cajon Pass and Palmdale area, California, for the USNM
1931 -- geologic mapping in Kettleman Hills, California, for USGS
1932 -- field work in Death Valley, California, for USGS
1932 -- appointed Assistant Curator, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, USNM
1934 -- field work in southern Idaho
1936 -- field work in Arizona and San Juan Basin, New Mexico
1938 -- field work in central and northeastern Utah
1938-1940 -- Editor, Washington Academy of Sciences
1939 -- field work in central Utah
1940 -- field work in central Utah and southwestern Wyoming
1940 -- USNM delegate to 8th American Scientific Congress
1941 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming
1942 -- divorced Alice van Dusen Gazin
1942 -- appointed Associate Curator, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, USNM
1942-1945 -- 1st Lieutenant to Major, United States Army Air Force (Intelligence)
1943 -- married Elizabeth Parker Hobbs
1946 -- appointed Curator, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, USNM
1946 -- member, Editorial Board, Geological Society of America
1946 -- field work in central Utah and southwestern Wyoming
1946-1948 -- Secretary, Washington Academy of Sciences
1947 -- helped draft constitution, American Geological Institute (AGI)
1947 -- Incorporator, AGI, representing the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP)
1947 -- Field work in Huerfano Basin, Colorado
1948-1949 -- Member, USNM Committee on Modernization of Exhibits
1948-1951 -- Member, Division of Geology and Geography, National Research Council (NRC), representing the SVP
1949 -- Field work in San Juan Basin, New Mexico, and western Wyoming
1949-1950 -- President, SVP
1949-1951 -- Member, Board of Managers, Washington Academy of Sciences
1950 -- field work in the interior of Panama
1950-1951 -- Member, Executive Committee, Division of Geology and Geography, NRC
1951 -- field work in the interior of Panama
1951 -- field work in Strait Canyon, West Virginia
1951 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming
1952-1966 -- Member, SVP Cenozoic Committee
1952-1966 -- Chairman, SVP Eocene Subcommittee
1953 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming and northeastern Utah
1954 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming
1956 -- field work in Wyoming and Nebraska
1956 -- Smithsonian delegate to the 20th International Geological Congress, Mexico City
1956-1958 -- Member, USNM Space Requirements Planning Committee for wings for the Natural History Building
1956-1958 -- Director, AGI
1957 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming
1957-1960 -- Member, Earth Sciences Division, NRC, representing the SVP
1959 -- field work in southwestern Wyoming
1960 -- received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for "Early Tertiary Mammals of America"
1960 -- Smithsonian delegate to the 21st International Geological Congress in Copenhagen and to symposia on early mammals in Brussels and Oxford
1960 -- study trip to museums and fossil localities in France, Spain, Switzerland, West Germany, Austria, Belgium, and England
1960-1963 -- Chairman, NRC Committee on Postdoctoral Fellowships in Earth Sciences
The Harold F. Pierce collection consists of documents relating to Pierce's career in aviation medicine, particularly his service as a flight surgeon in World War I and World War II and his work on the Henderson Pierce rebreathing apparatus. Materials include correspondence, photographs, military records, certificates, technical drawings, and news clippings.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately three cubic feet of material relating to Harold F. Pierce's career in aviation medicine including correspondence; photographs; military records; certificates; technical drawings; and news clippings. The collection also contains a scrapbook which covers Pierce's service in World War I, his experiments at Oxford University and Columbia University, the Wilmer Institute, and World War II. Notable figures found in the collection include John Paul Stapp; David Goodman Simons; James A. Healy; Albert William Stevens; Sir William Osler; Merritte Weber Ireland; William H. Wilmer and others. The collection also contains personal letters from Pierce to his family written during his time in service during both World Wars. Large format drawings include maps of the Second and Third Aviation Instruction Centers, France, during World War I, and technical drawings for his rebreathing apparatus.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series: Professional Materials and Personal Materials.
Series 1 contains documents related to Harold F. Pierce's career in aviation medicine, particularly his service as a flight surgeon during World War I and World War I.
Series 2 contains Harold F. Pierce's personal documents, including letters of appointment, resumes, news clippings (both biographical and on subjects of interest), photos and portraits, and family materials.
Some of the materials were organized by L. Pierce (the donor, Pierce's daughter) into categories, particularly those related to aviation, the Henderson-Pierce rebreathing apparatus, and inventions. Select paragraphs of correspondence were clipped from the original document and placed under these categories. These materials frequently were kept in the category in which they were found. Numerous notes (underlining, checkmarks, dates, etc.) made by L. Pierce can be found on documents throughout the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Harold F. Pierce (1889-1963) received his degree from Clark University in 1912, having previously served in the Navy. He then worked in the electrical engineering and testing laboratory of the General Electric Company. After entering academia, he was an instructor of chemistry at Dartmouth College and transferred to Harvard Medical School.
When the United States entered World War I, Pierce was working on gas mask technology for the Bureau of Mines. In 1917, he joined the American Expeditionary Forces, U.S. Army Air Service, Sanitary Corps in World War I as a flight surgeon. During his time in service, Pierce helped to develop the Henderson-Pierce rebreathing apparatus, based on his prewar work with Yale University's Professor Yandell Henderson. He was instrumental in establishing medical research laboratories, first at Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, Long Island, and then in France at the 2nd Aviation Instruction Center, Tours, and the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center, Issoudun.
After leaving the military in 1919, Pierce continued his studies and work with rebreathing equipment at Oxford University as a tutor and demonstrator of physiology, including involvement with British Mount Everest reconnaissance expeditions. In 1922, he earned a BSc (OXON) Degree in pathology.
He returned to the United States to serve as Associate Physiologist at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, earning his Ph.D. in colloidal chemistry in 1927.
From 1927 to 1935, he served as Associate Professor of research ophthalmology at Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. (He had served with founder William H. Wilmer in WWI.) In 1935, he received his M.D. and served as Assistant Resident in medicine at Bellevue Hospital, New York City. He also assisted in the design of the capsule for the Explorer II manned high-altitude balloon launch.
Pierce rejoined the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 serving as a flight surgeon and altitude physiologist at the School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Field, Texas. In 1945, he was transferred to the Avon Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in his home state of Connecticut.
After World War II, Pierce served as medical director of the Connecticut State Welfare Department and as a consultant in aero-physiology at Hartford Hospital until retiring in 1960. He is recognized as a pioneer in the field of aviation medicine.
Provenance:
Ms. L. Pierce, Gift, 2014.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
This collection provides extensive documentation on the flying career of Paul R. Stockton from his entry into the New York Air National Guard through his service in France and Germany and eventual discharge in 1919. Included in this collection is documentation of the activies, personnel and equipment of Stockton's squadron, as well as are excellent aerial photographs of airplanes and before and after photographs of target areas. Many of the photographs show Marie, the Belgian police dog Stockton raised during the war. (Marie later appeared in motion pictures with Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino and others). One image is purportedly from one of the aircraft of Baron von Richtofen's "Flying Circus." Also included in this scrapbook are certificates of Stockton's appointments to corporal and to 1st lieutenant, hotel menus, copies of leaflets dropped by US aviators behind the German lines, examples of European currency, train and bus tickets, fabric swatches from aircraft, Stockton's pilot license and other such ephemera.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul R. Stockton (1880-1962) enlisted in the Signal Corps from 1906-1909 and served in Cuba and Puerto Rico. He made his first flight in 1916 as a member of the First Aero Company, New York State National Guard at Mineola, New York. In 1917 Stockton was ordered overseas and served as the Commanding Officer of the 12th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces. Stockton was discharged in 1919, and was later a member of the Early Birds.
Provenance:
No donor information, gift, unknown, XXXX-0283, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Topic:
World War, 1914-1918 -- Aerial operations Search this
John Guy Gilpatric (1896-1950) was one of America's earliest aviators. Although not officially an Early Bird, he first learned to fly in 1912 at the age of sixteen. That same year he gained notoriety by setting a new American record when he reached an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet with a passenger on board. During his teenage years, Gilpatric gave flying lessons and flew in air exhibitions, eventually becoming employed as a test-pilot. He later worked as an aviation instructor in Toronto, Canada, teaching the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Following the United States' entry into World War I in 1917, Gilpatric enlisted in the Army Air Service as a First Lieutenant, where he was stationed overseas as Engineering Officer, First Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). The collection contains four scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, licenses and identity cards, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and periodicals, which chronicle his aviation career and military service.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains four scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and periodicals. The collection also includes Gilpatric's Aero Club of American issued pilot license and his American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) identity and pilot identity card. Correspondence includes three letters from Glenn H. Curtiss and Jimmy Doolittle. The scrapbooks contain photographs, clippings and ephemera, including the follow subjects: Gilpatric's early aviation career as both an aviator and an instructor with the Moisant Flying School, Sloane Aviation School, the Royal Canadian air cadets; early aircraft such as the Sloane Flying Boat, the Nieuport 27, Curtiss JN-2, as well as Wright, Bleriot, Farman, and Deperdussin aircraft; and early aviators Charles Niles; DeLloyd Thompson; Art Smith; Bert Acosta; Claude Grahame-White; George W. Beatty; William Knox Martin; George M. Dyott; John E. Sloane; and Robert Y. Hoshino, a Japanese aviator. One scrapbook focuses on Gilpatric's service in the AEF in World War I with photographs of zeppelins, soldiers and aviators, aerial reconnaissance photography, destroyed villages, and graves. Photographs found in the videodisc prints are most likely copied from the scrapbooks or smaller images that had been removed from albums.
Note: Where indicated, the digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
Arrangement:
Materials were arranged by physical location.
Biographical / Historical:
John Guy Gilpatric (1896-1950) was one of America's earliest aviators. Although not officially an Early Bird, he first learned to fly in 1912 at the age of sixteen. That same year he gained notoriety by setting a new American record when he reached an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet with a passenger on board. During his teenage years, Gilpatric gave flying lessons and flew in air exhibitions, eventually becoming employed as a test-pilot. He later worked as an aviation instructor in Toronto, Canada, teaching the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Following the United States' entry into World War I in 1917, Gilpatric enlisted in the Army Air Service as a First Lieutenant, where he was stationed overseas as Engineering Officer, First Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). Upon returning to the United States in 1919, he left the world of aviation behind and worked in advertising. Gilpatric is probably best known, however, for his subsequent career as a writer, during which time he wrote the Saturday Evening Post series, "Colin Glencannon," among numerous other books and articles.
Provenance:
Unknown, gift, unknown, NASM.XXXX.0220
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pia Marie Winters Jordan in memory of her mother, First Lieutenant Louise Virginia Lomax Winters, Army Nurse Corps; and her uncle, Sgt. Henry James Lomax, U.S. Army
Object number:
2022.42.1
Restrictions & Rights:
Unknown - Restrictions Possible
Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Early Aeronautical Newsclippings (Alexander Graham Bell) Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0086, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Nathan Blumberg (1897--1982) served with the US Army Air Service, 27th Aero Squadron, during World War I. This collection consists of a scrapbook compiled by Blumberg which mainly documents the activities of his unit during the war.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a scrapbook compiled by Nathan Blumberg which mainly documents the activities of the 27th Aero Squadron during World War I. Photographs in the scrapbook include images of members of the squadron; graves of some of the pilots killed in action; aircraft including the SPAD XIII (S.13), Dorand Type A.R.2 A2, Nieuport 28 C18, and the de Havilland (Airco) D.H.4; and views of various locations in France. The images are captioned by Blumberg. The scrapbook also includes some military records, poems, news clippings, and photographs and memorabilia from the squadron's reunions in 1966 and 1973. A number of news clippings in the scrapbook relate to Frank Luke, Jr., a pilot from the 27th Aero Squadron who was killed in action during World War I and was awarded the Medal of Honor. The scrapbook also contains some clippings about Edward Vernon "Eddie" Rickenbacker and some of Blumberg's enlistment records from World War II.
Arrangement:
The scrapbook in this collection is in original order. The collection also contains some loose items which are housed separately.
Biographical / Historical:
Nathan Blumberg (1897--1982) enlisted in the US Army Air Service at Fort Slocum, New York on November 27, 1917 and was initially attached to the 233rd Aero Squadron before being transferred to the 659th Aero Squadron in December 1917. In February 1918, Blumberg was attached to the 27th Aero Squadron and remained with that unit, serving in France from February 1918 until March 1919 when he was honorably discharged at the rank of corporal. Blumberg re-enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in October 1942 and served during World War II as a warrant officer.
Provenance:
Leonore B. Sheldon, Gift, 1991, NASM.1991.0028
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection consists of 32 black and white photographs relating to artist and photographer Robert Isadore Serotkin (1911-1986) and includes examples of the aircraft nose art which he painted while serving with the US Army Air Forces during World War II.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 32 black and white photographs relating to Robert Serotkin and examples of the aircraft nose art which he painted during World War II. Seven images were copied by the museum from original negatives loaned by the Serotkin family; the remaining 25 images are original print photographs. The collection includes informal portrait photographs of Serotkin including one with his wife, Rose Shirley (Hymowitz) Serotkin; snapshots of Serotkin and fellow servicemen; and detail views of aircraft nose art. Aircraft pictured include the Boeing B-29 Superfortresses "Lady in Waiting" (s/n 44-84068), "R. S. M. Dragon" (s/n 44-83966), and "Slave Girl" (s/n 44-27307); Boeing F-9 "Margie's Mad Greek II" (s/n 42-30253) and Boeing F-9B Flying Fortress "Golden Hind" (s/n 42-6187); Boeing F-13A (R-13A, RB-29A) reconnaissance aircraft "Margie's Mad Greek III" (s/n 44-61843) and "Over Exposed" (s/n 44-61813); Consolidated B-24 Liberators "Lucky Strike" (believed to be s/n 44-41976), "Luvablass", and "Over Loaded"; and Douglas C-47 Skytrain "Cheri." Also included are three views of the wreck of the Martin (Glenn L.) PBM-5 Mariner "Cloud Hopper" on a beach in Okinawa in late 1945.
Arrangement:
The photographs are grouped by subject.
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Isadore Serotkin was born May 23, 1911, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia from 1937-1938, and by 1941 was self-employed as a commercial photographer. Serotkin entered service with the US Army on February 12, 1942, and after basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi, was sent to the Army Air Forces (AAF) Technical School at Lowry Field, Colorado, from July-September 1942 for training as an aerial photographer. At the conclusion of his training, Serotkin was promoted to Staff Sergeant and assigned to the newly-redesignated 1st Photographic Mapping Squadron. Aerial mapping duties took Serotkin to posts in Africa at Accra (British Gold Coast), Morocco, and Egypt before being sent back to the United States for additional training in Boeing F-13A aircraft (the reconnaissance version of the B-29 Superfortress) at Smoky Hill Army Air Field in Salinas, Kansas. In September 1945, the squadron, now redesignated as 1st Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Heavy), was posted to Okinawa. Throughout his military career, Serotkin put his skills as a commercial artist to good use by painting nose art (aircraft personal art) on various aircraft when the weather was too bad to fly mapping missions. Serotkin was discharged from the USAAF on January 20, 1946; he died in Boca Raton, Florida, on December 26, 1986.
Provenance:
Rita Serotkin, gift, 2000, NASM.2000.0046
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
The Theodore E. Boyd World War I collection consists of material documenting Theodore E. Boyd's World War I career. The bulk of the collection covers the World War I era, 1917 to 1919, but materials before and after those dates are also present. Materials include: correspondence, written both during the war to family and friends; photographs; military orders, mostly in English, a few in French; flight logs; identity card; Honorable Discharge and Distinguished Service Cross certificates; memoirs of his war experiences, both written for publication and to his family; and post war veterans rosters.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of material documenting Theodore E. Boyd's World War I career: correspondence, written both during the war to family and friends; photographs; military orders, mostly in English, a few in French; flight logs; identity card; Honorable Discharge and Distinguished Service Cross certificates; memoirs of his war experiences, both written for publication and to his family; and post war veterans rosters.
Arrangement:
The collection has been arranged into three series: Series 1, World War I; Series 2, Memoirs; and Series 3, Post War Rosters.
The collection did not have any particular order when received by the NASM Archives. Archivists have organized the documents by topic then by date.
Biographical Note:
During World War I, Theodore E. Boyd served with the 88th Aero Squadron (Attached), 7th Field Artillery, Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.). Second Lieutenant Boyd was an observer and served in France until he was injured on September 14, 1918, when during a flight near Conflans, France, he was wounded in both legs, his left foot, and right elbow by explosive bullets. For his bravery during this flight, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Due to his injures, his service ended and he was honorably discharged. After the war, Boyd went to medical school and taught physiology for 24 years at Loyola University in Chicago. In 1947, Boyd joined the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis where for twenty years he served as Assistant Director, and then Director, of the Research Department.
Timeline
Theodore E. Boyd Timeline
1893 December 14 -- Theodore Elliott Boyd born in Ashland City, Tennessee.
1910 -- Boyd forced to give up a West Point appointment because of varicose veins and a bad scar.
1917 May -- Reported to Reserve Officers' Training Camp, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
1917 August 15 -- Honorably discharged from Ft. Oglehthorpe to accept commission as Second Lieutenant Field Artillery Section Officers Reserve Corps.
1917 August 22 -- Ordered to report to General Superintendent, Army Transport Services, New York City, for assignment to first available transportation to France. Left Tennessee August 23.
1917 September 9 -- Left New York. Landed at Liverpool on September 23, Le Havre on September 25.
1917 October 1 -- Entered Artillery School at Saumur
1918 January 14 -- Report to Aviation School, Tours
1918 February 19 -- Transferred to First Corps School, Gondrecourt, for advanced instruction.
1918 April 6 -- Dispatched for duty with French 40th Observation Squadron in Champagne.
1918 May 20 -- Ordered from Chalons-sur-Marne to the AEF 88th Squadron in Amanty (Meuse).
1918 June 6 -- Ordered to Cazeux for course in machine gun instruction.
1918 July 1 -- Returned to the 88th Squadron at Ourches (Meuse).
1918 August 9 -- Protected a photographic miessio nbetween the Vesle and Aisne. Cited for gallantry in action and entitled to wear a silver star on the Victory medal.
1918 September 9-12 -- On leave in Paris.
1918 September 14 -- "[Lt. Theodore Boyd was charged with the] protection of an aerial photo mission over the city of Conflans, in which six machines were schedule to fly in combat formation. This officer, three of the escorting plans having failed to join the formation, proceeded on his mission notwithstanding. At a point, roughly 3 km NW fo Conflans, he engaged in combat with five enemy pursuit machines of the Pfalz type. He was wounded in both legs, the left foot, and right elbow by explosive bullets. In spite of his wounds, he succeeded, by a remarkable display of courage and tenacity, in keeping up the fire of his guns until the attacking planes were put to flight. During the return to the Allied lines, Lieut. Boyd, although faint with pain and loss of blood, assisted his pilot, whose machine was disabled and coming down under control, in choosing the shortest route to safety."-Captain Kenneth P. Littauer, recommendation for Distinguished Service Cross
1918 November 11 -- Ordered to proceed from Savenay to the port of Brest for transport to the United States (left Brest November 18).
1918 November 29 -- Landed at Newport News, Virginia.
1918 December 6 -- Arrived at Fort McPherson, Georgia, for convalescense.
1919 May 6 -- Lieutenant Theodore E. Boyd honorably discharged from the United States Army.
Provenance:
Donated by Pat Piper, gift, 2012.
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
