Alonzo Pond was an archaeologist who worked for 6 years (1925-1931) as an Assistant Curator at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College. This collection contains films and supplementary materials concerning the excavations that he led in Northern Africa, Algeria, and New Mexico while he served in this position.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains motion picture film and supplementary documents (audio recordings, correspondence, and manuscripts) relating primarily to the Beloit College/Logan Museum of Anthropology excavations in Northern Africa and Algeria led by Alonzo Pond. There are additional films relating to the Logan Museum's excavation in the Mimbres River Valley, New Mexico, and their purchase of an Aurignacian necklace.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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 Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 2 series: (1) Films, 1925-circa 1930; (2) Supplementary Materials, 1922-circa 2003
Biographical Note- Alonzo Pond:
Alonzo W. Pond was born on June 18, 1894, in Janesville, Wisconsin. He received his B.S. at Beloit College in 1920 after taking two years off (1917-1919) to serve as an ambulance driver for the American Field Service in France during World War I. He was a member of the first class of the American School in Europe for Prehistory at the University of Paris (1921-1922). On his return to the United States, he began work on his M.A. at the University of Chicago. However, his studies were interupted when the Logan Museum of Anthropology sent him to Europe to purchase objects for their collection. He became an Associate Curator for the Logan Museum and, in that capacity, led three expeditions to Algeria and Northern Africa between 1925 and 1930. He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1928. In addition to the expeditions that he led for the Logan Museum, he served as the archaeologist for Roy Chapman Andrews' third Asiatic Expedition in 1928 and led the Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition in 1933. During the Great Depression, he worked for the U.S. Park Service (1934-1935) as the archaeologist at Jamestown Island, Virginia, and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, and for the Civilian Conservation Corps (1935-1937), acting as superintendent of the camp at Interstate Park, Wisconsin.
With his family, he developed and managed the newly discovered Cave of the Mounds in Wisconsin from 1940 to 1945. He then served as an information specialist with the Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center (ADTIC) at Maxwell Airforce Base in Alabama from 1949 to 1958. While with ADTIC, he was involved in 4 desert survival and reconnaissance flights in the Sahara (to Timbuktu) and Mid-East deserts. After his retirement, he and his family opened and operated the Wisonsin Gardens in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Pond wrote popular and scientific articles on travel, archaeology, ethnology, geography and natural history in local, state, and national newspapers and magazines, especially Wisconsin Tales and Trails, the New York Times, Life Magazine, Natural History Magazine, and American Legion Magazine. His books include A Contribution to the Study of Prehistoric Man in Algeria (1928); Primitive Methods of Working Stone: Based on Experiments of H. L. Skavlem (1930); Interstate Park and Dalles of St. Croix (1936); Prehistoric Habitation Sites in Sahara and N. Africa (1937); Guide Book to Cave of the Mounds (1941); Limestone Caverns, an educational movie produced by Coronet Productions (1941); Afoot in the Desert (1951, Revised 1956); Climate and Weather in Central Gobi of Mongolia (1951, Revised 1954); Sun, Sand and Survival, a survival training film produced by U.S. Air Force (1954); The Survival Book (1959); The Desert World (1962); Deserts, Silent Lands of the World (1965); Caverns of the World (1968); Survival in Sun and Sand (1969); Andrews, Gobi Explorer (1972); Dr. Kate and the Million Penny Parades (1974); and Paul Bunyan's Cookbook (1977).
Pond died on December 25, 1986, in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Sources Consulted
Register of the Alonzo W. and Dorothy L. Pond Papers, 1869-1989 (bulk 1913-1986), Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections. Accessed August 10, 2020. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00762
Chronology
1894 -- Born June 18 in Janesville, Wisconsin
1917-1919 -- Drove an ambulance for the American Field Service in France during World War I
1920 -- Received B.S. at Beloit College
1921-1922 -- Studied at the American School in Europe for Prehistory
1925-1931 -- Assistant Curator at Logan Museum of Anthropology
1925-1926 -- Led the Logan Sahara Expedition
1926 -- Married Dorothy Long on July 20
1926-1927 -- Led Logan African Expedition
1928 -- Received M.A. from University of Chicago Archaeologist with Roy Chapman Andrews' third Asiatic Expedition
1929-1930 -- Led Logan African Expedition
1933 -- Led Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition
1934-1935 -- Served as archaeologist for U.S. National Park Service at Jamestown Island, Virginia, and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
1935-1937 -- Served as superintendent of Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Interstate Park, Wisconsin
1940-1945 -- Managed the Cave of the Mounds near Madison, Wisconsin
1949-1958 -- Worked as an information specialist with the Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center (ADTIC) at the Maxwell Airforce Base in Alabama
1958-1968 -- Owned and operated Wisconsin Gardens in Minocqua, Wisconsin with his wife
1986 -- Died at home on December 25 in Minocqua, Wisconsin
Biographical Note- Dorothy Pond:
Dorothy Pond was born Dorothy Long in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, in 1900. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for Economics. Dorothy and Alonzo were pen pals on his 1925 expedition and married soon after his return. She served as the camp director on Beloit College's 1930 Algerian Expedition as well as on many other of Alonzo's excavations. Her account of her experiences in Algeria, If Women Have Courage: Among Shepherds, Sheiks, and Scientists in Algeria, was published posthumously in 2014. A manuscript draft of this is included in the collection.
Dorothy Pond died in November 1987 in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Sources Consulted
Beloit Digital Archives. "Members of the Expedition." Beloit College's 1930 Expedition to Algeria. Accessed August 18, 2020. http://beloitdigitalarchives.com/cms/exhibits/show/1930-expedition/people
Higgins, Jim. "Dorothy L. Pond's 'If Women Have Courage' Recounts Wisconsinite's Adventure." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Accessed August 18, 2020. http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/books/dorothy-l-ponds-if-women-have-courage-recounts-wisconsinites-adventure-b99416733z1-287337471.html/
Chronology
1900 -- Born on August 26th in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
1926 -- Married Alonzo Pond on July 20
1930 -- Served as camp director for the Logan African Expedition
1958-1968 -- Owned and operated Wisconsin Gardens in Minocqua, Wisconsin, with her husband
1987 -- Died in November in Minocqua, Wisconsin
Related Materials:
Reliving the Past: Alonzo Pond and the 1930 Logan African Expedition; George L. Waite "Desert Sheiks" lantern slides, 1930 (NAA.PhotoLot.2010-12 in SOVA); Alonzo W. and Dorothy L. Pond Papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society; George L. Waite collections at the Wisconsin State Historical Society; Alonzo W. Pond papers at Beloit College; Alonzo William Pond collection at the American Museum of Natural History Archives. Expeditionary objects are in the collection of the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College and The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Provenance:
The rolls of 35mm nitrate negatives were donated by Alonzo Pond (by way of the Wisconsin Historical Society, where they had been stored) and the rolls of 35mm prints (which were most likely used by Pond during his lectures) and all other films were donated by Beloit College.
Accession 1987.1.1, North Africa Prehistory Expedition, was donated by the University of Minnesota, Department of Anthropology.
The audio materials were recorded by the HSFA.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Dean Cornwell papers, circa 1893-1981, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet, 8" x 10".)
Container:
Box 63
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Date:
1939
Scope and Contents:
Text on bass drum: "James E. Walker / Post 26 / Dept. Dis. of Col. / American Legion." "Scurlock, Photo" inscribed on negative, lower left. Group portrait of James E. Walker American Legion Band outside "Science Hall". "DEFENDER SAFETY BASE" edge imprint. No Scurlock number.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on cellulose acetate film sheet, 8" x 10".)
Container:
Box 63
Culture:
African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Place:
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans
Date:
1939
Scope and Contents:
Ink on negative: "Scurlock, photo" / "G James E. Walker post and banner / 1939". Group portrait of James E. Walker American Legion Band outside "Science Hall". "DEFENDER SAFETY BASE" edge imprint. No Scurlock number.
Subseries Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Subseries Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Photographs -- 1930-1940 -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film
Subseries Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
