Photographs made by Amos Burg in the coastal areas between Buenos Aires,Argentina, and Chiloe Island, Chile. Most depict the area around the Strait of Magellan, and include images of terrain, harbors, ships and shipping facilities, industries, and towns, though there are also some images relating to Yahgan peoples.
Biographical/Historical note:
Amos Burg (1901-1986) was a writer, photographer, and filmmaker for National Geographic, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and ERPI Classroom Films. He sailed around Cape Horn in a small boat in 1933-1934 and documented the trip for the National Geographic Society (NGS). Burg later obtained the release of negatives and prints from NGS to the Ethnogeographic Board, a World War II agency located in the Smithsonian. In turn, the board furnished copies to the US Navy and Army. Burg moved to Alaska in the 1950s, where he established the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Information and Education Section.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 88-36
Location of Other Archival Materials:
An additional Burg photograph can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 8.
A film by Burg can be found in the Human Studies Film Archives in HSFA 94.9.1.
The Alaska State Library and Oregon Historical Society hold Burg's papers and photographs, including original negatives.
Records relating to the Ethnogeographic Board can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in the papers of Henry Bascom Collins and Homer Garner Barnett.
Records of the Ethnogeographic Board can be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives in SIA RU000087.
Survival on land and sea. Prepared for the United States Navy by the Ethnogeographic Board and the staff of the Smithsonian Institution, with contributions by the Bureau of Aeronautics and Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, United States Navy
Author:
Ethnogeographic Board (Washington, D.C) Search this
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.
Historical Note:
With the coming of World War II, George Peter Murdock, in a move to aid the efforts of the United States, turned the attention of his Cross Cultural Survey file (later the Human Relations Area File) to the Pacific, especially the Japanese mandated islands there. This resulting file includes abstracts and illustrations from publications on five-by-eight-inch cards and slips. They are arranged by geographic area and subject following George Peter Murdock's Outline of Cultural Materials, 1945. The set was maintained in the offices of the Ethnogeographic Board at the Smithsonian Institution. By report, the file was heavily used by the U. S. Navy in planning the invasions of islands in the Pacific.
Related Materials:
Smithsonian Institution Archives holds records related to the Pacific Survey file in Records, 1942-1946 (SIA.FARU0087), Series 8: Uncompleted Project File: 1943-1945.
Restrictions:
The Pacific Survey file is open for research.
Access to the Pacific Survey fle requires an appointment.
MS 7332 Partial list of Oceania experts in Washington
Creator:
Ethnogeographic Board (Washington, D.C.) Search this
Extent:
11 Pages
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Place:
Oceania
Date:
January 29, 1943
Biographical / Historical:
The list was produced by the World War II agency housed at the Smithsonian whose purpose was to provide and coordinate anthropological and geographical information useful for the war effort.
Yale University. Institute of Human Relations Search this
Names:
Ethnogeographic Board (Washington, D.C.) Search this
Extent:
125 Items (1.25 inches)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
Oceania
Marshall Islands -- gazetteer
Marshall Islands -- Meteorology
Melanesia -- emergency adaptation
New Guinea
Marshall Islands -- Food -- Water
Caroline Islands -- Meteorology
Date:
1943
Scope and Contents:
Includes "Gazetteer of the Marshall Islands"; "Meteorology of the Marshall Islands"; "Emergency Adaptations in Melanesia: Some Practical Suggestions"; "Seaplane Landings in Northern Dutch New Guinea"; "Food and Water Supply in the Marshall Islands"; "Distribution of Diseases in Melanesia"; and "Meteorology of the Caroline Islands."
Survival on land and sea / prepared for the United States Navy by the Ethnogeographic Board and the staff of the Smithsonian Institution, with contributions by the Bureau of Aeronautics and Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, United States Navy
Author:
Ethnogeographic Board (Washington, D.C) Search this
