Richard Oglesby Marsh (1883–1953) was an engineer, American diplomat and amateur ethnologist who participated in several engineering and ethnological expeditions to Panama. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and Human Rights of the Tule People of San Blas and the Darien and was the author of White Indians of Darien and several popular articles on Panama.
Scope and Contents:
The Marsh Darien expedition of 1924-1925, the focus of this collection, was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution together with the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Rochester, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. Army, the Canal Zone administration, and the government of Panama. Expedition members included John L. Baer (Smithsonian Institution ethnologist), Paul Benton (Rochester Times-Union reporter), Charles M. Breder, Jr. (New York Aquarium biologist), Raoul Brin (botanist), Charles Charlton (Pathé News cinematographer), Herman L. Fairchild (University of Rochester emeritus geologist), Harry Johnson (taxadermist) Omer Malsbury (Canal Zone Administration), Lieut. Glen Townsend (U.S. Army) and Francisco Pinzón, the expedition cook.
The Marsh Papers include diaries, photographs, correspondence, maps, articles in draft and published form, and miscellaneous papers, chiefly relating to Marsh's experiences as leader of the Marsh Darien expedition to Panama in 1924-1925 and his contacts with the Kuna (also known as Tule). The collection also features materials on the negotiations that took place on the U.S.S. Cleveland with representatives of the U.S. and Panamanian governments and the Kuna Indians during the Kuna uprising of 1925, in which Marsh served as a mediator.
Correspondents include Marsh's wife, Helen Louise Cleveland Marsh; his son Richard O. Marsh, Jr.; and C.L.G. Anderson.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.
Biographical Note:
Richard O. Marsh (1883-1953) was an engineer, U.S. State Department employee, and ethnologist who made numerous engineering and scientific expeditions around the world. He was the author of The White Indians of Darien [c1934]. The Marsh-Darien expedition of 1924-1925, the focus of this collection, was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution together with the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Rochester, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. Army, the Canal Zone administration, and the government of Panama.
Chronology
1883 -- Born in Illinois
1901 -- Enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1903 -- Employed by the Army Corps of Engineers in Texas
1905 -- Enrolled in the University of Lausanne, Switzerland
1909 -- Married Helen Cleveland in September
1910 -- Appointed First Secretary of the U.S. legation in Panama in April
1912 -- Secretary, American Embassy, St. Petersburg, Russia
1915 -- Elected mayor of Warsaw, Illinois
1923 -- Returned to Panama as employee of engineer George Goethals in June
1924 -- Headed Marsh-Darien expedition to Panama in January
1925 -- Returned to San Blas, Panama Published "Blond Indians of the Darien Jungle" in The World's Work
1931 -- Traveled to Nicaragua
1933-1935 -- Public Works Administration
1934 -- Published White Indians of Darien (New York: Putnam)
1935-1939 -- Chief engineer, Land Utilization Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture
1941 -- Reconnaissance engineer, U.S. Military, North Africa, in December
1949-1952 -- State Road Department, Florida
1953 -- Died, Vero Beach, Florida, on September 4
Related Materials:
Additional material relating to the Marsh Darien Expedition is included in MS 4550 in the National Anthropological Archives. Additional Marsh correspondence is contained in the Aleš Hrdlicka papers. On Marsh's adventures in Panama, see James Howe, A People Who Would Not Kneel: Panama, the United States, and the San Blas Kuna (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998).
Provenance:
The Marsh papers were donated to the archives by Richard O. Marsh, Jr. in 1997.
Restrictions:
The Richard O. Marsh papers are open for research.
Access to the Richard O. Marsh papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Richard O. Marsh papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Engineering and Industry Search this
Extent:
0.15 Cubic feet (1 box)
Container:
Box 1
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Photograph albums
Place:
Panama Canal (Panama)
Panama -- 1900-1910
Date:
1905-1908.
Summary:
Photograph album of commercially-produced photographs of Panama Canal construction.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection consists of a photograph album of one hyndred commercially produced views of Panama Canal construction. Also included are some views of life in the Canal Zone, including hospitals, villages, street scenes, jungles, cemeteries, animal life, and bullfights. The album was assembled by A. Bruce Minear, who was sent to Panama by President Theodore Roosevelt to develop the YMCA for the men working on the canal. Most photographs are captioned.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in one series.
Series 1, Photograph Album, 1905-1907
Historical:
On November 18, 1903, the United States and Panama negotiated the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which granted the United States permission to construct a canal that would join the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Construction for the Panama Canal began on May 4, 1904. The large workforce (at its highest population in 1913 it numbered 44,733 men, not including those sick, on leave, or otherwise absent) had a great impact on Panama. As there were not enough amenities to accommodate them when they arrived, they built entire communities, paved streets, improved communication systems, and installed water and sewage systems. Likewise, the railroad was improved for more efficient transportation of supplies, labor, food, and equipment. Much to the credit of Chief Sanitary Officer Dr. William Crawford Gorgas, yellow fever was completely eradicated on the Isthmus and malaria cases greatly reduced. Native villages and towns along the planned construction route were required to relocate.
The first self-propelled, ocean-bound vessel traveled on the canal on January 7, 1914, and the canal was formally opened in August of that year. The Panama Canal construction project was the most expensive construction project in United States history to that date, costing $375,000,000.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
W. P. Stine Panama Canal Papers (NMAH.AC.1039)
John Frances Little Panama Canal Scrapbook Photograph Albums (NMAH.AC.0708)
Katherine Kingsford Panama Canal Photograph Album (NMAH.AC.1040)
A.R. Van Tassell Photograph Albums (NMAH.AC.1015)
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the National Museum of American History's Division of the History of Science and Technology, Engineering and Industry Collections by Mary Alice Minear Hunt and George Laird Hunt, 1987.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
