This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
This collection consists of lantern slides, a photograph album, and loose photographs taken by Henry C. Kellers on the United States Naval Observatory Eclipse Expeditions
to the Philippine Islands, 1929, and Nivafoou Island, 1930.
Historical Note:
Henry C. Kellers (1874-1954) was born in Charleston, South Carolina. A graduate of the South Carolina Medical School, Kellers joined the United States Navy as a Hospital
Steward in 1903. During the First World War he served as Assistant Surgeon with the Navy. He was promoted to Lieutenant in the Medical Corps in 1920 and to Lieutenant Commander
in 1931. In 1938, he was placed on the Retired List of Officers of the Navy. He was recalled to active duty in 1939, serving until 1945 when he again retired. Kellers died
in Oakland, California.
During his career in the Navy, Kellers participated in several scientific expeditions. He was a member of the United States Naval Observatory Eclipse Expeditions of 1925,
1927, 1929, and 1930 to Sumatra, Nicaragua, the Philippine Islands, and Nivafoou Island, respectively. On these expeditions, Kellers served as a representative of the Smithsonian
Institution for the purpose of making biological collections. While in Nicaragua in 1927, he collected over 130 animals and birds for the National Zoological Park; and he
secured over 10,000 zoological specimens from the Philippine Islands in 1929.
