Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa.
Scope and Contents note:
Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa. The Train Collection is particularly strong in archival materials on the following topics: the search for the source of the Nile and the progress of other exploring expeditions in Africa; the collecting of specimens of African animals, plants, and ethnological materials for zoos and museums (including a significant body of correspondence and photographs from the Smithsonian African Expedition in 1909-1910, led by President Theodore Roosevelt); and the growth of the African wildlife conservation movement. Besides Roosevelt, the major persons represented in the Collection include the journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley and members of his Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert H. Nelson, James S. Jameson, John Rose Troup, William Bonny, William G. Stairs, Edmund Barttelot, and Arthur J. M. Jephson); the medical missionary Dr. David Livingstone and his father-in-law Robert Moffat; taxidermist Carl Akeley; zoologist Edmund Heller; hunter Frederick Courtenay Selous; artist and adventure writer A. Radclyffe Dugmore; explorers Samuel White Baker, Thomas Baines, Richard Francis Burton and E.J. Glave; anthropologist Paul Belloni du Chaillu; and royal traveler Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor). Consult the finding aid for more specific information on materials relating to these persons and other people and organizations represented in the Collection.
Arrangement note:
Organized into ten series, primarily based on format or creator: I. Artifacts, 1663-1999; II. Works of Art, 1663-1999; III. Books, 1900-1986; IV. Edmund Heller personal papers, 1875-1939; V. Manuscripts, 1663-1992; VI. Maps, 1878; VII. Newspapers, 1888-1987; VIII. Robert Henry Nelson personal papers, 1795-1912; VIII. Photographs, 1874-1963; IX. Posters and broadsides, 1814-1955; X. Russell E. Train personal papers, 1956-2004.
Separated Materials note:
In addition to these archival and non-book materials, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries acquired more than 1500 printed books as part of the Russell E. Train Collection; these books are listed individually in the SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) online catalog.
Provenance:
Originally assembled by the Honorable Russell E. Train, a former judge, top administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a past president of the World Wildlife Fund, this collection was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 2004.
Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
Topic:
Zoological specimens -- Collection and preservation -- Africa Search this
Windsor, Wallis Warfield, Duchess of, 1896- Search this
Extent:
300 Items ((on 1 microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
[ca. 1940-1979]
Scope and Contents:
Printed biographical information; letters, notes, and telegrams from various correspondents, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Ogden Nash, and Leonard Bernstein; photographs of Alajalov with others, and photographs of his works; exhibition catalogs, invitations, and announcements; a manuscript and a published copy of CONVERSATION PIECES, a book about Alajalov by Janet Flanner; and magazine articles, and clippings.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, illustrator; New York, N.Y.
Related Materials:
Constantin Alajalov papers also at Syracuse University.
Provenance:
Donated 1980 by Constantin Alajalov.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Photographic prints made by the Trio Photograph and Supply Company in an around Vancouver Island, Canada among the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) community between 1919 and 1924.
This collection includes photographic prints and one postcard made by Trio Photograph and Supply Company which was owned and operated by Ernest Crocker. The majority of the photographs were shot in British Columbia on Quadra Island and Vancouver Island among Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) communities sometime around 1920 although exact dates are unknown. Many of the photograph on Quadra Island were shot around Cape Mudge Village and includes images of totem poles, house posts and village views. The majority are outdoor and street views and do not include members of the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) community. Many of the photographs shot on Vancouver Island include images of grave posts and are restricted due to cultural sensitivity. There are also two photographs of petroglyphs shot on Cormorant Island. There is also an additional photographic print made in 1919 documenting the royal visit of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, in Victoria on Vancouver Island. He is being greeted by Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) community members. This photograph was donated to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation earlier than the other prints. There are also 11 copy negatives (acetate) that were made by the Museum of the American Indian sometime in the 1960s during a large photograph conservation project.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
The Trio Photograph and Supply Company was allegedly founded in 1903 by Ernest Crocker (1877-1968) and two other English emigrants in Vancouver, Canada. Shortly after, the business moved to Victoria, B.C. where the partnership was dissolved, leaving Crocker as the main operator. In 1908, the studio relocated to Suite 8 at 604 Yates Street where it would remain for the next 37 years.
In its early years, Trio produced scenic postcards which were sold at a cigar-stand at the Canadian Pacific Railway's Empress Hotel. Around 1910, the studio was hired to photograph mining properties in Mexico. During both World Wars, Trio flourished as a military photographer, capturing many candid, portrait and group shots of soldiers and personnel. During World War I, the majority of photographs were taken at Exhibition Grounds at Willows Camp and during World War II, at Work Point Barracks in Esquimalt and the Officers Training Camp at Gordon Head. In addition to his military portfolio, Trio photographed local landscapes, indigenous and other cultural communities, and took portraits of Victorian families and individuals as well as sporting and school groups. Trio also photographed three Royal visits: the Prince of Wales in 1919, the Prince of Wales and Prince George in 1927 and King George VI in 1939.
While Crocker remained the principal photographer at Trio, he appears to have received help during the course of his business. Sometime in the 1910s, G.E. Welsh joined Crocker in some form of business partnership before leaving in 1918. After that time, it would appear that a man named Orlebar (Charlie) Walls joined the studio as a part time assistant. In 1946, the Imperial Bank Chambers renovated the top floor of 604 Yates Street where the Trio studio was established, forcing them to evict the premises. Advanced in age, Crocker did not seek to reopen his studio.
Biographical note from the BC Archives (part of the Royal BC Museum) Website: https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/trio
Related Materials:
The BC (British Columbia) Archives holds the Ernest Crocker fonds, which contains photographs produced by Crocker and Trio Photograph and Supply Company. Fonds PR-1348 - Ernest Crocker fonds: https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/ernest-crocker-fonds
Provenance:
The majority of the photographic prints were donated to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation by H. Barney Olson in 1924. P00764 was likely donated sometime around 1920. H. Barney Olson worked at the Empress Hotel at the time where Ernest Crocker (Trio Photograph and Supply Company) ran a postcard and photograph stand. It is likely this is how Olson came into possession of the photographic prints.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu). Some images are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs from British Columbia, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The postage stamps of King Edward VIII (1936) : including check list of cylinder numbers, stamp books and stamps overprinted for Morocco / by F. Hugh Vallancey
The tour of the Prince of Wales to Africa and South America : an intimate record / by Ralph Deakin ; with an introduction by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales
Sport and travel in East Africa : an account of two visits 1928 and 1930 / compiled from the private diaries of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales by Patrick R. Chalmers ; with three maps and thirty-seven reproductions of photographs taken by His Royal Highness and others
Edward, Duke of Windsor collection of safari photographs, including photos of the Prince and others of his party, including Raymond H. Hewlett and Denys Finch Hatton, taken on the East Africa safari of 1930
