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William Palmer Kodak views of the Pribylov Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska

 Collection
Call Number: WA Photos 1065

Scope and Contents

194 photographs taken by William Palmer--with a Kodak Brownie Number 2--for the United States National Museum depicting the Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands), a group of volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, 1890 June-August.

The collection's title card suggests that Palmer organized the photographs into 5 categories: scenery, seals, sealing, birds, and miscellaneous. Images are chiefly of seals and sea lions, but also include Palmer's trip from Washington, D. C., to San Francisco, California, via the Union Pacific Railroad; unidentified Alaska Natives fishing or ferrying materials; and seabirds, including murres, cormorants, kittiwake gulls, albatross, sandpipers, geese, and perroquet auk. Saint Paul Island, "Walrus Island", and Unalaska are among the identified locations.

Dates

  • 1890 June-August

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The William Palmer Kodak Views of the Pribylov Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Kuenzig Books on the Arthur Corbitt Hoskins Memorial Fund, 2013.

Arrangement

Arranged by image number (indicated in parentheses). Image numbers are primarily written on the upper right corner above the image, with the caption written below the image.

Extent

1.67 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.wpalmerpribilofislands

Abstract

194 photographs taken by William Palmer--with a Kodak Brownie Number 2--for the United States National Museum depicting the Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands), a group of volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, 1890 June-August.

The collection's title card suggests that Palmer organized the photographs into 5 categories: scenery, seals, sealing, birds, and miscellaneous. Images are chiefly of seals and sea lions, but also include Palmer's trip from Washington, D. C., to San Francisco, California, via the Union Pacific Railroad; unidentified Alaska Natives fishing or ferrying materials; and seabirds, including murres, cormorants, kittiwake gulls, albatross, sandpipers, geese, and perroquet auk. Saint Paul Island, "Walrus Island", and Unalaska are among the identified locations.

Biographical / Historical

William Palmer (1856-1921), taxidermist, ornithologist, and natural history collector for the Smithsonian Institution (originally organized as the United States National Museum), moved from Penge, England, to the United States at age 12. In 1872, William's father, Joseph Palmer, became a taxidermist at the National Museum, remaining until his death in 1913. In 1874, William also joined the taxidermic staff--he remained with the Smithsonian until his own death in 1921.

William Palmer's first specimen collection trip for the museum took place in 1883; subsequent trips included Funk Island in 1887, Alaska in 1890, and Mexico in 1904.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.

File titles have been transcribed from manuscript photograph captions; numbers assigned to photographs are listed in parentheses.

Source

Title
Guide to the William Palmer Kodak Views of the Pribylov Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Lerner
Date
April 2020
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.