Archives

The archives of the American Geographical Society contain material dating back to 1851, the year of the society's founding. While the archives, which are held on the society's premises, are primarily a comprehensive institutional record, with documents related to the wide range of the society's activities, they hold other treasures as well.

These include, among other things, a stunning array of diaries and notebooks from noteworthy explorers. Included in this company are Hudson Stuck's journal of his Mt. Denali ascent; Gerald McKiernan's diary of five years of travel in southern Africa, 1874-1879; the Fanning Collection, which comprises the notebooks and correspondence having to do with Edmund Fanning's exploration in the South Seas, 1799-1840; and John F. Steward's diary of the second Powell Colorado River Expedition.

Not surprisingly, the society's archives contain a wealth of polar exploration materials. A small sampling includes notebooks, diaries, and original manuscripts of Sir Hubert Wilkins; the log of Lincoln Ellsworth's Graf Zepplin flight to the Arctic in 1931, and many other items from his Arctic travels; Arctic memorabilia of Robert E. Peary; diaries of the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmar Stefanson; and correspondence regarding the scientific results of the challenger Expedition of 1872-1876.

In addition, the archive houses a fine selection of artifacts such as the Explorer & Fliers Globe; a flag carried by Richard E. Byrd on his November, 1929 flight to the South Pole; and correspondence from the likes of David Livingstone, John Wesley Powell, Lawrence of Arabia, and the Roosevelts.

The society maintains these archives for the use of scholars. They are welcome to work in the archives by appointment.