Field Book Project

A behaviorist in Panama

By Lesley Parilla, Field Book Project

SIA2008-2981. Martin Moynihan in the field while studying Gulls (Laridae) in United Kingdom (date unknown).

Martin Moynihan (SIA Acc. 01-096) was a behaviorist that studied behavioral evolutionary biology. He covered a wide range of fauna during his career, including primates, squid, and birds. Moynihan’s collection cataloged by the Field Book Project through his association with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He worked at the Barro Colorado Island research facility as a Resident Naturalist in 1957, and became the founding Director when the research facilities were consolidated as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in 1966. He played a pivotal role in its growth, 1966-1974.

SIA 2008-2977.  Martin Moynihan in the field while studying Gulls, United Kingdom, (date unknown).

Moynihan appears to have been a dramatic and dynamic person. Articles written after his death by colleagues and major newspapers paint quite a picture, even if only a portion is accurate. The New York Times stated:

“He swam along with the reef squid in the warm waters of Atlantic Panama off the San Blas islands, with a waterproof notebook dangling from his belt.”

Neal Griffith Smith, a colleague of 36 years, wrote:

“When I first met him, he looked like Salvador Dali, for he sported an almost 5-inch waxed mustache, wore a Bond street suit, and carried a proper British umbrella. He remained an elegant though less dandy figure for the rest of his life…He had a reputation for rages and sudden changes of mood. In the early years he was always firing off his resignation because things were not going his way. It was pure theater. Martin was a gentleman in the true sense of the word, and perhaps the most intelligent person I ever met.” (p. 758)

 It should come as no surprise that he created detailed, exuberant, and challenging field notes. Each entry is headed with location, date, often with type of fauna being observed. Most of his notes are carefully indexed by type of animal and behavior. Illustrations of animals are throughout the notes, and often lovely drawings. He took great care to highlight text with colored pencil and varying patterns along the left-hand columns, usually indicating a specific animal or couple being observed. Even the page layouts appear pleasing to the eye. When writing observations, Moynihan used a plethora of exclamation points and questions marks. There is no question, Moynihan loved his work.

SIA 2012-1880, SIA2012-1872. Field notes of Martin H. Moynihan on Cyanerpes (Honeycreepers) observed in Barro Colorado, Panama, 1958.

His notes have been some of the most challenging to catalog for this project, both in content and organization. This is not to say that Moynihan’s notes are not organized. They are very well arranged. The challenge came with balancing the kind of information collected for each record, and what to include.

So what were some of the challenges?

•  What materials are cataloged? As a behaviorist, Moynihan’s collection falls in a gray area for the Field Book Registry. He didn’t explicitly collect, but he recorded extensive observations of flora and fauna in locations where a lot of collecting by Smithsonian has since occurred (STRI). We decided to include the majority of his observations of animals not in captivity, since observations of animals in captivity are akin to lab notes. He reorganized his notes without concern about the status of the animals he was observing. Without careful reading, the type of information he collected does not always make clear whether he was observing animals in captivity or the wild.
• How to deal with reorganized field notes? Moynihan recorded the notes chronologically, but every few years would reorganize by type of animal. He would then renumber the pages. This means that folders cover multiple years (with significant gaps) and locations. Sometimes they are not in chronological order. We strive when possible to note dates and location, but often had to limit chronological specificity to a list years because of gaps and cataloging time constraints.
• Where was Moynihan? was a challenge to determine location, because Moynihan worked throughout Central and South America. Normally one would be able to narrow it down to a region based on the geographic names of other locations around the same time period, but most notes are no longer in chronological order.
• How to balance content versus structure? There is so much structure to the field notes, that it can become difficult to balance the amount of structural description in the catalog record versus content. Each record must be able to stand on its own, so structure must be noted, but this cuts in to time for digging through the details of entries.

Over all these are amazing field notes to see. They include photographs, sketches, spectrograms, correspondence, and last but not least, Moynihan’s undeniable passion.

 

Wolfgang Saxon. (December 15, 1996). “Martin H. Moynihan, 68, an Authority on Animal Behavior.” New York Times access on December 1, 2011 at http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/15/world/martin-h-moynihan-68-an-authority-on-animal-behavior.html

Neal Griffith Smith. (July 1998). “In Memoriam: Martin Humphrey Moynihan, 1928-1996.” American Ornithologist’s Union. Published by University of California Press. Accessed December 1, 2011 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4089423

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. “Highlights: Important events in the history of Barro Colorado.” Accessed December 1, 2011 at (http://www.stri.si.edu/sites/forest_speaks/english/about_forest_speaks/history/index.html

 

These Collectors are Nuts! Indices

By Sonoe Nakasone, Field Book Project

As a librarian, I have a certain appreciation for indices.  It might surprise (or appall) non-librarian folk out there, but creating indices can actually be a full-time job.  They’re called indexers—those who painstakingly review a document to extract key terms that may be used by readers when searching for topics.  I think indexers must be crazy, yet indices make our lives much easier.  Before the internet became the “just Google it” phenomenon it is today, indices were a researcher’s best friend.

There are many types of indices so to be clear, I’m referring to indices in print, specifically ones appended to a document and used as a guide to search for topics within that document. These are typically found in materials intended for publication.  I mean, who in their right mind would review messy notes to create an index—OH, oh right...that’s what this article is about….

The first time I saw an index in field notes I was impressed, but it seemed excessive.  When I considered the difficulty in skimming (often messy) hand written notes that may or may not clearly label locations or subjects, however, I wondered why more collectors didn’t index their field notes.  Eventually I discovered that it wasn’t rare for collectors to provide some kind of guide to their field notes, although the large majority of field notes I’ve seen do not include indices.  Field notes that did contain indices made it easier to decipher sometimes unintelligible cursive writing and provided a hint into the information the collector considered most important for navigating his/her field notes. 

As you’ll see in the following example of three collector’s field notes from the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA), each index has a character and utility of its own.

 

The index in this field book—created by Arthur Wilson Stelfox (SIA RU 7379) while collecting mollusks in Ireland, Scotland, and England—is organized alphabetically by location name.  Such an index is particularly useful here because Stelfox created these notes over multiple years and collecting trips.  Locations, therefore, do not always follow one route, but instead skip around.  Notes on mollusks collected in one particular location maybe located on several pages throughout the book.

Edward Alphonso Goldman’s notebook (from SIA RU 7364) is a journal containing narrative descriptions on collections and observations of mammals, birds, and plants found throughout his trip.  Often, Goldman’s notes indicate which animals or plants are common in the locations he visits.  Using this index, the reader could get snapshot of the flora and fauna of any of the listed location

Indices in Richard Blackwelder’s journals (SIA Acc. 96-099) are perhaps the most impressive I’ve seen and are the inspiration for this article.  Blackwelder’s notes describe every aspect of his collecting trip.  It is fitting, then, that he provides both a general index and index of insects.  The General Index records place names, names of people, and subjects not related to insects (e.g. birds).

 
The main purpose of Blackwelder’s field trips, however, was to collect insects.  A specialized index for insects is therefore also included.  Insects are listed by class, family, or genus.  This provides researchers the option of looking for insects (or other things) collected in one particular location or going directly to references for a specific specimen. 

If there is any point to this article other than showing off some beautiful and practical indices, it might be that more collectors should index their field notes.  It is undoubtedly a time consuming process to index handwritten notes, but the benefits when it comes time to use those notes are enormous.

In the field for the holidays

 By Lesley Parilla, Field Book Project

Archival materials are wonderful at imparting the personal nature of field work. The publications from collecting trips offer the results, but the back-stories are in the field books. During collecting trips, life still goes on at home; bills need to get paid, and holidays occur. Some of my favorite moments cataloging have been when collectors mention how they deal with these challenges.

Field accounts can seem to exist without reference to a time period; there may be few references to contemporary events. For some collectors, their remote locations leave little chance to know what is going on in the rest of the world. Newspapers may not be available, work days run long, or collecting becomes too consuming to comment on other aspects of life. Holidays are generally the exception.

Even scientists who rarely record personal information in their notes will invariably acknowledge major holidays. Some impart details about celebrations or thoughts of home. During the United States North Pacific Exploring Expedition (RU 7253) the naturalist William Stimpson recorded details about the holiday celebration aboard ship while in the “Japanese Seas” on Christmas Day, 1854.

“Beating about the Asses Ears. Wind NE. Weather pleasant. Temp 56. We had an entertainment in the Ward Room. All sorts of good things, with wines, champagne and eggnog…to which all the officers were invited from the Commodore to the Master’s Mates. A very jolly time. At 8 pm, I heard the call “ready about” suddenly given, and [came] on deck, found we had got round just in time to clear a dangerous rock not laid down in the charts. The black craggy mass seemed but a stone’s throw from our aft rail.”

When Edmund Heller was on the American Museum of Natural History China Expedition, December 24, 1916 (RU 7179), he recorded specimens collected and the menu for Christmas Eve dinner: “two roasted mallards stuffed with chestnuts, cocktails made of oranges, Chinese gin and magar(?), a chocolate cake and cocoa.”

Some collections reference the holidays in correspondence with home. A folder from early in Waldo Schmitt’s career (RU 7231) includes a letter sent by his daughter while he was participating in the Francis Bacon Scholarship Expedition to South America in 1936.

SIA 2012-1154, SIA 2012-1155. Letter from Waldo Schmitt’s daughter sent to him while in the field during the holidays. [Dear Daddy, I am sending a handkerchief because I have lost most of those you left behind.]

In the December 1962, Waldo was waiting in New Zealand to travel to the locations in Antarctica via military transport. Departure arrangements were delayed, and he was changing plans realizing he would be spending the holidays in New Zealand. Below is a letter to his wife about some of those plans.

“Today I want to send X-Mas cards; it’s finally come to the point where I get them or not. The question is to whom to send and how many. If as the bunch here is doing I would get the US stamps on them which we can do from here out, but here is the thought that folks would expect N.Z. [New Zealand] stamps. That decision I won’t make till I get cards written.”

The most apropos reference may be in the papers of Lawrence Walkinshaw (SIA Acc. 93-097). Walkinshaw was an ornithologist who did most of his field work in Michigan, but during the 1960’s he traveled across southern Africa and India. He spent the holidays in Africa with a colleague who gave him a new notebook as a gift with the following note inside.

“One item which seems quite naturally to be inseparable from you in your work is your notebook. Many years ago, during my Congo wanderings, I was given a ring file pocketbook, which has been a treasured and useful memento of that country for more than three decades. The Vincents hope that this very small seasonal gift may similarly serve you, and perhaps from time to time remind you of Natal, its cranes, and your rather unusual Christmas in 1961. --Jack Vincent”

So where ever you may be spending your holiday season, whether in the field or not, we wish you and yours warmest holiday wishes.

Recovery of botanical drawings missing from the Botanical Art Collection in the Department of Botany, NMNH

By Alice Tangerini, Scientific Illustrator, National Museum of Natural History

On December 16, 2004 I received an email from James White, Curator of Art for the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, asking if I had received a query from a consignor selling two drawings by Walpole on EBay.   Frederick Andrew Walpole was a staff botanical artist for the US National Herbarium, precedent to our current Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History.  Walpole was employed as an illustrator from 1896-1904, and during that time, he made many drawings on government sponsored field trips with staff  botanists, notably Frederick Coville and Joseph Nelson Rose.  Many of Walpole’s works reside at the Hunt Institute on an indefinite loan from the Department of Botany and are catalogued there. About 10% of the collection is still here at the Botany Department and is catalogued (with the exception of missing drawings and paintings) using information from Walpole’s field notebooks.

 

James was scrupulous about the records of artists in the Hunt Institute and followed the activities of sales on EBay searching for art that fell within the collections. James was aware that botanical illustrations were often sold on EBay, and knew from previous instances that some of these could be the missing artworks from the National Herbarium collections.  When he saw the Walpole drawings for sale on Ebay he notified me and forwarded this message on December 16, 2004 from the consignor:

“We thought you or someone you know might be interested in this eBay auction of botanical drawings by Frederick A. Walpole. Please note that this auction ends 18 Dec 2004 at 15:08:23 PST.” 

I asked my Chairman if there was a precedent for purchasing artworks with federal or trust funds.  I also conferred with Smithsonian attorneys and others to determine whether we had a right to reclaim Smithsonian collections that have been lost for a number of years and are just surfacing through public sales.  Unfortunately, the drawings were sold before we could determine an appropriate strategy.

Then on January 12, 2005, James emailed me about another auction of Walpole drawings.  Dates for the botanical sketches were included in the sales descriptions. They were posted by the same consignor as before.  Jim tried to tie notes by a botanist who had researched Walpole’s work to the sale drawings, but without having a publication it was too difficult. This time, after internal consultations, we concluded that the Smithsonian might not have sufficient proof that the drawings were actually made on government time it would be difficult to prove they were our property.  So again on January 14, 2005 Warpoledrawings were sold on EBay. 

On February 14, 2005, however, another sale of two Walpole drawings with a tracing was announced by the same consignor (again).  Specific details of dates and collection areas where the plants were drawn were included in the items’ descriptions. With this information I was able to go to Walpole’s field notebooks and find the individual entries for each of the drawings, which were made on official field collecting trips for the Smithsonian.  They were three illustrations in graphite of two species of Pinus and two species of Abies made in 1898 and 1902. Walpole drew these in the field as studies for drawings to be executed in ink. I photocopied the item entries from Walpole’s field note books and faxed these along with an emailed request to Smithsonian attorneys [General Counsel] asking them to intervene for the Department of Botany and request return of the illustrations.  The following request was sent to the consignor:

"The Smithsonian has received an e-mail from you informing us of the sales of two Walpole drawings on E-Bay by your company.  According to our records, those drawings appear to be from the national collections and were not deaccessioned, sold, or otherwise transferred from our collections.  Can you please provide us with information regarding the circumstances under which you acquired them?  Would you be willing to withdraw them from sale while we determine whether these are, in fact, Smithsonian property?"

The consignor asked for faxes of the catalog information for the drawings and when he received the faxed pages of the field notebooks he informed the Smithsonian that he would return the drawings to us as follows:

"We have passed on the information regarding the Walpole drawings to our client.  He has asked us to send the drawings back to you.  Please let us know the appropriate department and to whose attention they should be sent."

The Walpole drawings of Pinus and Abies were returned and the consignor was thanked for his grateful return of the artwork.

With regard to Walpole illustrations already sold to new owners, it was concluded that it would be extremely difficult to recover these because they "disappeared" very long ago, the Smithsonian knew they were missing, and we haven't made much (if any) effort to locate or recover them.

An Ornithological Christmas…

 By Lesley Parilla, Field Book Project

Smithsonian Institution Archive Image 75-16337. Edward F. Rivinus, Acting Director of Smithsonian Institution Press, with the egg of a barn owl he found in the Northwest Tower of the Smithsonian Institution Building (SIB), or "Castle," for the Audubon Society's Christmas bird count.

By now most people know how they will be spending their holidays, but for those still deciding, here is a novel alternative.

While cataloging the work of ornithologist Lawrence Walkinshaw (1904-1993), I came across something that seemed familiar—a list of references to bird counts 1923-1953 from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). I remembered seeing a reference to the CBC before, but in field notes that were much older.

To give some context, the Christmas Bird Count was started Christmas of 1900 by Frank Chapman, an ornithologist with the American Museum of Natural History and member of the newly forming National Audubon Society. It was in response to concerns about diminishing bird populations. It also offered an alternative to the Christmas "Side Hunt", a holiday tradition during which participants would compete to see who could shoot more birds. The first count occurred across Canada and the United States (click to see the results of the first count). The “side hunt” tradition has died out, but the CBC continues.

The earlier materials I remembered that referred to the CBC were from the childhood of Alexander Wetmore (1886–1978), ornithologist and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1945 to 1952. After doing some checking, I found that as an adolescent, Wetmore participated in the first Count. Below is a picture of Wetmore two years later. Wetmore’s bird observation field notes begin around age eight. Only a few years later, he participated in a brand new venture that took place in a hand full of locations in the United States.

SIA2011-2231. Jim Seely, Alexander Wetmore, Clarence Cook, and Art Rudy in North Freedom, Wisconsin, February 22, 1902.

The CBC, directed by the National Audubon Society, is now entering its 112th year. The count is the result of the international efforts of amateur bird enthusiasts, and is a wonderful example of the power of “citizen science.” Since its inception, it has made contributions to ornithology; there are several examples of its use in Smithsonian collections and on the Audubon website.

The National Audubon Society has made the CBC data available online. See what you can find about the history of birds in your area. Or, for those of you looking for another way to give back this holiday season or enjoy the winter weather, take part. The count begins tomorrow, December 14th.

New Burgess Shale Website

Together the Royal Ontario Museum and Parks Canada have created a spectacular website about the Burgess Shale or Les schistes de Burgess.  The English and French website contains high quality still and moving images of this amazing paleontological site located in Yoho National Park, part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.  As you will read later, the Smithsonian played a small role in contributing to this project. 

   

Approximately a half billion years old, the Burgess Shale is a Cambrian period formation and one of the earliest fossil beds in which soft-bodied fossils of animals and algae are preserved.  The new website documents over 125 years of discoveries including current research by the Royal Ontario Museum Burgess Shale Expeditions through a number of dynamic features. 

• History page discusses the first discovery and subsequent discoveries most notably by Charles Walcott, Percy Raymond, the Geological Survey of Canada, and ongoing efforts by the Royal Ontario Museum.
• Science page provides information about a number of topics including the Cambrian explosion, geology of the Burgess Shale, and videos depicting various aspects field work currently taking place.
• Virtual Sea Odyssey and Fossil Gallery contain photographs and digital animations of fossils.

In addition to the features outlined above, the website also includes links to resources and information about Parks Canada.

Sarah Stauderman, Principal Investigator of the Field Book Project’s conservation efforts, is acknowledged on the Burgess Shale website credits page for her assistance with Smithsonian archival materials related to Charles Walcott. 

The Smithsonian Institution maintains a substantial collection of photographic and other materials related to Walcott, including 42 field books housed within the Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 7004, all of which have been cataloged by the Field Book Project.  Although Smithsonian field books won't be available on the Burgess Shale website,the field books do provide rich information for further understanding the abundant information, media tools and resources available on the Burgess Shale website.

See an image from Charles Walcott's excavation of the Burgess Shale on The Bigger Picture.

More about the Charles Walcott field notes

Charles Walcott’s field books at the Smithsonian Institution Archives range more than fifty years (1879-1940).  Some of his early field notes were composed in a journal style, including general observations, daily work completed, sketches of landscapes, as well as geological information relating to the surveys he completed for the United States Geological Survey.  Most of the field notes in his collection contain few general observations and more commonly consist of geological sections, descriptions, and observations of fossils seen, and pertinent details about surrounding vegetation and environment.  Often his notes were on loose sheets of note paper removed from their original notebook and separated by entry.  

By the time he studied the Burgess shale in British Columbia, Walcott’s field note entries consisted of several pages clearly listing location and describing observed sections, with height of each layer, its composition, color, texture, other characteristics, as well as presence of fossils.   See examples of Walcott’s field notes below.

         

Field notes of Charles D. Walcott, August 6, 1909, describing of geological formation of
Moraine Lake at Valley of the Ten Peaks, Banff National Park, Canada.

Where was Waldo...

By Lesley Parilla, Field Book Project


SIA2011-0773.  Waldo Schmitt, 1933, Hancock Pacific-Galapagos Expedition.

The collections we catalog are often the result a lifetime of research and collecting. These scientists go out routinely to collect, and usually take part in one or two expeditions over a career. When I first looked at the finding aid for SIA RU 7231 collection of Waldo LaSalle Schmitt (1887-1977), I was surprised to find more than 15 different expeditions listed. Some of these cover multiple years. I knew there would be plenty of material to include. Several questions came to mind. How did he manage to take part in all of them? Was he invited? Did he organize them? Did he ever spend time at home? Delving into the life of Waldo was going to be interesting.

Waldo Schmitt's Expeditions


Click here to see Waldo Schmitt's expeditions mapped on Google maps.

• 1911 Bureau of Fisheries Expedition to Lower California
• 1911 Bureau of Fisheries Chignik (Alaska) Biological Survey
• 1912 Bureau of Fisheries Survey of San Francisco Bay
• 1914 Bureau of Fisheries Halibut Survey of Washington and Oregon
• 1918 Bureau of Fisheries Spiny Lobster Investigations, La Jolla, California
• 1925-1927 Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship Expedition South America and Falklands
• 1930-1932 Fieldwork at Carnegie Marine Laboratory, Dry Tortugas, Florida
• 1933-1935 Hancock Pacific-Galapagos Expedition
• 1937 Smithsonian-Hartford West Indies Expedition
• 1938 Presidential Cruise 1938 to Galapagos
• 1939 Hancock South America Expedition
• 1940 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska King Crab Investigation
• 1941-1942 United States Navy Trip to the Galapagos
• 1955 Smithsonian-Bredin Belgian Congo Expedition
• 1956 Smithsonian-Bredin Caribbean Expedition I
• 1957 Smithsonian-Bredin Society Islands Expedition
• 1958 Smithsonian-Bredin Caribbean Expedition II
• 1959Smithsonian-Bredin Caribbean Expedition III
• 1960 Smithsonian-Bredin Yucatan Expedition
• 1962-1963 Palmer Peninsula Survey, U.S. Antarctic Research Program

Waldo has proven to be a fascinating figure. As you might imagine by my reference to him by his first name, his personality shines through his papers and records and inspires a certain level of affection.

He was a Zoologist whose specialty was decapod crustaceans (the order that includes crabs, lobsters, and shrimp), and held several positions at National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) eventually becoming Curator of Zoology. Waldo conducted a tremendous amount of work in the Caribbean and Galapagos Islands, but additionally collected in places as far flung as Democratic Republic of Congo and Antarctica. He had the enviable position of taking part in multiple expeditions across the globe, and was invited or suggested (as he was for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidential Cruise of 1938) for other expeditions because of his reputation.

It seems clear from his materials that Waldo had a personality made for expedition work. He was personable, had a colorful way with words, and was always ready with a story. Waldo often put particular care into accounts about places he visited, locals met, and interactions with expedition participants. His diaries were being read by colleagues back at the Smithsonian, along with progress reports, and he seemed to make a point to make the accounts good reading. These field books make places and events easy to visualize.

I have found answers for some of my initial questions while cataloging the collection. Waldo formed strong relationships with several individuals who funded multiple expeditions. In other cases, I have found correspondence from colleagues inviting his participation, or, in the case of the Presidential Cruise, a letter from a supervisor suggesting him. I have found only a few expeditions that he seems to have run. Materials in the Smithsonian-Bredin Belgian Congo Expedition, 1955, indicate he preferred to be a participant and focus on collecting. As far as a balance with home-life, most of the expeditions covered portions of the year. During these times, letters to and from his wife impart a strong sense familiarity and affection. I have also found notes sent to him by his children while he was out collecting. But perhaps the title of his biography by Entomologist Richard E. Blackwelder states it best: The Zest for Life, or, Waldo Had a Pretty Good Run: the Life of Waldo LaSalle Schmitt.

Glorious Day! Or A Bird Watcher’s Field Notes

By Sonoe Nakasone, Field Book Project

 

There were few days in James Eike’s life that were not “glorious”, “wonderful”, or “perfect”, according to his own description.  It’s Eike’s apparent enthusiasm for life that first inspired an extraordinary interest in me for his field books.  My curiosity became admiration for so dedicated and constant a lover of birds.

Eike’s field notes record a sampling of the bird population in Northern Virginia over the course of 30+ years through the daily notes on birds he observed at his homes in Falls Church and Fairfax and in surrounding areas.  His collection, Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 7342, consists of more than 80 pocket sized spiral notebooks and hundreds of bird checklists.  Unlike most creators of field notes we catalog, however, Eike was not a professional scientist.  Furthermore, his field notes do not correspond to a collection of specimen.  What, then, makes Eike’s notes so special?

There are several valuable aspects to Eike’s field notes, despite the lack of a specimen collection and professional training of the creator.  One, Eike rarely missed a day in over 30 years of bird watching, even asking neighbors and friends to bird watch if he could not.  Second, Eike’s bird watching focused on a concentrated location—Northern Virginia—mostly at or near his home (although Eike occasionally bird watched in Maryland, DC, North Carolina, and other locations).  Third, in addition to his field notes which contained freehand lists and observations, mostly of birds in his neighborhood, Eike kept preprinted checklists of birds from numerous field trips each year.  Finally, Eike’s notes contain historical weather data because he noted weather conditions, often including temperatures.

                                  

On a more personal level, Eike’s notes are one example of the intrinsic value of field notes because of the integration of these notes into all aspects of his life.  Often above, below, or sometimes just beside the list of birds spotted, Eike would include snippets of the events from his life.  Some of these snippets reflected personal triumphs, some pieces of history, still others (a majority) the love he felt for wife Claire, daughter Sue, and grand-daughter Rachel.  Some examples follow. 

July 2, 1960: Eike spotted the first cicadas of the season and a Box White.  Next to this he prominently writes “pay raise yesterday”!  June 7, 1963: “Sue’s graduation!! Bob white, king bird […]”. 

November 22, 1963: “[…] Pres. Kennedy Killed in Dallas, died 1PM.  Song sps, starlings […] Heartbreak Day!  The kind, humorous, sincere man’s voice stilled”. 

March 20, 1969: “Haze and overcast […] green heron, bob white […] Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin landed on moon! […] Red bellies, downys […]”. 

July 29, 1979: “Sun, 70-85 degrees.  Bay Ridge Horse Show—Rachel won two ribbons!! […] Observed at Bay ridge equestrian stables on 7/29 (8:40AM-12:40PM), 1 bob white, 20 killden […]”.


April 6, 1980: “Our 40^th Anniversary!!  […] 1 purple finch [♀] (s), white crowns, juncos, […]”. 

August 9, 1980: “[…] 1 flicker, 1 no. oriole. My brother, Carl Eike, Jr., died this afternoon at his home at Woodbridge, of two heart attacks—would have been 83 on 8/31 […]”.

Eike continued to take notes until just weeks before he died on February 8, 1983 at the age of 82.  On January 17, 1983 he ecstatically wrote “[…] Sue and Rachel arrived! So great! Bluebirds [...]”.  Eike’s final entry was on Jan 21, 1983.  Beneath this entry, Claire writes “fini”, as instructed by Eike.  Claire, herself an avid bird watcher, resumed the notes in June and finished out the notebook believing Eike would have wanted her to.    

Eike’s personality, constancy, dedication and love of bird watching did not go unrewarded.  Shortly after his death, the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO), of which James and Claire Eike were long time members, created the James W. Eike Service Award in Eike’s honor.  This honor is still awarded today. 

Scientific field work and food

By Lesley Parilla, Field Book Project

Happy Thanksgiving to all from the Field Book Project

SIA2011-0660. Menu cover from William and Lucile Mann’s expedition to South America, 1940.

When I started in this job, I expected to find a lot of details in field books, but I was surprised by one trend in particular. A lot of collectors write about what they eat. Scientists often collect in remote locations, with few comforts. Things taken for granted at home (like dessert) become high points in a day in the field.

Still, for some, it seems a bit of an obsession. Journal entries sometimes start with date, weather, and food consumed. Botanist, Mary Agnes Chase (Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 229) commented in her correspondence that she did not understand the fascination herself until she was in the field climbing Caparaó in Brazil in 1929, which proved to be an exceedingly wet and exhausting trip, made worse by undercooked beans and rice. In the field, collectors have few luxuries; food, whether good or bad, becomes an important moment in the day. Hitchcock, a botanist specializing in grasses, recounted efforts to defend his bacon while collecting in rural Florida.

 “The third night I was obliged to sleep on the ground. I had kept my piece of bacon in one of the bags along with my hammock. Now Florida ants are intensely fond of bacon. They stung me viciously when I attempted to swing the hammock and could not be shaken off. So I allowed them to sleep in the hammock while I slept on the ground.”

 This attention to food can extend throughout entire collections. Waldo Schmitt (Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7231), an Invertebrate Zoologist, would often list each item consumed for each meal. When he was in charge of provisions for expeditions in the Caribbean, his lists of groceries once specified three different kinds of cheese. He was also fond of including cocktail recipes in notes written to his colleagues.

Some entries demonstrate how food allows for connecting with new acquaintances. While in French Polynesia, Waldo Schmitt attended a local dance competition. Subsequently, one group of dancers from Bora Bora came to the expedition vessel to share a meal. Waldo cooked a portion of lobster originally purchased to be specimens.

SIA2012-0656a Lunch aboard the vessel Mureva, with dancers from Bora Bora (in local dance competition) consuming lobster, 1957

In the Mann collection (Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 7293), references to food exemplify how collecting events are also chances to strengthen relationships with official partners and professional contacts. Mann’s scrapbooks contain photographs and menus from official dinners around the world.

SIA2011-0585. Menu from Farewell dinner in New York City before Mann’s expedition in South America, 1940.

SIA2011-0589. The William and Lucile Mann aboard the SS Uruguay, 1940.

Sometimes collectors’ field notes document food in local cultures and ways they prepare ingredients or recipes for local dishes. When Hitchcock traveled to collect in China, for example, he photographed inhabitants processing brine to table salt (as seen below).

SIA2011-0564.  Workman pouring brine for making salt in Hoihow [Haikou], China, 1921.

In another collection, a recipe was found for Monkey a la Mocitana from the Mocitana Indians on the Ribert Bopi in Bolivia.

“Spider Monkeys are preferred. Build a fire under a grid made of green saplings. Place the monkeys whole on top of this. Cook till half burned, half roasted. When the arms stiffen into a protesting attitude, and the long tail is curled like a watch spring, the monkeys should be cleaned and such hairs as have not been burned off, scraped.” (Mann Collection Record Unit 7293)

An Archivist's Tour, Part Two: The Field Book Project

As you may have read in our November 11th post, archivist and blogger Deb Schiff recently visited a number of departments at the Smithsonian and is sharing her experience on her archives and cultural heritage blog, Here and There.  She has just posted about the portion of her tour that involved learning about the Field Book Project and some of the field book gems in the Department of Botany.  You can read the full post here: http://hereandthere123.blogspot.com/2011/11/visit-with-carolyn-sheffield-project.html.