The Russell E. Train Africana Collection: An Archival Safari through Photographs, Sketchbooks, Manuscripts and Other Materials from the Smithsonian Libraries
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Presentation delivered by Diane Shaw, Special Collections Cataloger for the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, at the Smithsonian Archives Fair on October 22, 2010 in Washington, DC. Provides an overview of materials on African exploration, travel, big game hunting, and natural history acquired by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 2004 from the private collection of the Honorable Russell E. Train, with a focus on various issues related to the archival management of the Train Collection, including finding aids, cataloging plans, grant projects, social media applications, and preservation needs.
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The Russell E. Train Africana Collection: An Archival Safari through Photographs, Sketchbooks, Manuscripts and Other Materials from the Smithsonian Libraries
- 1. The Russell E. Train Africana Collection: An Archival Safari Diane Shaw Smithsonian Institution Libraries Archives Fair, October 22, 2010
- 2. The Hon. Russell E. Train (Right), With His Friend Joseph F. Cullman 3rd
- 3. Judge Russell E. Train • Background in Law (Attorney, Specialist in Tax Law, and a Judge in Tax Court) • Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency From 1973-1977 • Former President of The Conservation Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund • Collected Books About Africa Since Boyhood; First Visited Africa in 1950s with His Wife Aileen • SIL Acquired His Collection in 2004 (With Later Additions)
- 4. Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History
- 5. What is the Russell E. Train Africana Collection About? • Big Game Hunting and African Safaris, Wildlife Conservation, and European and American Explorers in Africa • Chiefly 18th and 19th Century Materials, Although Includes Items from 1663 Through 1996 • Topics Complement Smithsonian Collections in Natural History, African Art, and the History of the Smithsonian
- 6. What’s in the Russell E. Train Collection? • Over 1500 Printed Books • Approximately 1500 Unbound Manuscripts • 85 Bound Manuscripts and Scrapbooks • 4000 Photographic Prints • 20 Maps • Newsclippings • 270 Artworks • 100 Human-Created and Natural Artifacts
- 7. Memorabilia and Publications from President Theodore Roosevelt’s African Safari with Edmund Heller, 1909-1910
- 8. Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt with a Rhinoceros shot Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt with a Rhinoceros Shot During His 1909-1910 African Safari The photograph was taken by his son, Kermit Roosevelt
- 9. How is the Collection Organized? • Received With a Preliminary List of Items With Short Descriptions • SIL Received a Grant from the Smithsonian’s Collections Care and Preservation Fund for an Collections Assessment and Preservation Review in 2007 • Created an MS Access Database Linked to Low-Resolution JPEG Files
- 10. Russell E. Train Database Record for the Photograph of Theodore Roosevelt with Dead Rhinoceros, 1909
- 11. Poster for Lecture Tour “Snapping Live Game on the Roosevelt Trail”, by A. Radclyffe Dugmore
- 12. Unpublished typescript of “Looking Over My Shoulder”, a memoir of adventures in Africa by Major A. Radclyffe Dugmore, with illustrations by the author
- 13. Diary of J. Leonard Reid, 1904 Reid was a Native Commissioner in the Central Africa Protectorate (Nyasaland), now known as Malawi. His diary describes local politics, wildlife seen in the area, tax collecting, and other details of daily life
- 14. East African Safari Photograph Album, 1914 created by Hugh Cholmondeley Delamere A lion’s claw is attached at the bottom of the album Portrait of Sir Thomas Dewar with dead lion
- 15. Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, articles, and photos of Rhodesian "Liondogs" (Ridgebacks) Scrapbook created by A. Sydney Waller, ca. 1923
- 16. Robert Henry Nelson Collection of Materials on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, 1886-1889 (Parke, Nelson, Stanley, Stairs, & Jephson shown)
- 17. Medicine Chest owned by Capt. Robert Henry Nelson, circa 1887
- 18. David Livingstone’s 10-Bore Gun, Manufactured Circa 1860 by Hollis & Son This gun was returned to England with Livingstone’s body after his death in 1873
- 19. SIL Online Exhibition, “The Art of African Exploration”
- 20. Livingstone Online: A Digital Collection of the Writings of David Livingstone
- 21. National Museum of Natural History Website on the 1909-1910 Roosevelt African Expedition
- 22. Some Images are on SIL’s Flickr Site
- 23. SI Flickr Image of an 1872 Portrait of Henry Morton Stanley and Kalulu, from the Train Collection
- 24. Some of the Comments about the Stanley Portrait on Flickr
- 25. SI Archives Blog, “The Bigger Picture”, Discussing the Flickr Page with Stanley’s Portrait
- 26. What’s Next? • 2010 SI Collections Care and Preservation Fund Grant for Preservation Treatment of 16 Scrapbooks • Cataloging of Sub-Groups and Individual Items • Encoded Archival Description Finding Aid • Increased Access to the Materials Through Digitization and Collaborative Projects
- 27. Thank You for Coming to the Smithsonian Archives Fair! For Questions about the Russell E. Train Collection, contact the Cullman Library Staff Telephone: 202.633.1184 E-mail: libmail@si.edu
Notes de l'éditeur
- The Russell E. Train Africana Collection: An Archival Safari. Presentation by Diane Shaw, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, for the SI Archives Fair Day, Oct. 22, 2010. The backdrop image used for this title screen is taken from the bookplate design created for Russell E. Train by Zimbabwean artist Larry Norton.
- Portrait of Russell E. Train with his friend Joseph F. Cullman 3rd (probably taken while they were traveling in Africa)
- The Hon. Russell E. Train, the collector, was a judge in US tax court, as well as the second head administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He was formerly president of The Conservation Foundation, and The World Wildlife Fund. He and his wife Aileen have travelled to Africa several times. His collection of books, manuscripts, artwork, etc. was accumulated over decades and acquired by the Smithsonian Libraries in 2004 (partly as a gift, and partly purchased from endowment funds).
- Homepage for the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, where the Russell E. Train Africana Collection is located. WWW address: http://www.sil.si.edu/libraries/cullman/index.cfm
- The scope of the Collection is based on books and archival materials associated with areas of Africa that Mr. Train had visited, with a focus on natural history, hunting, safaris, travel and exploration. The materials were acquired by Mr. Train from various sources, including antiquarian book dealers, friends, and acquaintances. He continues to collect Africana materials and occasionally brings items to add to the Cullman Library’s holdings.
- The Train Collection includes a great variety of printed materials, as well as manuscripts, photographs, artwork, and artifacts.
- A major portion of the Train Collection features materials associated with President Theodore Roosevelt’s travels in Africa. Some of the Roosevelt safari materials in the Train Collection are from Edmund Heller (1875-1939), who was a naturalist and wildlife collector for the Field Museum, the Milwaukee Zoological Garden, etc. Heller served as the naturalist for the Smithsonian on Roosevelt’s Safari.
- An example of one of the photographs from the 1909/1910 Roosevelt expedition to Africa. This portrait of Theodore Roosevelt with a dying rhinoceros was taken by his son, Kermit Roosevelt.
- There is an online finding aid to the Russell E. Train Africana Collection at http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/8413 ; the SIRIS catalog record for the Collection as a whole is at http://bit.ly/cEw8kG . The 2007 CCPF grant enabled SIL to hire a contract archivist, Mr. Daniel Lavoie of the History Associates, to do the collections assessment, preservation review, and provide recommendations for the cataloging of the Collection.
- Example of an MS Access database record from the online finding aid for the Russell E. Train Africana Collection, showing the various fields of data and the thumbnail image of the associated JPEG file. This database format is available onsite at the Cullman Library; a comma-delimited file is available on the Internet at http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/handle/10088/8413
- One of the well-represented authors in the Train Africana Collection is A. Radclyffe Dugmore, who wrote adventure stories based on his travels in Africa. Dugmore also conducted public lectures illustrated with his own photographs and artwork inspired by his safari adventures.
- Proof copy (type-script) of “Looking Over My Shoulder” by Major A. Radclyffe Dugmore (1870-1955), written in collaboration with his friend and editor Reginald E. Ambrose; profusely illustrated by the author. The Train Collection include various letters exchanged between Dugmore and Ambrose, revealing the process of shaping manuscripts to suit the popular market.
- The Train Collection includes several manuscript diaries. This bound volume is the diary of J. Leonard Reid, a native commissioner in the Central African Protectorate (nowadays known as Malawi), dating from 1904.
- This album of photographs features images from the 1914 East African safari of Hugh Cholmondeley Delamere and Sir Thomas Dewar. A souvenir of the safari, in the form of a genuine lion’s claw, appears at the bottom of the album, where it is attached by a cord.
- The Train Collection includes several scrapbooks on African topics. This scrapbook kept by A. Sydney Waller (ca. 1923) has many pictures and articles on Rhodesian Ridgeback Dogs (a breed developed in South Africa to hunt lions). The standards for the breed were drafted in 1922, and Waller may have been involved in promoting their recognition.
- The Train Collection contains correspondence and other materials from various members of H.M. Stanley’s Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (in particular, about the actions of the Rear Column), including Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert Henry Nelson, Henry Morton Stanley, William G. Stairs, and Arthur J.M. Jephson (shown), as well as Edmund Barttelot, James S. Jameson, William Bonny, and John Rose Troup. This portrait is from Stanley’s book “In Darkest Africa”, 1890.
- The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, led by Henry Morton Stanley, in 1886-1889, undertook to rescue Emin by going up the Congo River and then through the Ituri Forest, an extraordinarily difficult route that resulted in the loss of two-thirds of the expedition. This container of various glass medicine vials, owned by Captain Robert Henry Nelson, managed to survive the expedition with the contents still largely intact. Although this artifact offers a vivid connection to the Emin Pasha episode, its aged and unstable contents present an interesting challenge for safely storing and preserving this material.
- Another amazing artifact from the Train Collection is this 10-bore gun that belonged to missionary David Livingstone in Africa. The gun, manufactured ca. 1860 by Hollis & Son, was returned to England with Livingstone’s body after his death in 1873.
- The Train Collection offers a wealth of material for exhibition as well as research. In 2008, SIL’s Special Collections Dept. staff created an online exhibition, “The Art of African Exploration”, to highlight some of the contents. See the exhibition at http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/ArtofAfricanExploration/
- The original materials in the Train Africana Collection complement those held by other institutions, too. Collaborative online efforts such as “Livingstone Online”, a project funded by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London and the Wellcome Trust, offer the opportunity to bring together digitized versions of manuscripts and images from various collections. SIL plans to contribute images of its Livingstone manuscripts to the Livingstone Online project.
- Images from the Train Africana Collection are being used to enrich the content of other Smithsonian web sites, including the National Museum of Natural History’s centennial online exhibition, “Celebrating 100 Years” (available at http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/ )
- Images of selected items from the Train Africana Collection are available on the SIL and SI Flickr pages (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonianlibraries/collections/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/ )
- Some of the Train Africana Collection images have attracted considerable comment on Flickr. This carte-de-visite portrait of H.M. Stanley posing in full expedition garb, together with his personal servant Kalulu (whom Stanley had adopted), has generated much discussion.
- The carte-de-visite portrait of Stanley and Kalulu on the Smithsonian Commons’ Flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/3095474622/ ) has attracted over 100 comments, and has been marked as a “favorite” by almost 250 Flickr members.
- The Smithsonian Institution Archives blog, “The Bigger Picture”, in an entry dated August 26, 2009, noted that the Train Africana Collection portrait of Stanley and Kalulu “has provoked more discussion and debate than any other photograph we have on the Smithsonian Commons” to date (see http://blog.photography.si.edu/2009/08/26/photos-guns-africa/ ). “The Bigger Picture” blog entry explores the back story to the portrait and offers a photo historian’s observations on the scene.
- What’s next for the Russell E. Train Africana Collection? A grant project supported by the Smithsonian’s Collections Care and Preservation Fund is currently underway for preservation treatment of some of the most fragile scrapbooks. Efforts will continue to be made to increase access to the materials through digitization and collaborative projects, with plans to upgrade the cataloging of the Collection at the sub-group and item levels.
- For questions about the Russell E. Train Africana Collection, contact the staff members of the Cullman Library at (phone) 202-633-1184 or send an email to the general Smithsonian Libraries email box, libmail [at] si.edu