Dare to Explore:
How the Founding of the National Geographic Society Changed the Scientific Community Forever
Harper Hoover
Junior Division
Individual Performance
Process Paper: 499 words
Process Paper
While trying to think of topics that fit this year’s theme of Exploration, Encounter and Exchange in History, I began to think of people, places and events that were worldwide and resulted in an exchange of culture or knowledge. The National Geographic Society almost immediately came to mind as I begin to think about the magazine’s coverage of world science, culture and history. I decided to narrow my topic down to the beginning decade of the Society (1888-1920) in order to dig deeper into a smaller time frame.
I began my research by constructing a timeline composed of the events during my time period. I chose the important people and events to revolve my project around, and used several sources for each sub-topic of my research, in order to make sure the information was correct and consistent throughout all of my sources. I relied on the Library of Congress and Chronicling America to find the majority of my primary sources. I received access to an entire collection of National Geographic Magazines at a local library. The most helpful primary source location was at the National Geographic Archives, where I was given a tour in person and did research there. For my secondary sources, I found books, radio podcasts and internet articles. I interviewed two of National Geographic’s archivists, as well as a professor who recently participated in a National Geographic-funded expedition. I also attended a lecture by a National Geographic reporter.
Choosing a performance was a simple decision for me because I have the most experience in that category. I chose to portray multiple characters in my performance to represent the different time periods of the society’s history and to show a variety of viewpoints on National Geographic. The three women I portray show very different sides of the Society’s members, from working women to wives to leaders of today.
The National Geographic Society relates to the National History Day theme in many ways. The society has funded many expeditions that explored new lands and heights of the world. These include exploring Mount Saint Elias, the second highest point in Canada; reaching the North Pole in 1909; exploring the ancient ruins in Machu Picchu; and countless more expeditions throughout the 20th century. The magazine explored new techniques of photography and was innovative in aspects other publications were not. Without the exploration the Society has done, the journalism, scientific and technological fields would not have progressed so far in a relatively short amount of time. The National Geographic Society encountered new information about geography and life science through the members’ research and journeys. They encountered lands, species of organisms and civilizations no one knew about. The National Geographic magazine exchanges knowledge with its readers through its storytelling, while the explorers of society exchange cultures with the foreign people they work with around the world. National Geographic has brought the ends of the worlds together by exploring new lands, encountering new information and exchanging their knowledge with others around the world.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary:
Books:
Bingham, Hiram, “Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru” Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin, 1922.
Hiram Bingham records his explorations of Machu Picchu, the famous Inca ruins. This expedition was funded by the Society and featured in the magazine, and was an important event in their history. The book helped me to learn about the expedition and the Society’s first archaeological dig.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Scenes from Every Land” Washington D.C.: National
Geographic Society, 1907.
Grosvenor, who was editor at the time, published this collection of the Society’s prints and photographs. The pictures and introduction taught me about the photographers’ responsibilities, what they encounter around the world and the importance of photography to the Society.
Peary, Robert, “The North Pole: Its discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary
Arctic” New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1910.
The book explains Peary’s many Arctic journeys to the North Pole. His expedition of 1908 was funded by the National Geographic Society and this book gave me insight to how the Society helped him to carry out his explorations.
Scidmore, Eliza Ruhamah, “Winter India: Travel and Adventures of an American
Woman in the India of the Raf” New York, NY: Century Company, 1903.
Eliza Scidmore, a National Geographic member and contributor, wrote this book about her journeys to several places in Asia and what she learned there. This book gave me insight to her life, and the work she did with the Society.
Correspondence:
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Elsie Bell Grosvenor”
October 15, 1897. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Alexander writes his daughter to tell her what’s going on with the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institute. This letter helped me learn about the events at the time, and about everything that Alexander Graham Bell was involved in, including the Society.
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Gilbert H.
Grosvenor” February 3, 1909. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Grosvenor and Bell write to each other discussing Gilbert’s work with the magazine, the success he’s had and the struggles he is still going through. Bell gives him praise and advice; it helped me learn about Grosvenor’s work and the feedback he got from it.
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Gilbert H.
Grosvenor” May 23, 1912. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
The letter between the editor and president of the Society showed me the relationship between Alexander and his son-in-law/colleague. They talked about some of the common duties they perform for the Society.
Bell, Alexander Graham, “ Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Mabel Hubbard Bell”
November 18, 1899. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Alexander writes his wife about his most recent work with the Society, including his meeting with the Board. He also mentions Gilbert, how much progress he is making with the magazine, and all of the knowledge and vision he has for it.
Bell, Mabel Hubbard, “Letter from Mabel Hubbard Bell to Alexander Graham Bell”
March 12, 1896. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Mabel writes Alexander about the previous night’s Society reception, including who spoke, and what Mabel did during the night. This letter gave me more information about the Society’s early members and the activities they held.
Bell, Mabel Hubbard, “Letter from Mabel Hubbard Bell to Alexander Graham Bell” May
10, 1898. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Mabel tells her husband, “I must tell you of the Cuban “lecture” at the Geographic today.” She then goes on to describe the program she thought was so interesting. This gave me insight on the lectures the Society held and how they held talks to share knowledge with their members.
Grosvenor, Elsie Bell, “Letter from Elsie Bell Grosvenor to Alexander Graham Bell”
May 11, 1899. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
In this letter, Elsie updates her father on the current status of her and her family. This source helped me learn about what was going on in the lives of important people in National Geographic. This also helped me learn more about Elsie and her life, which was helpful since I will be portraying her in my performance.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Letter from Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to Alexander Graham
Bell” January 2, 1904. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
In this letter, Grosvenor, the editor of the National Geographic Magazine at the time, writes Alexander Graham Bell, who is on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institute, about the possibility of the Smithsonian Institute publishing a newspaper, much like the National Geographic Society’s magazine, in order for the Institute to share its knowledge with its followers through reliable sources and weekly news updates. This helped me learn about Grosvenor’s wants for other institutes to expand and follow in the Society’s footsteps.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Letter from Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to Alexander Graham
Bell” December 1, 1905. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Grosvenor writes Bell about his ideas for an upcoming magazine edition and some improvements they could make to add humor to the magazine. This letter and some of their other correspondences gave me a look into the thought process of the president of the Society and the editor of the magazine and what their responsibilities were.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Letter from Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to Alexander Graham
Bell” February 1, 1910. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Grosvenor writes Alexander to inform him that Gilbert cannot serve in his committee for the newly formed association for the deaf (AAPTSD), but goes on to talk about his experience with the Society. He mentions the Society’s competitors and how they’ve failed to keep up with the National Geographic. This helped me learn more about the success of Grosvenor and Bell’s work with the Society.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Letter from Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to Alexander Graham
Bell” June 11, 1912. Alexander Graham Family Papers, 1834-1974.
The two men here wrote about the dues that had been paid by members and the statistics of member numbers throughout the years. The rise and fall of membership was significant in some cases and gave me insight as to the members of the Society and how many of them were loyal or on-off members.
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey, “Letter from Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to John D. Whiting”
November 2, 1915. American Colony in Jerusalem Collection.
Grosvenor wrote Whiting about the article and photographs that Whiting sent him from his recent assignment in Palestine. Grosvenor says his article will probably be published in the December issue. This gave me insight into Grosvenor’s thoughts in what to publish and how he communicated with his staff who worked across the globe.
Hubbard, Gardiner Greene, “Letter from Gardiner Greene Hubbard to Alexander Graham
Bell” July 2, 1895. Alexander Graham Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Gardiner wrote Bell to update him on the most recent National Geographic Society meeting, and to inform him on who had been voted as a delegate. This source helped me to picture what the meetings were like, who was important in them and what these two men talked about in regards to the Society.
Hubbard, Gardiner Greene and others, Invitation, January 10, 1888. Excerpt from
National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 1, 1888.
This invitation was written by a group of five men including Gardiner Greene Hubbard regarding the meeting they were going to conduct at the Cosmos Club about creating the National Geographic Society. I found the text and authors of this invitation in the first issue of the National Geographic Magazine. This helped me further develop information about the Society’s beginnings.
McCurdy, John A. D., “Photograph, February 24, 1909” February 24, 1909. Alexander
Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
John McCurdy sent Alexander Graham Bell, current Society president, a photograph of his plane before it left on its expedition to fly over Canada. He also included a letter giving brief explanation of his expedition and what he accomplished.
Film:
Bitzer, G.W., camera, Departure of Peary [and the] “Roosevelt” from New York
American Mutoscope and Biograph Company: 1905.
The film shows Robert Peary leaving the harbor on his ship named after President Roosevelt. He leaves, headed for the North Pole, on this expedition funded by the National Geographic Society.
Journals:
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Beinn Bhreagh Recorder” July 24, 1909 to October 19, 1909.
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers, 1834-1974.
Alexander Graham Bell wrote this journal while he was in his Beinn Bhreagh house in Nova Scotia. One of the many topics he wrote about was the National Geographic Society, and I read those pages in order to gain a better understanding of his leadership as the president.
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Journal by Alexander Graham Bell” November 7, 1901 to
April 29, 1902. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers 1834-1974.
Alexander Graham Bell writes about his thoughts and events in his life through these two dates. I used the sections where he talked about the National Geographic Society, including things like their meetings, correspondence and progressive movement.
Bell, Alexander Graham, “Journal by Alexander Graham Bell” January 20, 1910 to
March 14, 1910. Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers 1834-1974.
This journal tells about more of the meetings and work of the Society, the magazine’s ongoing changes and how Bell has put his trust in Grosvenor, the editor. Alexander also writes about his contributions to the Society and the responsibilities of his leadership position.
Magazines:
“National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1” 1888: National Geographic Society,
Washington, D.C.
The first issue of the National Geographic magazine included articles by multiple members of the Society talking mainly about geography, with no photographs and not much information other than geography.
“National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2” 1889: National Geographic Magazine,
Washington D.C.
The second issue of the National Geographic includes articles of geography, along with diagrams and maps. The special for the issue is the history and future of Africa, which makes up a great part of the issue, uses many visuals, and shows the progress National Geographic is making by showing more than just geography.
“National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 1” 1900: National Geographic Magazine, Washington D.C.
The magazine is still similar to the first few issues, in that the articles are very lengthy and the magazine often goes several pages without illustrations. The visuals used include some photographs, but mostly maps and charts. The magazine does not talk solely about North American discoveries, but does not cover many worldwide discoveries yet. However, the magazine looks much more like a modern day magazine than the first two issues did.
“National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 1” 1910: National Geographic Magazine, Washington D.C.
Twelve years after the first issue, the magazine has completely changed, having photographs on every other page, telling of expeditions around the country, and showing the true talent of editing that Grosvenor possesses. Seeing one of the magazine from his era as an editor helped me understand more about Grosvenor, and about how much the magazine changes in such a short amount of time.