Title: William Osgood Field Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1927-1992

Creator:

• Field, William O. (William Osgood), 1904-1994

Call Number: AGSL Manuscript Collection 10

Quantity:

• 4.0 cubic ft. (9 boxes)
• 1 oversize folder
• 47 film reels

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, American Geographical Society Library (Map)

Abstract:

Papers, mostly dating from the late 1920s and early 1930s, of geographer and glaciologist William Osgood Field. Most of the collection deals with his travels to the remote Transcaucasia region of the Soviet Union, containing films, photographs, and notes.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-agsl-agslmss0010

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William Bradhurst Osgood Field, Jr. was born in New York City on January 30, 1904. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Harvard in 1926. In 1929, he married Alice Withrow. After graduation, Field began a long career in glaciology, making numerous expeditions to places like Alaska, and was widely recognized as the "Father of Glaciology". Field began working as a research associate for the American Geographical Society (AGS) in 1940. He later became the head of the Department of Exploration and Field Research for the AGS in 1946 and continued in this capacity until 1969. Field initiated the Juneau Icefield Research Project in 1948, which the AGS continued to sponsor for the next ten years. For the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958), Field founded and directed World Data Center-A for glaciology at the AGS. Field also wrote numerous books and articles on the subject of glaciology and was honored with several awards, including the Charles P. Daly medal by the AGS in 1969. He became a council member of the AGS and served in that capacity for many years. Field died in 1994.

In the summer of 1929, Field first traveled to Russia, specifically Georgia in the Caucasus. He passed through areas such as Swanetia, on the southern slope of the Central Caucasus, where he took still pictures and "about 1200 feet" of 35mm film of the Swan people and the landscape during the twelve days he was there. His trip was prompted by a travel organization called Open Road, that "arranged trips to unusual and interesting places." Field was so enamored by the people that he arranged through the "head of the local political hierarchy" to return and finish taking pictures and film. Upon his return, Field tried to get his film produced commercially to no avail and instead used his footage and still pictures during lectures he gave about the region for several years after. Field also traveled to Russia, specifically Moscow, in the early to mid-1930s. He filmed the daily life of Muscovites, from street scenes to sporting events. He also took footage of historic Moscow architecture, such as St. Basil's Cathedral, the Novodevichy Convent, and other landmarks in the Red Square. From these trips, he produced educational and travel motion pictures from the 1920s through the 1950s, focusing on geographical studies.

The collection includes correspondence, notes, postcards, travel journals, photographs, and motion pictures of Field's journeys throughout the Soviet Union, especially Georgia and its upper Svanetia regions, from 1928 until the 1970s. Field's partially indexed photographs and films contain images of Moscow and the Caucasus, mostly from 1929 to 1934, documenting local architecture, geography, and people. The collection also includes a series of 1931 letters from Upton Sinclair and others requesting financial assistance for Sergei Eisenstein's uncompleted film about Mexico, Que Viva Mexico.

The collection is arranged into two series:

1. Personal Papers, 1927-1992
2. Films, 1929-1974, undated

The personal papers are arranged alphabetically by folder title and then chronologically. The glass slides (boxes 8-9) are included as part of this series.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

Selections from this collection are included in the UWM Libraries' digital collection Images of Russia and Caucasus Region, 1929-1933.

The films from this collection have been digitized and added to the UWM Libraries' digital collection William Osgood Field Motion Picture Films.

Monographs and maps were removed from the collection for individual cataloging in the American Geographical Society Library.

Access Restrictions

The films are extremely fragile and not available for viewing; researchers must use the digital access copies. Handling the lantern slides requires the assistance of a staff member. Access to the nitrate negatives is restricted; researchers must use the access copies. There are no other access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Field donated the bulk of the collection to the American Geographical Society Library in 1993.

Processing Information

Leslie Heinrichs processed the collection at the Archives in 1996 and 1997. Mark Vargas completed the finding aid in 1998. Christel Maass, in the UWM Libraries' Archives Dept., added some additional materials to the collection in October 2009. In January 2014, Bob Jaeger reprocessed the collection, separating the photographs and negatives, and updating the contents list.

Preservation Information

The films were digitized in 2014. Preservation master files were created as avi files; access copies as mp4 files.

	Series: 1. Personal Papers, 1927-1992, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	Alpine Journal, bibliographies, undated
Box   4 Folder   1	Alpine Journal, notes, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Arctic, notes and bibliographies, 1937, undated
	Caucasus
Box   4 Folder   2	"A New Era in the Caucasus", 1934
Box   1 Folder   3	bibliographies, undated
Box   1 Folder   4	"Caucasian Isthmus", 1934
Box   4 Folder   3	"Caucasus", 1934
Box   1 Folder   5	"Central Caucasus and Svanetia", 1931
Box   7 Folder   2	"Dongusorum Pass", photograph, 1929
Box   Folder   6-7	"Glaciers of the Caucasus", 1929-1956
Box   1 Folder   8-12	"International Struggle for the Caucasus", undated
Box   1 Folder   13	"International Struggle for Transcaucasia", undated
Box   1 Folder   14	"Lost Valleys of the Caucasus", undated
Box   5 Folder   1	maps, photographs, undated Note: See film reel 26.
Box   1 Folder   15	notebooks, 1929, undated
Box   7 Folder   1	notebooks, copies, 1929
Box   4 Folder   4	notes, 1929, undated
Box   5 Folder   2-3	photographs, 1933
Box   1 Folder   16	postcards, 1929-1933, undated
Box   1 Folder   17	"Reopening of the Caucasus", 1930
Box   7 Folder   2	"Siege Towers of Upper Swanetia", photograph, 1929
Box   5 Folder   4	slides, 1929, undated Physical Description: 56 slides (35mm)
Box   6	Svanetia in Western Georgia, 1929 Physical Description: 2 photograph albums
Box   1 Folder   18	"Travel and Mountaineering in the Caucasus", 1929-1930
Box   7 Folder   2	"Village of Ushgul in Upper Swanetia", photograph, 1929
Box   1 Folder   19	Correspondence, 1929-1933
Box   4 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1960-1964, undated
Box   1 Folder   20	Daily Worker, excerpts, 1940
Box   1 Folder   21	Diary, "Russian Trip" by James R. Withrow, Jr., 1933
Box   1 Folder   22	Film Proposal, undated
Box   1 Folder   23	"Geography of the Caucasus" by Virginia M. Edwards, 1960
Box   1 Folder   24	Georgia, notes, undated
Box   1 Folder   25	"Invasion of Transcaucasia" by L. Trotsky, notes, undated
Box   4 Folder   6	Importance de la Géorgie en Tant Que Voie de Transit, undated Language: French
Box   1 Folder   26	Itinerary and Film Subjects, 1933
Box   1 Folder   27	Itinerary and Travel Notes, 1929
Box   1 Folder   28	Journal of Modern History, notes, 1930
	Khevsuretia
Box   1 Folder   29	Khevsuratia by A.I. Kamarauli, notes, 1935
Box   1 Folder   30	Khevsuratia by V.A. Gurko-Kraijin, notes, undated
Box   1 Folder   31	diary, 1933
Box   4 Folder   5	notes, undated
Box   1 Folder   32-33	"Kola Peninsula", drafts, undated
Box   4 Folder   8	"Kola Peninsula", proof, 1938
Box   1 Folder   34	"Kulak Island", undated
	Lecture Materials
Box   1 Folder   35	picture cards, undated
Box   1 Folder   36	publicity, 1929-1931, undated
Box   4 Folder   9	titles, film sequences, and commentary, 1929-1931, undated
Box   1 Folder   37	"Lena River", notes, 1936
Box   1 Folder   38	Library of Congress, correspondence, 1942-1992
Box   1 Folder   39	Library of Congress, film transfer list, 1988
Box   1 Folder   40	Memorabilia, 1929-1934, undated
Box   1 Folder   41	Modern Russia, book review by Cicely Hamilton, undated
	Motion Picture Indexes
Box   1 Folder   42	Africa, 1928
Box   1 Folder   43	Caucasus and Svanetia, 1929
Box   4 Folder   10	Caucasus, Daghestan, Khevsuretia, and Georgia, 1933
Box   1 Folder   44	commentary and dope sheets, undated
Box   1 Folder   45	lists of scenes and titles, undated
Box   4 Folder   11	Svanetia, undated
Box   2 Folder   1	Mountains of Georgia, by V. Shklovsky, notes, undated
Oversize Folder   1	Negatives and Prints, unidentified, undated Physical Description: 2 nitrate negatives 7¾" x 28"  Access Restrictions: Access to the nitrate negatives is restricted; researchers must use the access copies.
Box   2 Folder   2	North Ossetia, diary, 1933, undated
Box   2 Folder   3-4	Notebooks and Diaries, 1933, undated
	Notes
Box   2 Folder   5	copied from notebooks, 1929, undated
Box   4 Folder   12	miscellaneous, undated
Box   2 Folder   6	names, undated
Box   2 Folder   7	Prospectus, undated
Box   2 Folder   8	Publications, 1927-1937, undated
Box   2 Folder   9	Savane by V. Goltsev, notes, 1929
Box   2 Folder   10	Sinclair, Upton, 1931
Box   2 Folder   11	Sketch of Svanetia by V. Dingelstedt, notes, undated
Box   2 Folder   12	Strana Snegof Y Bashin by B. Kovalevski, notes, 1930
	Svanetia (Georgia)
Box   4 Folder   13	bibliographies and notes, undated
Box   2 Folder   13	"Dadeshkiliani Family", undated
Box   2 Folder   14	"Education in Svanetia", undated
Box   8-9	glass slides, 1929 Physical Description: 112 lantern slides  Access Restrictions: Request the assistance of an archivist to view the lantern slides.
Box   2 Folder   15	notebook of letter excerpts and film lists, 1929
Box   2 Folder   16	notes, general, 1929-1933
Box   2 Folder   17-18	notes, volumes 1-2, undated
Box   3 Folder   1-5	notes, volumes 3-7, undated
Box   3 Folder   6	Transcaucasia, notes, undated
Box   4 Folder   14	"Trans-Mongolian Railway Project" and Map, undated
Box   3 Folder   7	Travel Guides and Maps, undated
	U.S.S.R.
Box   4 Folder   15	bibliographies and notes, undated
Box   3 Folder   8	exploration clippings, 1930-1935
Box   7 Folder   3	Moscow, photograph, 1929-1933
Box   3 Folder   9	"Mountaineering Expeditions in the Soviet Union during 1933", undated
Box   3 Folder   10	notes, volume 1, undated
Box   5 Folder   5-12	photographs, 1929-1931, undated
Box   4 Folder   16	photographs, index 1931
Box   3 Folder   11-12	postcards, undated
Box   4 Folder   17	"Soviet Long Distance Flights", notes and drafts, undated
Box   4 Folder   18	"Soviet Navy", notes and drafts, undated
	Series: 2. Films, 1929-1974, undated Access Restrictions: Film reels are restricted; researchers must use the digital access copies.	⇧
Film   4	Caucasus, 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (35mm)
Film   29-35	Caucasus, 1933 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   36	Caucasus, 1964 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   37	Caucasus, 1974 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   25-27	Caucasus, undated Physical Description: Film reel (35mm)
Film   38-43, 45-47	Caucasus, undated Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   44	Caucasus (Clear Pond), 1959 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   9-11	Caucasus, Svanetia (Georgia), 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   7	Daghestan, 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   24	Georgia, 1933 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   5, 8	Khevsuretia, 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)
Film   1-3	Moscow, 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (35mm)
Film   12-23, 28	Moscow, 1933-1934 Physical Description: Film reel (35mm)
Film   6	Svanetia (Georgia), 1929 Physical Description: Film reel (16mm)