Both Alonzo and Dorothy Pond lived long and rich lives, and fortunately for researchers they shared a concern with creating and saving written and photographic documentation about their experiences. In addition to this large personal collection, Pond donated materials to other institutions including diaries, letters, and photographic negatives about his European and Gobi expeditions at the American Museum of Natural History and correspondence, films, and photographs concerning his work at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College Archives. In addition, the Human Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian Institution has copies of all Pond film material, together with voiceover commentary made by Pond during interviews by HSFA staff. Copies of many of these items are available as part of the collection described here.
Although it was Pond's desire that his anthropological work be available at institutions with that specialization, historians of anthropology will find much of interest in these holdings because of Pond's inclination to repeatedly recast his experiences in fiction and non-fiction writing. On the other hand, because he constantly shifted pages and handwritten notes from one literary project to another in the course of writing, researchers must be prepared to explore widely in order to locate all pertinent information on any particular topic in the collection.
The papers are organized in five series: CORRESPONDENCE AND DIARIES, OCCUPATIONS AND PROJECTS, MANUSCRIPTS AND WRITINGS, MISCELLANEOUS FAMILY PAPERS, and ALBUMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS.
The CORRESPONDENCE AND DIARIES are arranged in four categories: Pond's correspondence with his family, non-family correspondence, his diaries and personal material, and Dorothy Pond's correspondence and diaries. Pond's family correspondence covers the period from 1913 to 1956. Prior to 1925 the majority of the correspondence consists of letters to and from his father. These exchanges concern family matters, Pond's education, his wartime service, and archaeological work. After 1925 the majority of the correspondence consists of letters to Dorothy Pond. Although the Ponds' separations were brief, letter-writing was such a prominent part of their lives that this section of the series is extensive and important. Once again, the contents are a mix of personal and professional concerns.
The alphabetically-arranged, non-family correspondence dates between 1912 and 1985 and includes some items addressed to both Ponds. Although this file does not contain correspondence concerned with specific occupations or projects, notable career information can be found here in files concerning George Collie and Frank Logan, while files for David Lubell, Michael Tarabulski, and Randy White concern later inquiries into Pond's early activities. Files for Al P. Nelson and literary agent Lawrence Sterning concern Pond's writings.
Pond's diaries and related personal records cover the period 1906 to 1986. These files are arranged chronologically by the earliest date for each file. Because of the deteriorated condition of some materials and Pond's desire to have original materials on his European research available at the American Museum of Natural History, the SHSW collection contains only microfilm for several of the most important files in this section: his clipping scrapbooks, his diary on his earliest work in Europe, his 1925-1926 Sahara Expedition diary, and his 1928 Gobi Expedition diary. Related personal records filed here include such varied documents as bird lists, a cookbook, travel expense records, academic records, the original and a transcript of his World War I diary, and several short literary works developed directly from his 1921-1922 diaries.
Most notable in Dorothy Pond's correspondence and diaries are her many letters to her husband, as well as the long letters she wrote to their parents. The latter, portions of which are available only on microfilm, are especially useful during the periods when Alonzo was not keeping a diary or was not sharing in the family correspondence responsibilities. These papers as well as her writings support the assertion that she shared fully in her husband's career.
OCCUPATIONS AND PROJECTS files are arranged chronologically by the earliest date for each project. Within this arrangement, which generally corresponds to the sequence of Pond's employment, there are also general files for his early archaeological work and for his travel writing. The series variously contains letters, reports, publicity, and related fiction and non-fiction writing.
Several sections are supplemented with film and videotape footage. Files on his anthropological career, for example, contain correspondence and miscellaneous writings, as well as extensive footage from the Ponds and other sources used by Michael Tarabulski in making a film on the 1930 Expedition. For the later anthropological work there are correspondence, reports, and writings on the Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition and on his work at Mammoth Cave. Pond's involvement in Wisconsin tourism is also well represented, for there are extensive files of publicity material he wrote for Cave of the Mounds and alphabetical subject files, financial records, and microfilmed scrapbooks pertaining to the management and development of Wisconsin Gardens.
MANUSCRIPTS AND WRITINGS form a large segment of the collection, containing important information about the activities and interests of both Ponds. This section is divided into separate categories for the writings of Dorothy and Alonzo. His writings are then further divided into long and short manuscripts, together with a general file which concerns Pond's attempts to improve his writing and better market his work. The longer works, which include both published and unpublished materials, are arranged chronologically, while the shorter works, which are available only on microfilm, are arranged alphabetically by subject. Because of their deteriorated condition a few portions of the longer works are also available only on microfilm. The files variously contain research material and notes, annotated clippings, correspondence with publishers and others, variant drafts of manuscripts, and reviews.
MISCELLANEOUS FAMILY PAPERS include correspondence, clippings, and biographical material concerning members of the Pond and Long families. Especially notable is the correspondence between Charles L. Long and his wife during his service in the 43rd Wisconsin during the Civil War; three small diary-like memo books of Samuel Pond, 1869-1871; and several letters concerning service in the Spanish-American War by Russell Moore.
The Ponds' papers include a large quantity of ALBUMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS. Original albums and negatives pertaining to Pond's archaeological work are at the American Museum of Natural History, with microfilm copies of some album pages at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Original albums at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin were divided into three categories by the Ponds themselves. The lettered series consists of Alonzo Pond's early pictures, and it dates primarily from 1906 to 1926. The large, numbered albums date from 1920 to 1958, and they reflect Dorothy Pond's organizational and cataloging efforts. (Album 18 and 19 of this group depict Wisconsin Gardens; they are still held by the family.) Dorothy Pond's three albums contain photographs of her life prior to her marriage, 1920-1926, and portraits of the Long family. The microfilm version of this photographic material has been included in the contents list which follows. The originals are considered unprocessed and are noted in the catalog entry as accession M87-377.
