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Robert Abram Bartlett
Papers, 1888-1946 (bulk 1930-1946).
29.0 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M8
| Agency History / Biographical Note:
"Captain Bob" Bartlett (1875-1946), of Brigus, Nfld., began his
Arctic career as mate on the "Windward" voyage of 1898-99, led by
Robert E. Peary (Bowd. 1877), and later helped design Peary's "Roosevelt,"
which he captained on the 1908-09 North Pole expedition. In 1913-14,
Bartlett commanded Vilhjalmur Stefansson's ill-fated "Karluk" which
was destroyed in the pack ice; walking alone to Siberia, he returned
with a rescue party. He led the Crocker Land Relief Expedition (1917)
to rescue Donald B. MacMillan (Bowd. 1898), stranded in Greenland.
He was Marine Superintendant for the U.S. Army Transport Service
during World War I, and, among other duties, transported troops
as Lt. Commander, U.S.N.R., during World War II.
Bartlett owned the "Effie M. Morrissey" and commanded its mostly
student crew on annual expeditions (1926-46) making hydrographic
studies and collecting museum specimens under the auspices of the
Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Natural History of
Philadelphia, the American Museum of Natural History, the National
Geographic Society and other major institutions.
Captain Bartlett's published books include The Log of Bob Bartlett
(1928), The Last Voyage of the Karluk (1916), and Sails
Over Ice (1934). He received an honorary A.M. from Bowdoin in
1920.
Scope and Content:
The collection contains correspondence, documents, articles, speeches,
clippings, photographs, logs, and other material dealing mostly
with the "Morrissey" years. Bartlett was in contact with prominent
explorers, journalists, museum curators, naval officers and industrial
figures, among them: Richard Evelyn Byrd, Frank Michler Chapman,
Colby Mitchell Chester, Samuel Bayard Colgate, Eugene DuPont, Wilfred
Thomason Grenfell, Melville Bell Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor,
George Palmer Putnam, Marie Peary Stafford, Vilhjamur Stefansson,
Arthur Hays Sulzberger, Lowell Thomas and Russell Randolph Waesche.
Although there are over 3500 letters in the collection, there are
few extensive exchanges. Only the following individuals are represented
by 25 or more letters: Robert Rudolph Morgan Carpenter, Vice President
of DuPont; William Herbert Hobbs, geologist at the University of
Michigan; John K. Howard of Boston; Arthur James Manice and David
Clark Nutt, who travelled on the "Morrissey"; Waldo L. Schmitt,
a curator at the Smithsonian; Nina Smith, lecture manager; Reynolds
Spriggs, Columbian Rope Co.; and Fred C. Wurtz, Welch Grape Juice
Co.
Cite as: Robert Abram Bartlett papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library.
Access Restrictions: None.
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