Herbert Deignan on Expedition

Object Details

Author

Walker, Howell

Subject

Deignan, H. G (Herbert Girton) 1906-

United States National Museum Dept. of Birds

United States National Museum Dept. of Biology Division of Birds

Arnhem Land Expedition

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Originally published in National Geographic Magazine, vol. XCVI, December 1949, page 746. Image was displayed in the 2012 exhibit, "When Time and Duty Permit: Smithsonian Collecting in World War II," in the SI Libraries exhibit case in the National Museum of Natural History.

Summary

Herbert G. Deignan, curator of birds, is preparing a bird specimen while on the Arnhem Land Expedition. Deignan was part of the expedition team made up of Australian and American researchers and support staff. The expedition lasted nine months and explored northern Australia's remote region known as Arnhem Land. The team consisted of men and women from various disciplines including: an ethnographer, archaeologist, photographer, and film maker. The expedition included a botanist, a mammalogist, an ichthyologist, an ornithologist, and a team of medical and nutritional scientists. Under the leadership of Charles Mountford, the team investigated the Indigenous populations and the environment of Arnhem Land.

Earlier, Deignan served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and was stationed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where he collected natural history specimens for the National Museum, along with S. Dillon Ripley.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7006, Box 194, Folder: Deignan, Herbert G

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

1948

Standard number

SIA2008-2369

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and White ; Size: 10w x 8h; Type of Image: Person, Candid; Medium: Photographic print

Place

Australia

Sri Lanka

On view

When Time and Duty Permit: Collecting During WWII, July 14, 2012 to May 2013

Smithsonian Archives - History Div

Topic

Collectors and collecting

Ornithologists

Scientific expeditions

Birds--Collection and preservation

Birds

World War, 1939-1945

Record ID

siris_sic_13627

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