Assorted Expeditions, 1920s-1930s (bulk 1925-1936)

This collection contains the records, photographs and papers of Gloria Hollister Anable, Research Associate in the Department of Tropical Research (DTR) of the New York Zoological Society (NYZS). Most of the collection consists of photographs, glass slides and negatives, the bulk of which concern the DTR’s 1936 expedition to British Guiana (now Guyana), led by Hollister. The photographs document topics such as the discoveries of the golden frog and the hoatzin, animal specimens retrieved, and waterfalls encountered along the way, particularly Kaieteur Falls and two that Hollister wished to call the Princess Elizabeth Fall and the King Edward VIII Fall. (However, the Colonial Secretary’s Office of British Guiana believed these falls had been discovered and named prior to Hollister’s encounters with them.) Other photographs highlight the 1926 expedition to Guyana and Trinidad, during which Hollister collected a guácharo; additional negatives thought to originate from Dr. William Beebe.

Hollister’s non-photographic materials are divided between records relating to her professional work and her personal papers. The focus is also mainly on the 1936 Guyana trip, which is documented by journals, correspondence, contracts, finances, specimen lists, newspaper clippings, ephemera, lecture notes, and movie scripts. Also included are the journals from the 1926 Guyana expedition; correspondence and ephemera pertaining to a baby tarpon expedition; and research notes, scholarship proposal draft, ephemera, and correspondence regarding the failed Icelandic Expedition. Finally, the collection also contains newspaper clippings and correspondence concerning Hollister’s hobbies and her personal and professional acquaintances, including William Beebe, the Society of Women Geographers, and the Mianus River Gorge Conservation Committee of the Nature Conservancy.