New York Zoological Society. Department of Tropical Research films

Between 1916 and 1964, the New York Zoological Society (NYZS)’s Department of Tropical Research (DTR), led by William Beebe (1877-1962), conducted dozens of ecological expeditions across tropical terrestrial and marine locales. For a general overview of the DTR’s history, refer to the Historical Note for WCS Archives Collection 1005A.

Conducting what is now regarded as standard ecological research, the DTR were among the first Western scientists to study the interconnectedness of tropical wildlife and their habitats through close, first-hand observations. The DTR were additionally noteworthy in that they were composed of both men and women, and included not only scientists but also artists, writers, and filmmakers. This multidisciplinary approach was crucial to their mission of disseminating their findings beyond the scientific community to the public. Film played a key role in this effort, serving both as a research tool and as a means to engage and educate the public. The DTR utilized film to enhance lectures for both technical and general audiences, produced films for NYZS members, and even released some as newsreels.

The earliest films in this collection date back to the early 1920s when expeditions would set sail from New York with thousands of feet of 35mm black-and-white film, as noted in the NYZS Annual Report. The unfamiliar shooting conditions necessitated a substantial supply of film to capture rare and potentially unique scenes.

The allure of these expeditions also attracted two filmmakers who served as DTR staff cinematographers and would later achieve notable success in Hollywood. In 1925, Ernest Schoedsack, later the director of King Kong (1933), accompanied the DTR—including his future wife and collaborator Ruth Rose—on the steam yacht Arcturus to the Galápagos Islands. Floyd Crosby, before he became an Academy-award winning cinematographer for Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931), first travelled to Haiti in 1927 with the DTR. Using a handcrafted underwater housing unit for his movie camera, Crosby captured footage of coral reefs and their inhabitants.

Beyond these notable filmmakers, other DTR staff honed their skills behind the camera to document and communicate their work. Jocelyn Crane, who joined the DTR in 1930, was especially prolific, shooting hundreds of feet of color 16mm film in her studies of insects in Venezuela and Trinidad and of fiddler crabs across the world. Crane’s footage features prominently in the edited films among the collection, including Curioseando en la Selva (1948), Color on the Wing in Trinidad: Butterfly Studies at the Society's Tropical Research Station (circa 1953-1956), and Along African Shores in Search of Fiddlers (1957).

1916-1922

During this time, the DTR establishes field stations in what was then British Guyana, first “Kalacoon,” near Bartica, and later “Kartabo,” near the Mazaruni River. Led by William Beebe, staff explore the region’s general ecology. In 1922, John Tee-Van shoots motion picture films.

1923

Galápagos Islands aboard the steam yacht Noma. Galapagos: World's End is Beebe's book detailing the two-and-a-half-month trip. Notable staff are Ruth Rose, who catalogs plant and animal specimens; Gilbert Broking, Isabel Cooper, and Harry Hoffman, who create over a hundred illustrations; and John Tee-Van, who serves as expedition photographer and shots close to two and a half hours of motion picture film.

1925

Second trip to the Galápagos Islands aboard the Arcturus steamer; the expedition travels through the Sargasso Sea and the Humboldt Current. In addition to studying marine life and volcanic activity in the Pacific Ocean, the Arcturus also explores the Hudson Gorge (Hudson Canyon) on their return trip to New York. The Arcturus Adventure is William Beebe’s book account of the nearly six-month trip, written with Rose. Film director Ernest Schoedsack serves as cameraman.

1927

Expedition to Haiti, primarily to study coral reefs using a diving helmet. Floyd Crosby serves as cameraman.

1929

First expedition to Nonsuch Island, Bermuda. Gloria Hollister joins the DTR. On this seven-month trip, permanent laboratory facilities are established on the island to study shallow, mid- and deep-water fish.

1930

Second expedition to Nonsuch Island, Bermuda. Jocelyn Crane joins the DTR. Engineer Otis Barton and Beebe first successfully test the submersible known as the Bathysphere. Over the six-and-a-half-month trip, the Bathysphere completes fifteen descents, reaching a depth of 1,426 feet.

1931

Third expedition to Nonsuch Island, Bermuda. Research work on the ecology and life history of the shore and deep-sea fish of Bermuda. There is a year break for descents with the Bathysphere while it is overhauled for future dives.

1932

Bathysphere returns for the fourth expedition to Nonsuch Island, Bermuda. On September 21, using the telephone wire installed inside of the Bathysphere, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcasts the live descent of the Bathysphere to 2,200 feet by radio.

1933

Fifth expedition to Nonsuch Island, Bermuda; there are no Bathysphere dives.

1934

Beebe and Barton set the world record for deepest dive in the Bathysphere off Nonsuch Island in Bermuda, at 3,028. Barton obtains film footage during this dive. [*Researchers should note that the WCS Archives does not hold any of the underwater material shot from inside of the Bathysphere. The location of that footage, created by Barton, is unknown].

1936

Hollister leads an expedition to the interior of what was then British Guiana with Arthur Menken, who films Kaieteur Falls by plane.

1936-1938

The schooner Zaca is commissioned for two oceanographic expeditions. The first is deep-sea trawling and dredging in the Pacific Coast of Lower California from San Diego to Clarion Island and Cabo San Lucas, and in the Gulf of California. The second trip sails to the Eastern Pacific and explores the faunal area from Guadalupe, San Benito, and Cedros Island on the west coast of Lower California south through the western bays of Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia.

1941

War prevents deep-sea work. Beebe Crane pack up supplies and vacate laboratory on New Nonsuch, Bermuda. Preparations for new station in Caripito, Venezuela begin. Crane travels to Panama to study fiddler crabs.

1942

DTR establishes a field station in Caripito, Venezuela, where they study the region’s ecology of the region with particular attention to the effects of seasonal changes on its flora and fauna. On this expedition the DTR begins shooting exclusively with color 16mm film.

1945-1949

DTR continues their work in Venezuela at Rancho Grande, a high-altitude field station in Henri Pittier National Park. DTR produces their first sound film, Curioseando en la Selva, for a Venezuelan audience. The film, all major laboratory expenses, living quarters, and trips to Rancho Grande are underwritten by the Creole Petroleum Corporation, an arrangement facilitated by NYZS Officer Laurance S. Rockefeller. The regular research staff consists of Beebe, Crane, and entomologist Henry Fleming.

1950

DTR establishes “Simla” to serve as a permanent field station in Trinidad’s Arima Valley. Over the following 15 years, the DTR conducts various tropical forest ecology studies from Simla and hosts prominent researchers such as the British ornithologist David Snow.

1955

Over the following two years, in addition to continuing work at Simla, DTR staff travel to Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. Much of the work focuses on Crane’s studies of fiddler crabs, which will lead to her seminal 1975 tome on the animals.

1962

Beebe dies at Simla on June 4 and is buried in Trinidad. Crane continues to serve as DTR Director for the following three years and remains on staff as the DTR is folded into NYZS’s Institute for Research in Animal Behavior (IRAB), one of the precursors to today’s Global Conservation Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society.