William F. Wheeler Efe Pygmy papers

Scope and Contents

William F. Wheeler papers and photographs of Efe Pygmies. A large part, if not all, of these materials are associated with the 2004 exhibit of Wheeler's Efe Pygmies photographs and artifacts at the San Diego Museum of Man titled "Efe: Archers of the Congo." This collection consists of mounted photographs (20 x 30 inches and 11 x 17 inches); text panels; "Safari Diary of William Wheeler" (3 volumes of typed diary transcripts from 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1998); photocopies of the original handwritten diaires; bound sample pages of drawings from diaries; enlarged and laminated copies of field journal pages used for the exhibit; a photocopy of Efe collection provenance book (relates to artifact collection donated to NMNH Department of Anthropology Collections Management ); and list of those artifacts and items listed herein.

Biographical Note

William F. Wheeler was born in Blackville, S.C. in 1943 and received an M.D. degree from Duke University after completing his internship at UC San Diego and a specialty degree in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General in Boston. After years of practicing medicine, he bought a Land Rover and began traveling Africa on his own, chalking up 40,000 miles over a five year period. To gain a more intimate experience, he returned to the most remote places and began to explore them on foot. His detailed safari journals, written in the style of 19th century explorers, describe camel journeys in the Sahara, foot safaris with Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania, and hundred of miles of treks with Efe through the rainforest of the Ituri river basin, a tributary of the Congo River. He passed away at the age of 65 of bone-marrow cancer in 2008.

Related Materials

The National Anthropological Archives also holds Photo Lot 2005-19 William F. Wheeler photographs of Africa and Efe people.

The Human Studies Film Archives holds William Wheeler videos of the Efe Pygmies, Ituri Forest, 1994-1996 (HSFA.2004.07).