Scope and Contents note

Photographs made by William F. Wheeler during his expeditions to Africa in July 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1998, mostly documenting the Efe of Akokora in the Ituri forest. Photographs relating to the Efe people of Akokora in the Ituri forest include images of Efe people, camps, musical instruments, dances, archery and poison arrows, hunting, barkcloth making and use, body marking, food, animals and plants of the rainforest, forest treks, villages (including Anduli, Dui, and Akokora). Other photographs include images of ceremonies (including an Olngesherr ceremony in the Loita Hills), Mbuti at Epulu, a Masai village in Kenya, William Wheeler's wedding to Linda Penn in a Masai village (1987), Berber nomads and scenic views in Algeria, markets and Tuaregs during a camel trip through Niger, and aerial views.

Biographical/Historical note

William F. Wheeler (1943-2008) was born in Blackville, South Carolina, and earned a medical degree from Duke University and a specialty degree in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General in Boston. In 1978, after years of practicing medicine, he began traveling Africa by car, making over twenty-four trips during the next three decades. To gain a more intimate experience, he returned to explore the most remote places 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 hundreds of miles of treks with Efe through the rainforest of the Ituri river basin, a tributary of the Congo River. Wheeler's collection of artifacts and photographs formed the basis of a 2004 exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Man.

Local Call Number(s)

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Location of Other Archival Materials

Photographs previously filed in Photo Lot 2005-19 have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 2010-21. These photographs were also made by William F. Wheeler in Africa and form part of this collection.

Location of Other Archival Materials

The National Anthropological Archives also holds the William F. Wheeler Efe Pgymy Papers, 1999-2004 (MS 2005-14).

Location of Other Archival Materials

Artifacts collected by Wheeler held in the Department of Anthropology collections in accessions 2036145, 2034089, and 2033754.

Custodial History note

5,245 slides of Efe Pygmies donated by William F. Wheeler in 2005. The rest of the slides, mostly other parts of Africa, donated by his daughters Emily Cardey and Amy Kocourek in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Other Finding Aids note

Inventory available in repository.