Smithsonian Libraries

Russell E. Train Africana collection

Summary

Collection ID:
SIL-CL.XXXX-0014
Creators:
Train, Russell E., 1920-2012
Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian. Libraries)
Dates:
1663-2004
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
6,500 Items
estimated
Repository:
Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa.

Scope and Contents note

Scope and Contents note
Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa. The Train Collection is particularly strong in archival materials on the following topics: the search for the source of the Nile and the progress of other exploring expeditions in Africa; the collecting of specimens of African animals, plants, and ethnological materials for zoos and museums (including a significant body of correspondence and photographs from the Smithsonian African Expedition in 1909-1910, led by President Theodore Roosevelt); and the growth of the African wildlife conservation movement. Besides Roosevelt, the major persons represented in the Collection include the journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley and members of his Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert H. Nelson, James S. Jameson, John Rose Troup, William Bonny, William G. Stairs, Edmund Barttelot, and Arthur J. M. Jephson); the medical missionary Dr. David Livingstone and his father-in-law Robert Moffat; taxidermist Carl Akeley; zoologist Edmund Heller; hunter Frederick Courtenay Selous; artist and adventure writer A. Radclyffe Dugmore; explorers Samuel White Baker, Thomas Baines, Richard Francis Burton and E.J. Glave; anthropologist Paul Belloni du Chaillu; and royal traveler Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor). Consult the finding aid for more specific information on materials relating to these persons and other people and organizations represented in the Collection.

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Organized into ten series, primarily based on format or creator: I. Artifacts, 1663-1999; II. Works of Art, 1663-1999; III. Books, 1900-1986; IV. Edmund Heller personal papers, 1875-1939; V. Manuscripts, 1663-1992; VI. Maps, 1878; VII. Newspapers, 1888-1987; VIII. Robert Henry Nelson personal papers, 1795-1912; VIII. Photographs, 1874-1963; IX. Posters and broadsides, 1814-1955; X. Russell E. Train personal papers, 1956-2004.

Administration

Author
SIL staff
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Originally assembled by the Honorable Russell E. Train, a former judge, top administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a past president of the World Wildlife Fund, this collection was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 2004.
Separated Materials note
In addition to these archival and non-book materials, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries acquired more than 1500 printed books as part of the Russell E. Train Collection; these books are listed individually in the SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) online catalog.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use note
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.

More Information

Other Finding Aids note

Other Finding Aids note
A print copy of the original inventory is available in the Cullman Library.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Zoological specimens -- Collection and preservation -- Africa Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wildlife conservation -- Africa Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Natural history -- Technique Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Natural history -- Africa Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hunting -- Africa Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Explorers -- Africa Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa -- Maps Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa -- Discovery and exploration Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Africa -- In art Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baker, Samuel White, Sir, 1821-1893 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Akeley, Carl Ethan, 1864-1926 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baines, Thomas, 1820-1875 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Livingstone, David, 1813-1873. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glave, E. J. (Edward James) Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Du Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni), 1835-1903 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dugmore, A. Radclyffe (Arthur Radclyffe), 1870-1955 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (1887-1889) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Train, Russell E., 1920-2012 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nelson, Robert Henry, 1853-1892 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Heller, Edmund, 1875-1939 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Selous, Frederick Courteney, 1851-1917 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Smithsonian Libraries
P.O. Box 37012
NMAH 1041, MRC 672
Washington, DC 20013-7012
AskaLibrarian@si.edu