New Guinea Expedition (1928-1929)

Exist Dates

1928 August 15 - 1929 May 4

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

The New Guinea Expedition (1928-1929) was proposed by Leonard C. Sanford to employ Rollo H. Beck on the heels of his departure from the Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. The field work was funded by George F. Baker with the purpose of collecting birds in New Guinea for the AMNH. Rollo Beck, joined by his wife, Ida Beck, collected a total of 249 bird species during their eight-and-a-half months in three main collecting sites located in Northeast¬¬ New Guinea: the Madang area, Keku, and the Cromwell Mountains. Beck brought back a new species of bowerbird, Sericulus bakeri, collected near the Adelbert Mountains. The Becks arrived in Madang on August 15, 1928 and left for Australia on May 4, 1929.

Sources

LeCroy, Mary and Diamond, Jared. "Rollo Beck's Collections of Birds in Northeast New Guinea." American Museum Novitates, no. 3873, February 15, 2017.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Mayr, Ernst, 1904-2005
Beck met with Ernst Mayr briefly in Finschhafen towards the end of the expedition.

Sanford, L. C. (Leonard Cutler), 1868-1950
Proposed the expedition and employed Rollo Beck.

Beck, Rollo H.
associated dates: 1928 August 15-1929 May 4
Leader and collector.

Beck, Ida May Menzies, 1883-1970
associated dates: 1928 August 15-1929 May 4
Participant in expedition.

Baker, George F.
Funded the expedition.

Related Resources

subjectOf

Rollo Beck’s Collections of Birds in Northeast New Guinea. American Museum Novitates, no. 3873
Written by Mary LeCroy and Jared Diamond, this publication details Rollo Beck’s collection of birds in Northeast New Guinea. Includes table of specimens brought back to the AMNH and detailed itinerary.

subjectOf

Field photographs from the New Guinea Expedition (1928-1929)
Digitized images from AMNH Library Special Collections Photographic Negative Collection.

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