American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Ladies in the Field: The Museum's Unsung Explorers (Exhibition)
birth: 1986 October 31
death: 1987 October 26
Exhibition. Opened October 31, 1986 and closed October 26, 1987. Located on Floor 4 in the Library Gallery at the American Museum of Natural History. Ladies in the Field: The Museum's Unsung Explorers featured photographs, diaries, published monographs, and mementos of women who traveled on and contributed to expedition work, including Delia Akeley, Mary Jobe Akeley, Dina Brodsky, Grace Murphy, Sally Clark, and Osa Johnson.
Summary
Ladies in the Field: The Museum's Unsung Explorers featured photographs, diaries, published monographs, and mementos of women who traveled on and contributed to expedition work, including Delia Akeley (first wife of Carl Akeley), Mary Jobe Akeley (second wife of Carl Akeley), Dina Brodsky (wife of Waldemar Jochelson), Grace Murphy (wife of Robert Cushman Murphy), Sally Clark (wife of James L. Clark), and Osa Johnson (wife of Martin Johnson). A Museum press release dated October 6, 1986 also refers to a "Mrs. Roy Chapman Andrews," which is most likely Roy Chapman Andrews' first wife, Yvette Borup Andrews who was a part of expeditions in Asia, but could also be his second wife, Wilhelmina Christmas Andrews. Objects from Dina Brodsky and Waldemar Jochelson's expedition were donated by Jochelson's niece, Lydia Domherr. Other materials in the exhibition were from the Museum Library's Art and Realia Collection (1, p. 1). A related exhibition, Friends from the Field, featuring photographs of animals adopted by Museum scientists on expeditions, was on view at the same time in the Library entrance hall (2, p. 57).
Highlights (1, p. 1-2):
*A group portrait of the Society of Women Geographers (counterpart of the Explorer's Club) with Delia Akeley, Grace Murphy, and Sally Clark
*A clock and case used by Waldemar Jochelson and Dina Brodsky in Siberian expeditions in the early 1900s
*Photograph taken by Carl Akeley in 1910 of Delia Akeley surrounded by elephant tusks she collected in Kenya
*Two books by Delia Akeley: Jungle Portraits and J.T., Jr., The Biography of an African Monkey, published in the 1930s
*Mary Akeley's canteen used during the 1926 Eastman Pomeroy Akeley Expedition to the Belgian Congo and diary, which includes an entry on the day of Carl Akeley's death
*Shells and stones collected by Dina Brodsky from Attu Island in the Aleutians in 1895
*Photographs of Osa Johnson in Kenya while filming "Simba, King of Beasts, Saga of the African veldt" circa 1926
This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.