Exist Dates
1886 January 3 - 1958 January 24
Biographical or Historical Note
- abstract
- William James Morden was born in Chicago, Ill. on January 3, 1886 to a
wealthy family with a railroad business. He graduated from the Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale University in 1908 with an advanced degree in
engineering, which he put to use while working for his family’s company before
serving as a lieutenant in the Army Engineers Corps in France during WWI. Morden
began his life as an explorer in 1921 when he took off on his first journey, an
AMNH expedition to the Yukon Territory. Four major expeditions followed which
were also under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History. These
included voyages to central Asia for the Morden-Clark Asiatic Expedition in 1926
and the Morden-Graves Expedition in 1929-1930, and to Africa for the Morden
African Expedition in 1922-1923 and for another expedition conducted 1947 and
again in 1953.
William James Morden was born in Chicago, Ill. on January 3, 1886 to a wealthy
family with a railroad business. He graduated from the Sheffield Scientific
School of Yale University in 1908 with an advanced degree in engineering, which
he put to use while working for his family’s company before serving as a
lieutenant in the Army Engineers Corps in France during WWI. Morden began his
life as an explorer in 1921 when he took off on his first journey, an AMNH
expedition to the Yukon Territory. Four major expeditions followed which were
also under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History. These
included voyages to central Asia for the Morden-Clark Asiatic Expedition in 1926
and the Morden-Graves Expedition in 1929-1930, and to Africa for the Morden
African Expedition in 1922-1923 and for another expedition conducted 1947 and
again in 1953. He also funded expeditions to Hawaii, Brazil, and Ecuador to
collect fish specimens for the Ichthyology Department.
Morden’s expeditions primarily took place to gather mammalian specimens for the
museum and he and his team also extensively filmed their experiences while
traveling. His 1947 expedition to Africa yielded artifacts and film footage of a
number of tribes. Irene Hambright Morden, Morden’s second wife, was an active
participant on these expeditions and the two completed a book on some of their
experiences entitles Our African Adventure, published in 1954. William James
Morden died in his home in Chappaqua, NY on January 24, 1958.
Sources
Library of Congress Name Authority File: no97069852
VIAF ID: 26674446 (Personal)
William James Morden 1886-1958. Morden, Col. William James (1886-1958)
African Explorer. Vertical Files, American Museum of Natural History Research
Library.
Col. William James Morden, Explorer’s Journal 1958. Morden, Col.
William James (1886-1958) African Explorer. Vertical Files, American Museum of
Natural History Research Library.
The American Museum of Natural History Fifty-Ninth Annual Report for
the Year 1927. American Museum of Natural History Research
Library.
Chronology
- January 03, 1888: Birth
- 1908: Graduated wit a Ph.B in Engineering from the Sheffield Scientific
School of Yale University
- 1922: Led AMNH expedition to the Yukon Territory
- 1922 - 1923: Led the Morden African Expedition
- 1926: Morden-Clark Asiatic Expedition
- 1927: Appointed Field Associate at AMNH Department of Mammalogy
- 1927: Elected Associate Founder of the American Museum of Natural
history
- 1929 - 1930: Morden-Graves North Asiatic Expedition
- 1935: Hawaii Expedition
- 1936: Brazil Expedition
- 1940: Married to Irene Hambright
- 1947: Led AMNH expedition to Africa
- 1953: Second African Expedition
- 1956: Third African Expedition
Terms
- languageUsed
- localDescription
- male
- place
- Chicago (Ill.)
(Birthplace)
dates: 1886 January 3
- place
- Yukon
Territory
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1922
Led an AMNH sponsored expedition to the head of the Donjek River in the
Yukon Territory.
- place
- Africa
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1922-1923
Led the Morden African Expedition to East Africa, Uganda, Sudan, and
Egypt.
- place
- Asia
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1926
Morden-Clark Asiatic Expedition to Urumchi, Srinagar, Kashmir, and the
Thian Shan Mountains.
- place
- Asia, Central
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1929-1930
Morden-Graves Central Asiatic Expedition to Uzbekistan and the Karoka
Steppes
- place
- Hawaii
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1935
Expedition to collect fish specimens for the AMNH Department of
Ichthyology, financed by Morden/the Morden Caranx Fund. Collected a
variety of fish, notably those of the Caranx genus.
- place
- Brazil
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1936
Expedition to Brazil to collect specimens for the AMNH Department of
Ichthyology. Financed by Morden.
- place
- Ecuador
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1936
Expedition to Ecuador to collect specimens for the AMNH Department of
Ichthyology. Financed by Morden.
- place
- Africa
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1947
Led an AMNH sponsored expedition to Cape Province, Griqualand East,
Natal, Griqualand West, Tanganyika, the Orange Free State, Transvaal,
Rhodesia, Zanzibar, Uganda, Buganda, Belgian Congo, The Sudan, Kenya,
and Zimbabwe.
- place
- Africa
(Expedition Site)
dates: 1956
Anthropological expedition to Africa sponsored by the Yale Peabody Museum
of Natural History.
- place
- Chappaqua (N.Y.)
(Died )
dates: 1958
- place
- New
Haven
(Schooling)
dates: 1908
Morden attending the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University and
graduated with a degree in engineering.
