Public imaginaries of the Polar Regions

Contrasting histories revealed in personal journals and the published books by expedition leaders

"Blue Iceberg" (1986) by Jerry Garcia

Introduction

This digital exhibit was the culminating project of Environmental Studies 15, Environmental Issues of the Earth’s Cold Regions, taught in fall term 2024. The students in this course contributed their talents and perspectives to create a scholarly exhibit aimed at an informed public audience. We hope their work will be useful to classes at the high school and college levels interested in the centrality of the Arctic to the future of our climate and the wellness of all.

Working in nine groups, thirty six Dartmouth undergraduates constructed this exhibit focused on the written accounts from Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. There is much history "hidden" in unpublished documents, like the diaries kept by all types of crewmembers on polar expeditions. These diaries were often legally owned by the expedition leader, who would then use the diary content to inform (to varying degrees) their own published expedition account. These expedition publications were usually sold for a profit and could contain quite exquisite artwork, photography, and/or detailed descriptions of the events of the expedition. However, due to the fact that the diaries themselves largely remained unpublished and were kept by men without much standing in society, the diarists have been overshadowed by the expedition leaders. Please see the table below for more information on how the diaries and expedition books were paired for each expedition:

The main focus of this exhibition was to explore how we can use primary resources to deepen our insight into historical events, and understand how various narratives contribute to the creation and maintenance of history. With the assistance of the Dartmouth Libraries staff, students selected items from the Stefansson Collection and other sources, wrote informative exhibit entries, and worked together to structure the overall exhibit seen here. The resulting exhibit traces how narratives from expedition crew members inform and diverge from the official published expedition account, with some analysis of the diaries themselves. Browse our class music blog to learn more about Arctic peoples through the lens of their music. Check out our previous two online exhibits on different topics in historical Arctic environmental issues.

We are so thankful for the Library's involvement in our class and this project! Explore the exhibits below:

Richard E. Byrd's Book

Thomas B. Mulroy's Diary

P.W. Johnson Diary Page of Members

Why the Arctic at Dartmouth?

This digital exhibit is a learning collaboration between the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire and “Pole to Pole,” an environmental studies course taught by Professor Ross Virginia with the assistance of Ph.D. graduate teaching assistant, Sarah Cuprewich. The course examines climate change, Indigenous peoples, and environmental issues in the Arctic through the complementary lenses of Indigenous and Western science, the histories of Western exploration and colonization, and the rapidly evolving geopolitics of the Arctic region.

Dartmouth has a long and rich history in interdisciplinary Arctic Studies. Since it's founding in 1989, the Institute of Arctic Studies, housed within the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, has been engaging in world-class scholarship and education. Furthermore, the Rauner Library houses the Stefansson Collection on Polar Exploration, founded as the private research collection of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), who spent his later years at Dartmouth College during the 1950’s until his passing in 1962. The Stefansson Collection, one of the world’s richest bodies of printed materials, journals, newspaper clippings, and photographs related to the Polar regions, served as the foundation for the course project.

Land recognition

We recognize and acknowledge that the land on which we call Dartmouth is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people and the Wabenaki confederacy prior to their forced removal. These lands continue to carry the stories of these Nations and their struggles for survival and identity. We honor and respect the many diverse Indigenous peoples still connected to this land on which we gather for our work and learning.

Acknowledgements

This project would not have been possible without the expert guidance and individual student mentoring provided by Dr. Jay Satterfield (Head of Special Collections, Rauner Library), Dr. Laura Braunstein (Head of Digital Scholarly Engagement, Dartmouth Library), Daniel Lin (Edward Connery Lathem ’51 Digital Library Fellow), and Samara Cary (Digital Project Specialist, Dartmouth Library). Collectively they devoted many hours working with students and their research groups to discover sources, focus concepts, and mentor the design and content of this exhibit.

Students: Ellie Appelgren, Maya Beauvineau, Amaya Bonn, Michael Bornstein, Joshua Brant, Abigail Burgess, Samara Cohen, Cassie Depner, Jasmine Drolet, Aran Flaherty, Grey Graham, Alexander Gu, Manu Gupta, Megan Hagge, Lia Hansen, Justin Jin, Claire Kovac, Kaleigh Krause, Josephine Lee, Daniel Lustbader, Jonas McGrath, Grace McInerney, Ethan McNab, Hayden Miller, Kenny Mok, Lane Murray, Eiha Patnaik, Everett Rattray, Ella Reed, Maya Resnick, Karis Short, Grace Silverman, Isabelle Sullivan-Rackliff, Gisele Todd, Gisele Todd, Charles Tracy, Erika Wu

Students with our polar feast

Professor Virginia with our polar feast

Polar feast