New Harvard OCP website

OIS has announced the launch of a new OCP project: Expeditions and Discoveries: Sponsored Exploration and Scientific Discovery in the Modern Age.

The collection showcases maps, published materials, photographs, letters, field notes, and manuscripts related to expeditions undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, in which "Harvard University played a significant role -- as underwriter, participant, collector, and repository."

South America, the Pacific islands, and East Asia figure prominently. In addition, there are extensive materials from George Reisner's excavation of Samaria (the capital of the ancient kingdom of Israel), 1908-1910.

The site's main page suggests covers explorations and discoveries 1626-1953, but the earliest materials I was able to find are digitized accounts of Captain Cook's travels. Perhaps the site is intended to grow.

I've also added a link to our delicious account.

Visual images treasure trove!

Google has digitized the photo archives of Life Magazine , back as far as the 1850s (at least as far as I can tell. According to the host page, most of the images were never published and are thus being made widely available for the first time with this project.

Google tip from the same page: add "source:life" to a search to access images from the Life photo archive.


Note: Check out this photo.
and this photo
and this photo
and this photo
and this photo
or just search harvard library