Collection Guide
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Capricorn Expedition Photographs Collection
SAC 0023
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Capricorn Expedition Photographs Collection
Identifier/Call Number: SAC 0023
Physical Description:
2.75 Linear feet
(6 archives boxes and 2 card file boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1952-1953
Abstract: The Capricorn Expedition Photographs Collection consists of prints, negatives, and slides documenting the 1952-53 scientific
expedition, including images of ships, Pacific Islands and atolls, scientists and crew, and equipment.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Capricorn Expedition Photographs Collection consists of prints, negatives, and slides documenting the joint University
of California and US Navy scientific expedition completed between 1952 and 1953. Images were taken by professional photographers
employed by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, including John MacFall from the SIO Photographic Laboratory.
Subjects include: R/V
Spencer F. Baird and R/V
Horizon; Pacific Islands and atolls (including the Marshall Islands, Alexa Bank, Palmerston Island, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, and the
Hawaiian Islands); scientists and crew members; oceanographic equipment (including core barrel, temperature probe, ball breaker,
and A-frame); diving and underwater images; seascapes; and Pacific Islanders.
Materials have been arranged by format (prints, negatives, and slides). Prints and negatives correspond to an original index
number sequence. The prints represent the most complete set of images, with over 510 unique photographs. There are approximately
480 negatives in the collection, and the majority having a matching print. However, there are a few images available only
as a negative (index numbers: 12, 41, 95, 166, 178, 204, 1396, and 1721). In addition to the prints and negatives, the collection
contains 96 slides. Although the slides are sequentially numbered, the slide numbers do not correlate to the main index, which
is exclusive to the prints and negatives.
The index is available for keyword searching as the first object in the collection; additionally, approximately two thirds
of the images have been digitized.
The Capricorn Expedition (1952-1953) was conducted as part of a series of oceanic expeditions sponsored by the Department
of the Navy and the University of California. Two Scripps Institution of Oceanography ships, R/V
Horizon and R/V
Spencer F. Baird, were used. The Capricorn Expedition was the first Scripps expedition to include the use of scuba divers to explore the Pacific.
Operation Ivy preceded the expedition.
For more information about the Capricorn Expedition (1952-1953), please see:
Shipboard Report, Capricorn Expedition 26 September 1952 – 21 February 1953
Capricorn Expedition Photographs Collection. SAC 23. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1981.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Selected materials from the collection have been digitized.
SIO Photographic Laboratory Collection, SAC 44. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
SIO Photographs Collection, SMC 59. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Helen Raitt Papers, SMC 19. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Scientific expeditions
Photographs
Photographic prints
Negatives (photographs)
Operation Ivy, Marshall Islands, 1952
Scuba divers
Capricorn Expedition (1952-1953)
Spencer F. Baird (Ship)
New Horizon (Ship)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography