Cathy Hunter
Escape From Vietnam
Posted by Cathy Hunter on April 30, 2013 
On April 30, 1975, the Vietnam War officially ended with the fall of Saigon to Communist forces. Many Vietnamese fled their country, including one Special Forces officer who painstakingly planned his escape and paid $200 on the black market for a copy of a March 1971 National Geographic map to guide him.
Knowing your place in the pecking order
Posted by Cathy Hunter on February 22, 2013 Despite a reputation for being cooperative, one researcher has noted that female elephants observe a strict hierarchy at the watering hole. Working in Namibia’s Etosha National Park, Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell has been studying different elephant families trying to make sense of the complex relations. For all the latest science news, check out our twice-weekly news rundown,…
A Toast to Our Founders on the Occasion of the Society’s Quasquicentennial
Posted by Cathy Hunter on January 11, 2013 From the top of Mount Everest to the depths of the sea, from the world beneath the microscope to the stars in distant galaxies, the National Geographic Society has reported on “the world and all that is in it” for 125 years. On January 13, 1888, thirty-three men attended a meeting to discuss the “advisability of organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge,” and voted to set up such an organization.
George Melville: A Survivor, A Rescuer, A National Geographic Founder
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 28, 2012 
In 1879, National Geographic founder George Melville boarded a ship called the Jeannette for what would become one of the epic stories in early American Arctic exploration. The men on the expedition hoped to find a warm current that might take them to the North Pole; instead the ship was caught in the polar ice pack and drifted nearly two years before it was crushed.
Winfield Scott Schley: A Hero, But Not Without Controversy
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 20, 2012 
As a U. S. Navy commander, National Geographic founder Winfield Scott Schley performed several daring feats, including the rescue of fellow National Geographic founder Adolphus W. Greely after Greely and his men became stranded in the Arctic during their disastrous 1881 expedition. But Schley’s conduct in battle left some critics questioning his judgment, calling him not brave, but impetuous.
What lies beneath the streets of Moscow
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 19, 2012 
Since the end of the Soviet era, archaeologists have unearthed a treasure trove of information on the mysteries beneath Moscow’s streets.
The Perils of Early Arctic Exploration
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 14, 2012 
National Geographic founder A.W. Greely’s expedition to Lady Franklin Bay in 1881 tragically demonstrated the hardships and deadliness of attempts to explore the Arctic. Despite his many other achievements — including leading the relief efforts after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake — his reputation would forever be tainted.
So That We May All Know More Of The World Upon Which We Live…
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 7, 2012 
National Geographic founder Gardiner Greene Hubbard was not a scientist, but he was a forward-thinking man in a still-young country brimming over with promise and a belief in the marvels of the industrial age. When he met Alexander Graham Bell, something new and bold was bound to result.
A Gallant Gentleman, an Ideal Friend
Posted by Cathy Hunter on November 30, 2012 
Otto Tittmann may be one of National Geographic’s lesser-known founders, but his contributions to the Society were held in high regard. So much so that Gilbert H. Grosvenor pulled strings to get a relief bill from Congress that paid Tittmann $150 per month for the rest of his life. Grosvenor told him: “It is not possible to measure the benefits conferred on The Society by your faith in the purposes of The Society and your wise counsels given these forty-seven years without remuneration.”
Lighting the Way
Posted by Cathy Hunter on November 21, 2012 
One of National Geographic’s least-known founders, Herbert Gouverneur Ogden was long associated with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Over the course of his career he compiled several U.S. Coast Pilots for the Atlantic, providing lists of lighthouses, fog signals, and information regarding tides.
Setting a Precedent for the Story of the Perfect Storm
Posted by Cathy Hunter on November 16, 2012 
From its earliest days, the National Geographic magazine has covered earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and all manner of violent weather. It was National Geographic founder Edward Everett Hayden who set the tone for these dramatic stories with his riveting account of a storm that sunk 185 vessels on the east coast of the U.S. in 1888.
James Howard Gore: Master of the Mathematics of the Earth
Posted by Cathy Hunter on November 8, 2012 
National Geographic founder J. Howard Gore liked to keep busy. He was a man of many talents, including geography, astronomy and geodesy. (That last one, in case you were wondering, is defined as “using mathematics to determine exact positions of points and the figures and areas of large portions of the earth’s surface.”) He was also a man with literary connections. His mother happened to be a great-aunt of the novelist Willa Cather and appeared as the abolitionist Mrs. Bywaters in the novel, Sapphira.
In the Field with Plane Table and Horse…
Posted by Cathy Hunter on November 2, 2012 
National Geographic founder Willard Drake Johnson learned from the best, assisting the famous geologist Grove Karl Gilbert on his Lake Bonneville research when only 19 years old. Johnson was so enthralled by drama of the natural world that he once wrote fan mail to John Muir, telling him that if he (Muir) were to write a popular physical geography book it would “usurp the place of the novel in the public library.”
The National Geographic’s Society’s First Expedition Leader
Posted by Cathy Hunter on October 4, 2012 
He wrote engagingly of his many expeditions to the American West–from the otherworldly realm of California’s Mono Lake with its strange tufa formations to the majesty of Alaska’s Mt. St. Elias. But apart from the scientific writings he left behind, the rest of his life remained somewhat hidden from view. Although he was a National Geographic Society founder, he was not prominent in its early activities–with one very important exception. Israel Russell led the first scientific field expedition in National Geographic history.
Clinton Hart Merriam: From Teenage Taxidermist to National Geographic Founder
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 27, 2012 
Biology was a passion of National Geographic founder Clinton Hart Merriam from an early age. One of his early taxidermy specimens was, unfortunately, his sister Florence’s pet cat. But the rifle-toting, teenage naturalist grew up into a well-respected scientist who carried out fieldwork well into his eighties. His colleagues considered him “a splendid fellow” to camp with despite his tendency for serving questionable meals consisting of eagle (his favorite), wildcat, and skunk.
George Kennan: An Investigative Reporter Who Helped Found the National Geographic Society
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 21, 2012 
Asked once where he was educated, George Kennan supposedly replied, “Russia.” That one word sufficed, for he was not quite 20 years old when he decided to make his first journey there, a journey that resulted in his first book, in a series of difficult assignments in dangerous places, and in his being a founder of the National Geographic Society. From the horrors of the Russian prison system to the volcanic destruction of Martinique, Kennan was one of the pre-eminent globetrotting journalists of his day–one who wrote with such authority that his words have had far-reaching impact.
Killer Whale Moms and Menopause
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 20, 2012 
Despite their fearsome moniker, it turns out that male killer whales are mama’s boys who have a hard time surviving on their own. Scientists think that’s one of the reasons the female of the species go through an unusually long menopause.
Grove Karl Gilbert, “A Captain Bold”
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 14, 2012 
Grove Karl Gilbert was considered by his own and future generations to be the greatest of all American geologists, and “a captain bold,” according to Australian geologist E.C. Andrews. But his contributions went beyond field geology. He was the first scientist to hypothesize that the moon’s craters were caused by meteor strikes. (History proved him right.) And in 1888, he helped found the National Geographic Society…
Clarence Dutton: Poet of the Grand Canyon
Posted by Cathy Hunter on September 6, 2012 
Clarence Dutton was chairman of the now-historic meeting on January 13, 1888, when 33 men agreed to found a geographical society. He was also chairman the following week, when an even larger crowd voted to formalize it as the National Geographic Society. But as the years have passed, Captain Clarence Dutton has slipped from memory. He deserves better. Dutton was a complex mixture — a soldier, geologist, and poet — and his mind and character reflects the judgment he himself passed on the Grand Canyon: that it “first bewilders, and at length overpowers.”
A Smithsonian Man Who Helped Found the National Geographic Society
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 30, 2012 
George Brown Goode seemed destined for scientific greatness — either as Secretary of the Smithsonian or as president of the National Geographic Society. An untimely death at the age of 45 kept him from fulfilling these expectations. Nevertheless, the National Geographic founder had a list of accomplishments that would have been impressive for a man twice his age, and he played a crucial role in helping the nation’s capital to become a magnet for scientists and intellectuals in the years leading up to the 20th century.
John Russell Bartlett: An Admiral Turned Oceanographer
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 23, 2012 
National Geographic founder John Russell Bartlett began his lifelong career as a naval officer when he was ordered into service at the beginning of the Civil War. But his legacy ended up being less military and more scientific. Accurate high-density soundings taken by his ship lead to the first modern bathymetric map, and the Bartlett Deep was named in his honor, a tribute to the man who had sounded its deepest depths.
Traveling the World to Study Its Waters
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 17, 2012 
For being related to such a famous character as John Wesley Powell, National Geographic founder Arthur Powell Davis has proven somewhat of an elusive figure. A dedicated scientist, Davis made his career where hydrography and civil engineering meet, and his ability and expertise carried him to many different countries around the globe.
A New World for Tolkien
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 16, 2012 
J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is one of the latest from the world of fine arts to be commemorated with his own crater on Mercury. He keeps good company with the likes of Prokofiev, Goethe, and Mendelssohn.
Gilbert Thompson, Lying Bob, and the Ballad of Croppy the Mule
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 9, 2012 
When National Geographic founder Gilbert Thompson enlisted in the Union Army, a clerical error identified him as a painter instead of a printer. The typo proved to be serendipitous, leading to his work as an engineer, then a cartographer, and then on to a lifetime of adventures as he explored and surveyed the western United States.
The Story of the National Geographic Society’s Youngest Founder
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 3, 2012 
Robert Muldrow II, a geologist, was the youngest man among the National Geographic Society’s founders. He won long-lasting fame (of a sort) by having a glacier named after him. In the 1890s, he was one of the earliest explorers of Mt. McKinley–now Denali–in Alaska.
