Robert Cushman Murphy was not only one of the twentieth century's great ornithologists, but also one of his field's most-ranging travelers. Visiting every continent—with the notable exclusion of Africa and the notable inclusion of Antarctica—Murphy's diaries and journals, which number at least 36 volumes, offer nearly six decades (1912-1971) of detailed observations of Australia, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. Those volumes include glimpses of the Florida everglades in the early-twentieth century ("Florida Fisheries, 1919"), post-war London ("European Trip, May - August 1950"), postcolonial India ("Around the World: A Circumnavigation"), and Antarctica in the early-1960s ("Operation Deep Freeze: Antarctic Cruise, 1960"). Although Murphy proves most adept in his observations of wild life, he also captures a sense of the people and places he encounters through the generous inclusion of ephemera such as newspaper clippings, photographs, postcards, programs, and sketches. In fact, many of his later journals more closely resemble scrapbooks than diaries. Perhaps most notably, Murphy maintains a journal related to one of the last whaling voyages by sailboat in the Atlantic, "The Way of the Sperm Whaler" (June 1912-1913). In addition to typed and handwritten entries feature with detailed technical data on processing whales at sea, Murphy includes dozens of original photos, and a wealth of ephemera, including even a piece of sperm whale skin. (The American Philosophical Society also possesses the signed publication of the journal, A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat, 1967.) Read in tandem with the Grace E. Barstow Murphy diaries (Mss.B.M957.g), researchers will discover a textured record of mid-century conservation.
 

Luna Bergere Leopold Papers contain a truly remarkable set of field notes and journals traversing some 75 years (1931-2006). The son of the famous conservationist Aldo Leopold, Luna Loeopold enjoyed a long and multidisciplinary career in his own right, contributing to the fields of meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, and conservation more broadly. The APS holds two sets of materials that provide rich, nearly daily insights into his long career: Leopold's field notebooks and personal journals. Maintained in 71 numbered volumes—101 volumes total—the field notebooks begin in 1937 and end in 2006, just a day before his death. Given the volume of material, researchers would be well-advised to us the two indices, hand-bound by Leopold, to navigate these volumes. (Thankfully, the APS finding aid is also unusually granular.) In addition to detailed field measurements, readings, and professional travels, Leopold often uses these notebooks to record personal reflections. Arguably the jewel of the collection, however, is a set of 12 large, meticulously illustrated personal journals that collect decades (1931-2003) of personal stories, work perspectives, and travelogues. These journals are so packed with photographs, illustrations (many of them quite remarkable in their draftsmanship), and other ephemera that they might be better described as ornate scrapbooks, and some items have been relocated into separate folders. Scholars new to the collection may choose to begin research with the field notebooks and personal journals by tracing Leopold's wide-ranging twentieth-century travels. In addition to decades of intensive field work in the American west, Leopold spent extensive time in Hawaii prior to statehood (1947-48), visited India shortly after Independence (1955), and conducted a 1970 worldwide trip that carried him to Kenya, Nepal, Japan, and Israel (to which he would return in 1974 and 1983).
 

The Grace E.B. Murphy Papers include two distinct sets of diaries. The first, a two-volume account of her trip to Venezuela (2/19-3/14/1952), provides detailed accounts of animals (especially birds), vegetation (including mangrove forests and mango groves), and accounts of the people, social life, and appearance of towns and cities, including Caracas. Those interested in conservation efforts might gravitate towards entries describing a visit to a jaguar hunting camp (e.g. 3/3/1952) and descriptions of the burgeoning oil industry (2/16/1952 and 3/7/1952). Entries pertaining to oil extraction are particularly noteworthy because they include on-the-ground accounts of oil wells and comparisons of U.S. foreign policy with regards to Venezuela and Iran. Researchers may find more detailed accounts in Murphy's typed notes contained in seven folders of "Vacation in Venezuela."
 
Murphy's excursion to Antarctica sprawls across four notebooks, though "No. I," which spans 1/26-2/15/1967, provides the most detailed and sequential account of her trip to Antarctica. Entries provide accounts of other travelers, social obligations, modes of transportation, scenery, wildlife (especially penguins), glaciers and icebergs, and destinations including Buenos Aires (1/26), Punta Arenas (1/28), and Antarctica (beginning 2/5). Perhaps most remarkable are Murphy's lyrical accounts of Antarctica (e.g. 2/2, 2/5, 2/6), candid reflections on her relationship with her husband, Robert (2/4, 2/8), and even her disability (1/29). (Those interested in disability studies might also reference the folders "Your Deafness is Not You," enclosed in the same box.)
 
"No. II" picks up on 2/11/1967 but continues through 3/31/1970 with some entries related to South Africa
 
while it includes several self-contained entries, most of this notebook is comprised of supplemental notes and questions. "No. III" includes still further miscellaneous notes as well as entries from the end of the Antarctic excursion, dates 2/16-21. Finally, a fourth volume, entitled "For Grace" contains accounts from 2/10, 2/15, 2/16, 2/18, and 2/19
 
however, the penmanship differs from the early notebooks and it is not immediately clear who authored these accounts. (It could very well be her husband, Robert).

Grace Murphy's diaries offer a limited but detailed account of her travels to Argentina, Antarctica, and Venezuela with her husband, Robert Cushman Murphy in six volumes chronicling the years 1952 and 1967-70. These notebooks ought to interest researchers examining mid-century conservation, disability studies (particular the deaf), excursions to Antarctica, Venezuela under military dictatorship, and the career of Robert Cushman Murphy (whose papers are also available at the American Philosophical Society).
 
The Grace E.B. Murphy Papers include two distinct sets of diaries. The first, a two-volume account of her trip to Venezuela (2/19-3/14/1952), provides detailed accounts of animals (especially birds), vegetation (including mangrove forests and mango groves), and accounts of the people, social life, and appearance of towns and cities, including Caracas. Those interested in conservation efforts might gravitate towards entries describing a visit to a jaguar hunting camp (e.g. 3/3/1952) and descriptions of the burgeoning oil industry (2/16/1952 and 3/7/1952). Entries pertaining to oil extraction are particularly noteworthy because they include on-the-ground accounts of oil wells and comparisons of U.S. foreign policy with regards to Venezuela and Iran. Researchers may find more detailed accounts in Murphy's typed notes contained in seven folders of "Vacation in Venezuela."
 
Murphy's excursion to Antarctica sprawls across four notebooks, though "No. I," which spans 1/26-2/15/1967, provides the most detailed and sequential account of her trip to Antarctica. Entries provide accounts of other travelers, social obligations, modes of transportation, scenery, wildlife (especially penguins), glaciers and icebergs, and destinations including Buenos Aires (1/26), Punta Arenas (1/28), and Antarctica (beginning 2/5). Perhaps most remarkable are Murphy's lyrical accounts of Antarctica (e.g. 2/2, 2/5, 2/6), candid reflections on her relationship with her husband, Robert (2/4, 2/8), and even her disability (1/29). (Those interested in disability studies might also reference the folders "Your Deafness is Not You," enclosed in the same box.)
 
"No. II" picks up on 2/11/1967 but continues through 3/31/1970 with some entries related to South Africa
 
while it includes several self-contained entries, most of this notebook is comprised of supplemental notes and questions. "No. III" includes still further miscellaneous notes as well as entries from the end of the Antarctic excursion, dates 2/16-21. Finally, a fourth volume, entitled "For Grace" contains accounts from 2/10, 2/15, 2/16, 2/18, and 2/19
 
however, the penmanship differs from the early notebooks and it is not immediately clear who authored these accounts. (It could very well be her husband, Robert).