Wilkins, Sir George Hubert; Explorer. Portraits.

Description:
Portrait of Australian explorer George H. Wilkins. "War correspondent and photographer, polar explorer, naturalist, geographer, climatologist and aviator, was born on 31 October 1888 at Mount Bryan East, South Australia, thirteenth child of Henry Wilkins, farmer, and his wife Louisa, née Smith. As a child, George experienced the devastation caused by drought and developed an interest in climatic phenomena. Reared as a Methodist, he studied engineering part time at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries, then pursued interests in photography and cinematography in Adelaide and Sydney ... When a projected Antarctic expedition failed through lack of funds in 1926, he began a programme of Arctic exploration by air. The enterprise culminated in his great feat of air navigation: in April 1928, with Carl Ben Eielson as pilot, he flew from Point Barrow, Alaska, United States of America, eastward over the Arctic Sea to Spitsbergen (Svalbard), Norway. He was knighted in June, and awarded the Patron's medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London and the Samuel Finley Breese Morse medal of the American Geographical Society," from the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online.
Notes:
Collection located at the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. To schedule an appointment to view the original image, order high resolution copies, or seek permission to use an image, contact the Walter P. Reuther Library AudioVisual Department at reutherreference@wayne.edu., Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, and This metadata was created by Wayne State University Library system based on original description by the Walter P. Reuther Library
Date Issued:
1926-07-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:
Wayne State University. Libraries and Walter P. Reuther Library
Collection:
Virtual Motor City
Subject Topic:
Sir, Explorers, and Portraits
Subject Name:
Wilkins, George H. and (George Hubert)
Format:
photographs
Rights:
Copyright Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University
URL:
http://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:vmc12035