Australian Sir Hubert Wilkins was a polar explorer, pioneer aviator and photographer. He is remembered for being the first man to fly an airplane across the Arctic Ocean, the first to fly in the Antarctic and the first man to take a submarine under the Arctic ice. Other notable achievements in his life include travelling with Sir Ernest Shackleton on the Quest, working as an official photographer at the Western Front in World War I, and being a member of the Canadian Arctic Expedition. Throughout his life, Wilkins photographed all his exploits and kept his correspondence, records and artifacts. At the time of his death in Pennsylvania in 1958, his lifetime collection was enormous. Unfortunately, after his death, his collection was split up, sold, kept secret, or in some cases destroyed. In this Collection Talk, Polar Archivist Laura Kissel will lead a panel discussion that reveals how the Wilkins Collection was gathered from various sources over a 35 year period, to be archived at The Ohio State University.
A short video about the life of Sir Hubert Wilkins, and the fate of his collection is available here. Watching the video in advance and coming to the March 10 event with questions is strongly encouraged.
Meet The Panelists
Paul Rodzianko
Paul is a senior international business executive currently residing in Tbilisi, Georgia. Over his career, he has been involved in a many cultural and charitable organizations. He is a long-standing Fellow of The Explorers Club, and the Royal Geographic Society. In his travels to the polar regions he learned about George Wilkins. As a result, in 1980, he became involved with the unsuccessful start-up of the Wilkins Memorial Foundation with Winston and Marley Ross, who had inherited Wilkins’ collection from Wilkins’ wife, Suzanne. On the Foundation’s liquidation Paul was instrumental is having a large part of the Wilkins material transferred to the Polar Archives at The Ohio State University.
Jeff Maynard
Jeff is an Australian author who has researched and written about Sir Hubert Wilkins for 25 years. He has located Wilkins’ material in museums and private collections around the world. He worked with the Polar Archives on a number of occasions to assist substantial collections of Wilkins’ material be transferred to OSU, where they can be preserved and made available for researchers. Jeff’s latest book is The Illustrated Sir Hubert Wilkins. www.netfieldpublishing.com.au
Bob Mayer
Bob is a retired electrical engineer who designed controls for marine and offshore machinery at Western Gear Corp and then was an Associate Technical Fellow on Boeing Company 747 and 787 programs. He became interested in Sir Hubert Wilkins in 2009 and now collects news photos, postal covers, and other papers and artefacts associated with the explorer. Bob researches newspaper archives and writes articles related to Wilkins for HistoryLink.org.
Laura Kissel
Laura has been the Polar Curator for the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program (Polar Archives) since 1996. Her work includes assisting the many researchers, scholars and students who contact the Archives to gain access to the historical collections that document the history of polar exploration. Laura works closely with the Education and Outreach team at the Byrd Center to facilitate public programs and other educational events that highlight our collections.
