Richard Archbold

Richard Archbold (born April 9, 1907 in New York City , † August 1, 1976 in Lake Placid , Florida ) was an American zoologist , pilot and philanthropist .

Life

His father, John Foster Archbold (1877–1930), traveled to Asia for the Standard Oil Company to explore possible oil deposits and to develop business relationships. His grandfather, John Dustin Archbold , had already worked for John D. Rockefeller as President of Standard Oil . Richard grew up in a wealthy family and was able to use his share of the family property to fund biological expeditions in series. From 1929 to 1939 he carried out four expeditions in Madagascar and New Guinea . He was also the founder and patron of the Archbold Biological Station in Florida. In 1929 he became a member of the Explorers Club in New York.

French-British-American Zoological Expedition to Madagascar (1929–1931)

For 1928, the French-born US ornithologist Jean T. Delacour planned an expedition to Madagascar. From the American side, funding for the implementation by Richard's father had been promised, on the condition that his son could participate in the expedition in cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History . Archbold was then made responsible for the research and collection of mammals in Madagascar. He met the zoologist (ornithologist) Austin L. Rand , with whom a fruitful collaboration and lifelong friendship developed.

New Guinea Expeditions (1933 / 1934-1936 / 1937-1938 / 1939)

In the 1930s, the German biologist (ornithologist) Ernst Walter Mayr encouraged the young Archbold to embark on a series of expeditions to New Guinea that were highly complex for the time. As a zoologist, Austin L. Rand was again the main responsibility; as botanist Leonard John Brass . The first of the three expeditions in New Guinea led in the years 1933–1934 to the southeast of the island. It covered a district that covered altitudes ranging from lowlands at sea level to high mountain vegetation. Equipped with conventional equipment, the logistical difficulties encountered prompted thought about the use of airplanes and radios. Within a year from the beginning of 1936 to 1937, the second expedition of the southern part of Papua New Guinea took on. The researchers mainly explored the area around the regional capital Daru . The Fly , the second longest river on the island, and the estuary of the Wassi Kussa River were of particular interest to the researchers. Radio and a flying boat (Fairchild 91), which ultimately fell victim to a tropical storm , have already been used here. In 1938, what was probably the most ambitious expedition to northern New Guinea started for a year, where collections (flora and fauna) were carried out from the plains to over 4000 m altitude. For the first time, a Catalina sea reconnaissance aircraft was used, which ensured the supply organization as well as the transport of heavy photo equipment. On the occasion of an aerial reconnaissance flight, in the presence of Archbold, the pilot was allowed to make an outstanding discovery, that of the Baliem Valley , which is still home to indigenous peoples such as the Dani , Yali or Lani .

The pilot

Archbold's "Kono"

Archbold had a pilot's license and owned some aircraft, e.g. B.

• a Beechcraft (model unknown)
• a Fairchild High-Speed ​​Amphibian A-942-B flying boat “Kono,” Services, which he used on his second expedition to New Guinea
• a Catalina PBY-1, “Guba” used on his third New Guinea expedition in 1938, with Stephen J. Barinka as co-pilot
• a single-engine Fleetwings Seabird (November 1939);
• his last aircraft was a Grumman Widgeon G-44.

Archbold set the following records:

• 1937: With the Guba 1 he carried out the first transcontinental flight of a seaplane (San Diego to New York City, June 24-25, 1937) and repeated a flight from San Diego to Miami in February 1938 in the Guba 2.
• 1938: Take off and land with the Guba 2 from Lake Habbema in West Papua New Guinea. The lake is 3225 m high and was the highest point a seaplane had ever taken off and landed from.
• 1938–1939: With the Guba 2 he completes the first flight “around the world”, i. H. a) the first flight over Australia with a seaplane b) the first flight over the Indian Ocean and c) the first flight over equatorial Africa.

The Russian government offered Archbold $ 230,000 for his Guba 1 to begin the search for their Arctic expedition, which was missing. However, the company was unsuccessful. In late 1937, the Guba - now registered as L-2 - was flown to New York, dismantled and shipped to the Soviet Union. His Guba 2, 1937-1939, he sold in September 1940 to the British Government for military service with the RAF Coastal Command .

From 1941–42, Archbold worked with nautical equipment manufacturer Frederick Hayes Hagner of San Antonio, Texas on the development of a sextant for aircraft.

Archbold Biological Station

Donald Roebling, son of John A. Roebling II and school friend of Richard Archbold, simplified the gift of his father's Red Hill Estate to Richard Archbold in 1941. Since Archbold was unable to carry out another expedition to New Guinea because of the outbreak of the Pacific War , he decided to go on a six-month expedition to southeastern Arizona to collect “facts instead of species”. Here his idea of ​​the need for a permanent station for field work was reinforced. By chance he met Donald Roebling afterwards in New York and told him about his plans to offer his research associates a job during this time so that they could stay with him. Roebling remembered his father's wish to bequeath his Red Hill Estate to a charitable organization and told him about it. Archbold visited the country estate and saw its potential for a biological station. Donald Roebling became a key figure in the birth of Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. On July 21, 1941, John A. Roebling and his second wife, Helen Price Roebling, donated 1,058 acres to the Archbold Expeditions as a "totally unqualified and unlimited gift." Thanks to this remarkable gift from Red Hill Estate, Richard Archbold established and maintained a biological field station where scientists could conduct their research into the ecology of native flora and fauna of central Florida. The institute served in particular field research and teaching.

Archbold financed further trips to New Guinea after the war, but personally did not participate in any more.

Richard's brother Adrian Archbold (1909–1974) worked from 1937 to 1974 as treasurer for the Archbold Expeditions (formerly Biological Explorations), the company Richard founded to fund his ventures. Adrian was responsible for the financial investments that should make the expeditions possible, as well as for the salaries and necessary expenses of the Archbold Biological Station.

Richard now lived in this station, where he also died on August 1, 1976. He was buried in the Archbold family mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown , New York.

Dedication names

The name of the plant Hoya archboldiana , which is native to the rainforests of the lowlands of New Guinea, goes back to Richard Archbold .

Web links

• Literature by and about Richard Archbold in the WorldCat bibliographic database
• The Red Hill Estate (1929-1941) / Archbold Biological Station (founded 1941), as a part of the Historical Legacy of the Roebling and Archbold Families

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fairchild Seaplane ( Memento from August 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Hubert Wilkins
3. ^ New Sextant developed for aviation use

literature

• R. Archbold, AL Rand: Summary of the 1933-1934 Papuan Expedition . (= Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 7. = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 68, 8). 1935, pp. 527-579.
• Austin L. Rand: Summary of the 1936-1937 New Guinea Expedition . (= Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 29. = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 77, 7). 1940, pp. 341-380.
• R. Archbold, AL Rand, LJ Brass: Summary of the 1938-1939 New Guinea Expedition . (= Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 41. = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 79, 3). 1942, pp. 197-288.
• R. Morse: Richard Archbold and the Archbold Biological Station. University Press of Florida, Gainesville 2000, ISBN 0-8130-1761-0 .
• AL Rand: Obituary: Richard Archbold, 1907–1976. In: Auk. Volume 94, 1977, pp. 186-187.