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Walter B. Beals album on Roald Amundsen, 1906-1929
Overview of the Collection
- Compiler
- Beals, Walter B.
- Title
- Walter B. Beals album on Roald Amundsen
- Dates
- 1906-1929 (inclusive)19061929
- Quantity
- 16 photographs in 1 album ( 1 box) ; 13 x 16 inches
- Collection Number
- PH0782
- Summary
- Hand made album of photographs of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Walter Burges Beals was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1876. Beals's family traveled west in 1897, and Beals enrolled in the newly founded University of Washington Law School; he and his future wife Othilia Carroll were members of the first graduating class of the school in 1901.
Beals served as a military officer in France during World War I and afterwards helped organize and found the American Legion. His legal career flourished in the 1920s, and in 1926, he accepted a position as judge of the Superior Court of King County. Beals became a member of the Washington State Supreme Court in 1928, a position he held until his retirement in 1950, twice holding the position of Chief Justice. Beals is perhaps best known for his work, in 1946-1947, as Presiding Judge at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremburg, the Nazi war trial known as the "Doctors' Trial."
Walter Beals was an avid collector of books, manuscripts, such as liturgical and religious manuscripts, and signatures, particularly those of European royalty. Beals also began creating albums as a young man, a hobby he continued throughout his life, collecting and soliciting signatures, manuscripts and other materials which he would mount on paper or vellum and bind into albums, often with leather covers. In his time, Beals was considered the greatest private collector of manuscripts and books in the Pacific Northwest.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The album consists of 16 photographs, one letter and one essay mounted on hand made paper and bound inside leather covers. The albums also contains an insert of treated airplane linen, possibly from one of Amundsen's aircraft. Some of the photographs are accompanied by captions typed on separate pieces of paper and glued into the album. Several of the photographs were taken by the Lomen Bros. studio or by Carl J. Lomen. The photographs are dated between 1906 and 1929.
All but one of the photographs depict polar explorer Roald Amundsen, or one of his means of travel, including the airship Norge , with which Amundsen flew over the North Pole on his way from Svalbard to Alaska in 1926, and the sailing ships Gjoa , with which Amundsen became the first man to sail through the Northwest Passage, and the Maud . The album also includes photographs of Amundsen with others, particularly with members of the Lomen family, including Judge G.J. Lomen, his wife Julie Joys Lomen, his sons, Carl Joys, Harry, George and Ralph, and his daughter Helen. The album also includes a letter from Amundsen to "Consul Lomen" (probably Judge G.J. Lomen) and a essay by 16-year-old Rose Mary Lomen.
The album also includes one photograph of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, with a personal inscription to Beal and his wife.
The last page of the album bears the inscription "Gualterus fecit Anno XLIII." With "Gualterus" the Latin form of Walter, this is probably the date Beals completed the album, 1943.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
View selections from the collection in digital format.
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
The album was probably received among donations of Beals' papers made by Mrs. Walter Beals in the 1960s.
Processing Note
Processed by Jody Hendrickson; processing completed in 2008.
Mylar sheets were inserted to separate leather covers and treated linen inserts from album pages.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Page | item | ||
1 | 1 |
Airship Norge landing at Teller, Alaska Roald Amundsen flew in the
Norge over the North Pole
|
1926 |
2 | 2a |
Ship Gjoa
near Nome C.J. Lomen (photographer)
|
September 2, 1906 |
2 | 2b | Ship Maud | circa 1920 |
2 | 2c |
Ship Maud
near Nome Lomen Bros (photographer)
|
1920 |
3 | 3 | Letter from Roald Amundsen to "Consul Lomen" | October 5, 1926 |
4 | 4 |
Portrait of Roald Amundsen in fur lined
parka Lomen Bros (photographer)
This studio portrait is printed on paper with Arctic themed pen
and ink drawings printed in the margins and is autographed by Amundsen.
|
circa 1920s |
5 | 5 |
Portrait of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur
Stefansson Inscribed "For Judge and Mrs. Walter Burgess [sic] Beals reminding
them of the 1901 looks of their friend Viljalmur Stefansson, Christmas
1940."
|
December 1920 |
6 | 6 |
Portrait of Roald Amundsen Lomen Bros (photographer)
Autographed
|
1920 |
7 | 7 |
Portrait of Roald Amundsen
standing Lomen Bros (photographer)
Autographed
|
1920 |
8 | 8a |
Amundsen writing at table "Amundsen wintering at Wainwright, Alaska preparatory to intended
flight, Alaska to Spitzbergen. A crash of the plane prevented the flight."
|
circa 1920s |
8 | 8b |
Amundsen, Carl J. Lomen and Captain Oscar
Wisting, Nome "At Nome, following the completion of the Northwest Passage in the
Maud."
|
1926 |
8 | 8c | Roald Amundsen with dog sled at Nome | circa 1920s |
9 | 9 |
G.J. and Ralph Lomen and Roald Amundsen
on beach in Nome "Judge Lomen and his son Ralph meeting Roald Amundsen when he
landed on the beach at Nome, coming from Teller, Alaska, where he first stopped
following his flight across the North Pole in the 'Norge'."
|
circa 1926 |
10 | 10a |
Amundsen and others in horse-drawn cart
in Nome Lomen Bros (photographer)
"At Nome, following the completion of the Northwest Passage in the
"Gjoa." Mrs. G.J. Lomen, front seat. Second seat, Roald Amundsen and Lieutenant
Hansen, second in command of the "Gjoa." Rear seat, Helen Lomen (Mrs. Clinton
Austin), Mrs. R. T. Tyng (wife of the consul of Norway) and Mr. Bolander, of
Chicago."
|
September 2, 1906 |
10 | 10b | Amundsen and pilot near plane on beach, Wainwright, Alaska | circa 1920s |
11 | 11a |
Men on deck of the Gjoa in Nome C.J. Lomen (photographer)
"Ralph Lomen, lower of the two men in the rigging at left. Harry
Lomen, standing at left of mast. George Lomen, second of the three men at
left."
|
September 1, 1906 |
11 | 11b | Amundsen and Leonhard Seppala with dog team on trial near Nome | 1923 |
12 | 12 | Essay about Roald Amundsen by 16 year old Rose Mary Lomen | May 1929 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Airships--Alaska--Photographs
- Sailing ships--Alaska--Photographs
- Seaplanes--Alaska--Photographs
- Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Personal Names
- Amundsen, Roald, 1872-1928--Photographs
- Stefansson, Vilhjalmur, 1879-1962--Photographs
Geographical Names
- Nome (Alaska)--20th century--Photographs
Other Creators
-
Corporate Names
- Lomen Bros (creator)