- John Field to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 29 December 1950, Box 71, Folder 13, Correspondence F,1949 Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
This letter is from John Field, head of Biology Branch at the United States Office of Naval Research, to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, on December 29, 1950. Field states that while the encyclopedia “may be pursued independently upon fulfilling security and contract requirements,” (a phrase underlined twice by Stefansson in the original text) 1951 would be the terminal year of monetary support from the Navy for the project. From this singular two-paged item tucked away in the Rauner Library, researchers discover the beginning of a sequence of events cascading into Stefansson’s outright failure to publish the Encyclopedia Arctica.
2. Richard Byrd to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, January and March 1951, Box 75, Folder 12, Correspondence B,1951 Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
The next important written correspondence is between another officer of the Navy, Richard Byrd, and Stefansson, dated January and March, 1951. These letters discuss the rationale behind the Office of Naval Research’s funding cut of the Encyclopedia Arctica. In early 1951, Stefansson is naively optimistic and believes he is in the early stages of the Encyclopedia. However, he failed to realize that his work up to that date had not lived up to the Office of Naval Research’s expectations. It is far too expensive, and is taking too long to complete due to Stefansson’s personal hubris. The letter shows Stefansson’s often-forgotten human side; he has friends, family, and relationships and makes large human mistakes.
3. Memo from Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 25 September 1953, Box 78, Folder 15, Correspondence: Arctic Institute of North America, 1953. Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
In spite of these setbacks, Stefansson doesn’t give up his hopes for completing and publishing the Encyclopedia Arctica. The memorandum pictured above, written on September 25th, 1953, by Vilhjalmur Stefansson signifies a moment of optimism in a decade of cyclical hope and despair. In the memo, he outlines a publication plan for the Encyclopedia Arctica in collaboration with the Arctic Institute of North America, though the plan never comes to fruition. The information in the memo is based off a letter from Dr. Robert C. Wallace, Executive Director of the AINA, to Stefansson from a week earlier.
4. Vilhjalmur Stefansson to Ash McKinley, 1 December 1955, Box 82, Folder 16, Correspondence: Stefansson Library, Dartmouth College, 1955. Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
This correspondence between Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Ash McKinley from December 1, 1955, addresses the independent publication of select articles from the Encyclopedia Arctica. McKinley, the Technical Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations for Polar Projects, requests three items of “unusual military value” from Stefansson, which they are still interested in publishing despite the Encyclopedia’s funding termination. This request reveals that the Navy valued information from the Encyclopedia, and were forced to terminate the project mainly because of cost. While the Encyclopedia Arctica was never published, independent publication of individual articles helped Stefansson achieve his ultimate goal of dissemination of Arctic information.