Browse Items (191 total)

Extensive piece covering the return journey and discoveries of Judge Henry Cooper on his initial visit to Palmyra, after purchasing it for $750. He sailed aboard his ship the Luka, with a small crew that included the then curator of the Bishop…

This newspaper account comes from a letter, presumably written by a crew member of the USS Portsmouth while on their surveying mission. It describes several details not mentioned other places, and is one of the earliest recordings of certain bird…

Interesting and colorful article by the well known (at the time) Lorrin Thurston. Describes several methods for dealing with sharks while wading on reefs, including Palmyra.

This group of memos and letters trace the development of Executive Order 8616, which put Palmyra under the official management of the US Navy. Most date from 1939 offer a unique view into the process of how land was acquired by the military during…

Palmyra Call Sign: KP6
Operator Call Sign: K6IGP
Operator Name: Donald Richtenburg

Palmyra Call Sign:
Operator Call Sign: W7FNK
Operator Name: Jack Wheeler

As part of the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program, Research Curator Max Thompson spent 3 days on Palmyra in March of 1967, cataloguing birds with other project members.

This excerpt from his field journals described the activities and various…

These photos were taken by Corporal Roland Champlagne while he was stationed on Palmyra, during World War 2. They have been wonderfully preserved by his son, Carl, who generously shared them with us.

Our favorite is of the group playing…

This rare document was donated by the son of Corporal Roland Champagne, who was stationed on Palmyra from 1942 to 1943. He served as a clerk, but also received his drivers permit while on the atoll, so he could make deliveries around the…

Marine Corporal Champagne lived and worked on Palmyra from October of 1942 to October of 1943, during World War 2, serving primarily as a typist and clerk, though he performed other duties, as described in this excerpt from his unpublished memoirs. …