Browse Items (121 total)

This shorter but detailed article covers some interesting topics of Palmyra's history up to that point, including the possible treasure buried there, the disputes over ownership, and a mention of a possible Jack London story based on Palmyra.

The…

This image, taken from a newspaper article briefly detailing Cooper sailing to Palmyra to look for buried treasure, shows the judge at the helm. The quality is low, but the image striking in its very intimate portrayal of the first man to wholly…

This brief article described the historically significant but not quite exciting (at the time at least) acquisition of Palmyra as a Hawaiian possession. The original written report of Captain Zenas Bent is included, describing how he left a flag, a…

These sketches show the proposed locations for various buildings and structures around the atoll, mostly on Cooper Island where the main operations were located. Various memos around this same time describe the minor changes made as these sketches…

This document gives an extensive inventory of the facilities and staff during the naval occupation of World War 2. This includes everything from vehicles, to fuel, to leisure sports equipment, to small fire arms.

This inventory was taken near the…

This lengthy article (only the excerpt describing Palmyra has been transcribed), describes the search by the crew of the steam C.R. Bishop for the lost ship Lady Lampson and her crew.

They visited several islands and atolls in the Pacific, but…

This brief article gives a very good, concise account of the Esperanza legend, and offers plausible dates for the events it describes. It also posits the Esperanza as the ship which survived the battle fought with another vessel, something other…

The Quartermaster Graves Registration Service had the terrible task of following military battles, typically a few days after the fighting was finished, to properly identify and either bury or send home the fallen soldiers.

With the world wide…

This second group of photos from the Carter Collection, features formal pictures of platoons and large groups on the atoll during its World War 2 naval occupation.

James R. Carter was a Naval Photographer's Assistant, stationed on Palmyra during…

This group of photographs, showing some of Palmyra's landmarks and several sailors observing a Boobie chic in its nest, was found in the National Archives collection in Maryland. The only label, its cover page, simply reads "Palmyra Island", and it…