Still Pictures Aerial Photography in Record Group 23: Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey

Photographs of Bureau Activities, 1860–1965 (23-G)

This series of photographs was taken or accumulated by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and its predecessor agencies. The photographs document the agency's interest in and study of the physical nature and history of the earth and various natural occurrences. The majority of the photographs are arranged under several broad subject categories and thereunder by more specific subjects. The broad categories are: B - Bureau - photographs concerning the bureau as a whole rather than any separate division or portion of its work; C - Cartography - the making of maps; F - Aerial Photography; G - Geodesy - measuring the earth and its surface; H - Hydrography and Topography - mapping the oceans, rivers, lakes, and other surface features; I - General Interest; L - LORAN stations; M - Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity - the earth's magnetism; P - Bureau personnel; R - Radio Location Devices; S - Seismology - study of earthquakes and related phenomena; T - Tides; and Z - Miscellaneous. Within most of the categories there are photographs of bureau personnel at work, survey or engineer parties, facilities, including laboratories and observatories, and tests and equipment. In addition there are portraits of officials and photographs of historical subjects. Other subjects pictured include Coast and Geodetic exhibits; field parties: stations and survey campsites: Coast and Geodetic ships: underwater surveys; maps, charts and diagrams, shipwrecks: damage and destruction caused by hurricanes, tidal waves, earthquakes and other natural disasters: navigational equipment; the ocean floor and the creatures and plants found there; and volcanoes, icebergs and other physical features. Under the General Interest category are photographs of Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and the Philippine Islands and other foreign countries. Some of the photographs relate to the customs and cultures of the countries. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.

Slides of Bureau Activities, 1860–1965 (23-GS)

The photographs in this series document geological events throughout the United States and some foreign countries. Subjects depicted are listed on a pre-selected classification scheme devised by the Agency (see Finding Aid). The headings are- Bureau Activities, Cartography, Aerial Photography, Geodesy, Hydrography-Topography, Hurricane Damage, Signals, Bureau Personnel, Radio Location Devices, Seismology, Tides and General Interest. Under the General Interest category are miscellaneous views taken in Alaska, Ethiopia, Hawaii, Philippine Islands and the United States. Each subject is assigned a classification designation composed of letters corresponding to a particular subject. The color slides in this series in general show seaplanes, ships and activities on ships; surveyors and engineers at work; boundary markers; equipment; campsites; aerial views of various cities throughout the United States; buildings in Washington, D.C. and other cities; control towers; lighthouses and buoys; hurricanes, tornadoes (in Ohio and Massachusetts on April 11, 1965) and earthquake damage, exhibits, maps and diagrams, helicopters, underwater surveys, ocean floor scenes; ports, piers and wharfs, radio acoustic installations, dams and bridges, street scenes in Singapore, and Admiral Karo's trip to the Antarctic. There are also views taken in Alaska and the Philippine Islands of volcanos, mountains, icebergs, tidal waves, and Natives and their culture. There are similar black and white prints in Record Group 23, Series G. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.