In 1891, the United States treasury secretary sent Joseph Stanley-Brown, formerly President James Garfield's private, to investigate the Prybilof Islands seal industry. The industry had caused a controversy between the United States and Great Britain. In 1892, after the matter was submitted to arbitration, Stanley-Brown was a United States expert witness before a tribunal in Paris. He was later with the North American Commercial Company's government-regulated sealing activities on the Prybilofs and Unalaska. Eventually, he was involved with several railroad companies throughout the United States and Mexico.
Most slides relate to the seal industry and Alaska.
There are views of seal hunting, towns, land forms, wildlife, fishing industry, Eskimos, and Aleuts. There are also slides of related maps and charts. Few items bear captions. Many are damaged. Related photographic prints are in the BAE-USNM Photographs of American Indians and Other Subjects and the Department of Anthropology Division of Ethnology Manuscript and Pamphlet File.