Bernheim-Conant Expedition
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Conant, Francis
setName: label: See more items in
content: Francis P. Conant Papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.4 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1953-1956
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2012-13, Series 4
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: From December 5, 1953 to May 26, 1954, Conant traveled throughout Africa as part of the Bernheim-Conant Expedition for the American Museum of Natural History. The expedition was led by Claude Bernheim, the father of Conant's first wife, Miriam. The other members of the expedition party were Miriam; her mother, Janine; her sister, Danielle; and David Perrin, the son of Janine's colleague. The party began their journey in Morocco and traveled through the Sahara Desert, French West Africa, the Belgian Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. During the expedition, Conant took a number of photographs and wrote articles that were published in the New York Times and the Natural History Magazine. He also wrote an unpublished manuscript titled Hotels and Desert Wells. In addition, he collected objects for the American Museum of Natural History. 

This series primarily consists of photos taken during the expedition. The photos include images of African people, landscapes, Egyptian monuments, irrigation systems, markets, dwellings, a hospital, animals, Conant, and the Bernheim family. Also among the photos are Polaroid pictures of Mohammad Naguib, the first president of Egypt. Some of Conant's writings are also in the series along with his correspondence with potential publishers, as well as a daily journal and financial and equipment records.