Dartmouth's Arctic Program
BOTH LOCATION and tradition ideally fit Dartmouth for the leadership it is now displaying among American colleges in the study of the Arctic. Although interest in the northern polar region and participation by Dartmouth men in expeditions have extended over the years, it was in 1944, when the College became one of the sponsors of the Arctic Institute of North America, that a definite Arctic program began to take form. President Emeritus Hopkins, the late Dean Bill, and Prof. Trevor Lloyd, author of this month's lead article, were three of the original sponsors of the Institute, whose present executive director is A. Lincoln Washburn '35. Mr. Hopkins is now a member of the Board of Governors and Professor Lloyd, a Fellow of the Institute, is editor of Arctic, its official magazine.
In 1947 the College named David C. Nutt '41 to the faculty post of Arctic Specialist, on the staff of the Dartmouth College Museum, and also appointed Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, famed explorer, as Arctic Consultant. The three primary objectives of the new Arctic program were: (1) to create an awareness of the Arctic and its role in the world today, (2) to promote an understanding of the Arctic as a newfrontier of study and development, and (3) to furnish practical experience in training and instruction in living techniques and use of polar equipment. The existence of true polar conditions on the summit of Moosilauke, "Dartmouth's mountain," provided an excellent arctic laboratory.
Dr. Stefansson, who showed Dartmouth students how to build snow houses on the campus last winter, returned to the College last fall for lectures and classroom meetings, and next month he will be back for another session. Commander D. B. MacMillan, another noted explorer, lectured in December, and the spring program will bring Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, Danish explorer, and Col. Walter A. Wood, leader last year of Operation "Snow Cornice" in Alaska.
Steady impetus to Dartmouth's Arctic interest and activities is given by an informal student group, led by Peter Johnson '50, which meets twice a month. The main project of the past winter—an outdoor indoctrination program to teach the principles of winter camping and living—had tough sledding because of poor snow conditions, but much of the program was carried out at Moosilauke and nearby spots. This student group helped put on the impressive Arctic display in the main lobby of Baker Library at Carnival time, and several members will go off this summer on Arctic and sub-Arctic expeditions, matching the trips of last summer which took Dartmouth men to Labrador, Greenland, Alaska, and the Arctic Archipelago.
Major Dartmouth project of the coming summer will be the expedition of the BlueDolphin, commanded by Mr. Nutt, to northern Newfoundland and Labrador under the auspices of the Arctic Institute. Six student assistants will accompany a professional crew of six and a scientific staff of from four to six. The primary mission will be hydrographic and oceanographic investigations along the coast of Labrador while supporting a r mall party of shore workers. Elmer Harp, assistant curator of the Dartmouth Museum, will make an archaeological trip to northern Newfoundland and will join the Blue Dolphin party there.
THE BLUE DOLPHIN: The 100-foot schooner which will take David C. Nutt '41, Dartmouth's Arctic Special• and a scientific party to northern Newfoundland and Labrador this summer. She is currently being ftted out at Gloucester, Mass., with additional fuel tanks giving a cruising range of over 4,000 miles.
