Ektachrome Postcards Circa 1960's & 1970's (above)            Return to Headquarters

CANADA'S FIRST SUCCESSFUL AIRPLANE, the bamboo-and-silk Silver Dart, designed by Alexander Graham Bell and his associates, flew half a mile over Baddeck Bay in 1909. This scale model and other exhibits chart man's progress through the sky in Explorers Hall, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.

LOOMING LIFE-SIZE, an elephant stalks Explorers Hall, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C. The transparency also appears on the cover of a Society publication, Animals of East Africa.

EXPLORER II HELD WORLD'S ALTITUDE RECORD - 72,395 feet-for 21 years. In a 1935 expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society and a the U. S. Army Air Corps, the gondola carried Capts. A. W. Stevens and 0. A. Anderson 225 miles across South Dakota. National Geographic Society in Washington, D. C., exhibits this gondola.

INDIAN KIVA IN EXPLORERS HALL, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C., faithfully copies a National Geographic- National Park Service discovery in abandoned Wetherill Mesa, Colorado. An underground room reached by ladder, the kiva served as ritual center, men's club, and workroom.

ANTIQUE GLOBES intrigue a youngster at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1831, Vermont blacksmith James Wilson, America's first globe maker, fashioned the spherical charts from printed triangles and wooden balls. The cartography exhibit here in Explorers Hall details the story of map making from Elizabethan days to the present.

Ektachrome Postcards Circa 1960's & 1970's (above)              Return to Headquarters

EIGHT-FOOT-HIGH HEAD reveals the titanic sculpture of the ancient Olmec civilization in Middle America. Matthew W. Stirling, leader of National Geographic-Smithsonian Expeditions from 1938 through 1946, uncovered 11 stone heads in the vicinity of La Vento, Tabasco, Mexico. National Geographic Society's Explorers Hall displays the cast.

ADMIRAL PEARY'S PATCHED FLAG in the National Geographic Society's Explorers Hall commemorates his trek to the North Pole in April, 1909- His expedition used this twelve-foot sledge. Tubular sea sled in background, designed by Jacques Cousteau, carries underwater cameras to five-mile depths.

GLEAMING SEA SLED, designed by Jacques Cousteau, frames visitors in Explorers Hall, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C. Dragged along the ocean floor, the machine with its cameras and flashing strobe lights records life at depths below man's reach; Aqua-Lunger with camera, beyond, dives to 200 feet.

MODEL SOLAR SYSTEM charts the planets as if seen from billions of miles away in this exhibit at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D. C. Flashing lights clock their revolutions around the sun in speeded scale-one minute for Earth's year-long orbit, 14.4 seconds for Mercury, four hours and eight minutes for distant Pluto.

BY FLICKERING OIL LAMP, a Cro-Magnon artist decorates the walls of a cave. National Geographic Society's Explorers Hall features this life-size recreation of a subterranean gallery 30,000 years ago.

Ektachrome (Henry-above left)              and Kodachrome Postcards Circa 1970's thru the 1990's (above)

"HELLO!" SQUAWKS HENRY, a live display at National Geographic Society headquarters, Washington, D.C. The blue-and-yellow macaw utters raucous cries heard all over Explorers Hall. His beak can crack fingers, a sign cautions. Vivid Henry intrigues a thousand visitors a day.

ARMCHAIR travelers explore the world from Earth Station One, an interactive theater at the National Geographic Society's headquarters museum in Washington, D. C.

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIET'S  Membership Center near Gaithersburg, Maryland, handles the records of more than 10,000,000 members. This bird's-eye view, taken from a radio-controlled model airplane, reveals the center's spring-fed lake and recreational areas.

SERENE IN THE MARYLAND COUNTRYSIDE, the Membership Center near Gaithersburg handles records of the National Geographic Society's 10,500,000 members. For its 1,200 employees the spacious center features tennis courts, softball diamonds, and picnic areas beside the springfed lake. (James Stanfield Photo)

WORLD'S LARGEST UNMOUNTED GLOBE rests in the fountain pool of Explorers Hall, National Geographic Society headquarters, Washington, D. C. Like earth, it rotates on its tilted axis. Eleven feet from Pole to Pole, the 1,100-pound orb is an exact enlargement of the Society's 12-inch globe.

Kodachrome Postcards Circa 1970's thru the 1990's (above)               Return to Headquarters

TABLEAU OF SPIRITED VICTORY, the Iwo Jima Marine War Memorial overlooks Washington's night skyline.

SHOWCASE OF IDEALS, the Jefferson Memorial crowns the Tidal Basin obloom with cherry trees.

FLASHING FIREWORKS commemorate the Nation's independence during Fourth of July celebrations at the Washington Monument, near the U. S. Capitol. The National Geographic Society has produced as a public service the book George Washington, Man and Monument, available in Explorers Hall.

AGLEAM BY NIGHT, National Geographic headquarters is acclaimed one of the most beautiful buildings in Washington, D. C. Here the Society's magazine, maps, globes, and books are prepared. Ten-story edifice, designed by Edward Durell Stone, also houses Explorers Hall, on the ground floor.

The timelessness of geographic knowledge is captured in a tender moment in a painting by James M. Gurney, at the National Geographic Society's headquarters museum in Washington, D. C.