American Museum of Natural History

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON'S LEGENDARY ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

April 10-October 11, 1999 The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, a landmark exhibition devoted to one of the greatest tales of survival in expedition history, is on view April 10 through October 11, 1999, at the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibition brings to life the epic story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Endurance expedition - its astonishing panoramas, doomed ship, extreme hardships, and miraculous climax. Haunting expedition photographs, artifacts, diary entries, and vintage film footage resurrect one of the most awesome man-against-nature sagas to emerge this century.

The exhibition presents more than 150 compelling photographs of the expedition's ordeal taken by ship photographer Frank Hurley, who dove into frigid waters to retrieve his glass plate negatives from the sinking Endurance. The photographs, printed from the original negatives and Hurley's album of prints, are displayed chronologically and accompanied by gripping memoirs from the voyage. The visual record is complemented by incredible film footage, rare color images, and artifacts from the journey - including diaries, Bibles, personal effects, and the James Caird, the lifeboat that carried Shackleton and five of his crew on one of the greatest adventures of all time. The exhibition also features three-dimensional models and multi-media displays, a computer interactive that allows visitors to experience the challenges of open-boat navigation, and several videos, narrated by actor Liam Neeson, that examine the historic, geographic, and scientific context of the voyage.

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition is the most comprehensive presentation of the journey ever mounted. It is also the most extensive showing of Hurley's work; limited numbers of his photographs have been on view twice in London since the 1920's, and once in Australia in 1963. "As we approach the millennium, the heroism of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the moving tale of his incredible voyage are being recognized as never before," said Ellen V. Futter, president of the American Museum of Natural History. "As an institution that has sponsored thousands of expeditions since 1887, including one to South Georgia Island two years before Shackleton's Endurance expedition, the American Museum of Natural History identifies with his passion for discovery. Just as the Endurance expedition set out to study and understand the mysteries of Antarctica, we too journey to the far reaches of the globe, conducting vital scientific research to satisfy humanity's curiosity about the natural world around us, and fulfilling the Museum's mission to educate the public with our findings. We are honored to bring to the public the most extensive presentation ever of this epic voyage and display of human courage."

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition is organized by Caroline Alexander, guest curator, and Ross D.E. MacPhee, chair and curator, Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Alexander noted, "Shackleton's saga is more than a great adventure story; it has many lessons to teach us about character and human potential."

The Endurance Expedition
Sir Ernest Shackleton's third polar expedition came in the wake of the tragic death, in the Antarctic, of Robert Falcon Scott, the famous English explorer, and as Europe was preparing for the First World War. With England having lost both poles to the Norwegians, Shackleton was determined to be the first to cross the Antarctic by foot and claim the last prize in polar exploration for Britain. A week after the war began, Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven seamen and scientists set sail on the Endurance, not to be heard from for nearly two years.

It was a particularly cold winter, and the pack ice of the Weddell Sea extended further north than anyone could remember. The Endurance began following leads to navigate through the pack ice, on route to its intended landfall. Just one day's sail from the Antarctic continent, temperatures plummeted and the ship became trapped. Frozen fast for ten months, the Endurance was about to be crushed by ice pressure, forcing Shackleton and his men to abandon ship.

After five months of camping on drifting ice floes, open water appeared, and the men sailed their three lifeboats through stormy seas to a rocky, uninhabited outcropping called Elephant Island. Knowing that his men would never survive on the desolate spot, Shackleton decided to attempt an incredible seventeen-day, 800-mile journey, in freezing hurricane conditions, to the nearest civilization - South Georgia Island. The James Caird lifeboat miraculously landed on the island, having achieved what is now considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Once on land, Shackleton and two of his men trekked across the mountains of South Georgia, finally reaching the island's remote whaling stations where they organized a rescue team, and returned to save all of the men left behind on Elephant Island. Shackleton's words, written after the expedition, express the enormity and the extremity of the adventure: "Not a life lost, and we have been through Hell."

The Exhibition
The journey begins with an introductory section that familiarizes visitors with Sir Ernest Shackleton, James Francis "Frank" Hurley, the continent of Antarctica, and the history of its discovery. A video on the heroic age of Antarctic exploration sets the stage for the Shackleton expedition. A timeline of historic maps and photographs from the sixteenth through the twentieth century is included, along with a model of the Endurance, and one of Frank Hurley's diaries.

A large image of the Endurance trapped in the ice draws visitors into a section where Hurley's stunning photographs of the expedition unfold with explanatory wall text, diary excerpts, and artifacts from the journey. The photographs in this area depict the men's journey on open seas and their first encounter with pack ice, as well as scenes of living on the ice, their sledge dogs, daily life on the Endurance, and their scientific study. A storebox, hooch (cooking) pot, and the crew's primus stove from the Endurance are among the artifacts on view here.

A large engraved plexiglass reproduction of the Endurance stands on an inlaid tile floor that represents the ice around the ship. Surrounding the installation are Hurley's images of the Endurance in the ice, views of the landscape of ice, and the men battling the ice. Some of the artifacts on view here include a tartan shirt from the expedition; the diary of Henry McNish, shipwright and carpenter; the "pocket Bible" of Endurance navigator Huberht Hudson; and the printed copy of Rudyard Kipling's "If" from the journey, one of Shackleton's favorite poems. A video explains how Shackleton's ship was engulfed and destroyed by the relentless pack ice.

The next section of the exhibition presents Hurley's dramatic images of the break-up of the Endurance, the camps they set up on the ice, and the men's attempted march over snow and ice. The dramatic break-up of the Endurance is presented by original film-footage taken by Hurley on the expedition. Computer animation enhances the video, illustrating the ice pressure that crushed the ship. A nearby panel presents some of today's research in the Antarctic and features recent findings on the color of ice.

Next, in a section devoted to navigation, the rolling ocean, clouds, and the sun are projected onto three large screens. The sound of wind and waves, digitally mastered and in stereo, envelops the visitor when they enter the room. Here visitors confront the formidable challenge Shackleton and his men faced in sailing a small, open boat 800 miles, in towering sixty-foot waves, through gale force winds, with only a sextant, some charts, an unreliable chronometer, and a few sightings of the sun to guide them.

Standing before the James Caird and the sextant used in the crossing, visitors may handle interactive sextants, and with the aid of a computer program, set their own course for South Georgia. The interactive allows visitors to "take a sight" of the sun, displays the course the boat would take with that sight, and compares it to Shackleton's actual course. The experience underscores the extraordinary skill of Shackleton's navigator, Frank Worsley, and the terrible odds they faced. Hurley's photographs of Elephant Island and of the launching of the James Caird to South Georgia Island flank the section devoted to navigation. Photographs of the crossing and the rescue are found just beyond this section.

The concluding area showcases Hurley's moving portraits of twenty crewmembers, along with descriptions of what each achieved after the expedition. A video on Shackleton's life following the Endurance expedition, and his death in 1922 on South Georgia Island, is also on view, along with ten reproductions of rare color images from the expedition, taken by an early color process called the Paget method. To round out the presentation of Frank Hurley's photographic work, fifteen prints from Hurley's expeditions to Papua New Guinea in the 1920s are displayed directly outside the exhibition. These magnificent portraits are drawn from the American Museum of Natural History's own collection, printed from the original glass plate negatives, that were given to the Museum in the 1930s.

Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander. The national best seller - 214 pages, with more than 140 photographs - is published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, in association with the American Museum of Natural History. The book is available at the Museum Shop and in bookstores nationwide for $29.95.

Special Programming
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum's Department of Education has developed a unique family workshop on Antarctic exploration featuring live penguins on April 10, and two lecture series.

The first series, "The Nature and History of the Antarctic," begins April 9 and includes Shackleton: The Man and the Expedition with Caroline Alexander, guest curator; Antarctic Oasis with Pauline and Tim Carr, explorers of South Georgia; and Crossing the Antarctic with Børge Ousland, the Norwegian polar explorer who completed the first unsupported solo crossing of the Antarctic by foot in 1995. The second lecture series begins June 16 and features four scientists from the National Science Foundation examining major areas of polar research.

Discovery Tours, the American Museum of Natural History's educational travel program, is sponsoring a voyage around South Georgia Island, revisiting the landmark sites of Shackleton's extraordinary journey. The cruise, "Circumnavigation of South Georgia and the Falkland Islands" (November 20, 1999, through December 9, 2000), will be led by Ross D.E. MacPhee. A team of staff lecturers will accompany Dr. MacPhee, as well as Caroline Alexander.

From January 31 through February 20, 2000, Discovery Tours will also launch "Antarctica 2000" aboard the Hanseatic. The voyage will explore the dazzling snowfields, crystalline glaciers, and dramatic ice-covered mountains soaring above an untamed frozen wilderness. This special voyage includes passage to South Georgia Island. For additional information, call 212-769-5700 or 800-462-8687.

In association with the Museum, White Mountain Films and NOVA (WGBH-Boston) are producing two film versions of The Endurance, Caroline Alexander's book. The theatrical documentary and the large-screen format IMAXÒ film are to be released in 2000. Dr. Alexander is writing and co-producing both films.

Sponsorship
The Shackleton exhibition is made possible by a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Cullman 3rd.

Exhibition Design and Installation
The exhibition was designed and executed by the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Exhibition, under the direction of David Harvey, vice president for Exhibition.

Hours

The Museum is open daily, 10:00 a.m.—5:45 p.m.
The Museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Public Information

For additional information, the public may call 212-769-5100. For ticket reservations, the public may call 212-769-5200. On the Internet: www.amnh.org.

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For more information, contact the Museum's Department of Communications, 212-769-5800.

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