Baldwin, Evelyn Briggs, 1862-1933

Born in 1862 in Springfield, Missouri, Evelyn Briggs Baldwin was a meteorologist and Polar explorer who accompanied Robert E. Peary on his North Greenland expedition in 1892-1894. He also took part in the Wellman expedition to Franz Josef Land and directed the Baldwin-Ziegler polar expedition of 1901-1902. Baldwin was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and an amateur genealogist.

From the guide to the Baldwin family genealogical research papers, 1872-1924, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Meteorologist and explorer.

From the description of Papers of Evelyn Briggs Baldwin, 1649-1933 (bulk 1898-1902). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71131036

Biographical Note

• 1862, July 22: Born, Springfield, Mo
• 1885: M.S., Northwestern College, Naperville, Ill.
• 1885 - 1886 : European travels
• 1887 - 1891 : High school principal and superintendent of city schools, Kansas
• 1893 - 1894 : Meteorologist for Robert E. Peary's second expedition to North Greenland
• 1896: Published The Search for the North Pole. Chicago: E. B. Baldwin
• 1897: Unsuccessful attempt to join Andree Arctic balloon flight in Spitzbergen
• 1898 - 1899 : Second-in-command and meteorologist, Wellman Polar Expedition to Franz Josef Land
• 1901 - 1902 : Leader, Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition
• 1915: Prepared intelligence report for United States government concerning foreign agents Bernhard Dernberg, Franz von Papen, and Karl Boy-Ed
• 1926 - 1932 : Historian, Office of Naval Records and Library, Navy Department, Washington, D. C.
• 1933, Oct. 25: Died, Washington, D. C.

From the guide to the Evelyn Briggs Baldwin Papers, 1649-1933, (bulk 1898-1902), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Evelyn Briggs Baldwin was born in 1862 in Springfield, Missouri. After graduating in 1885 from Northwestern College, Illinois, he travelled around Europe until 1886. In 1887, he was appointed high school principal and superintendent of city schools in Kansas, a post he held until 1891. He joined the United States North Greenland Expedition (second), 1893-1895 (leader Robert Edwin Peary), serving as meteorologist between 1893 and 1894. This was a privately sponsored expedition to extend the discoveries around Independence Fjord, northeast Greenland, made by Peary's previous expedition of 1891-1892.

In 1898, Baldwin was appointed meteorologist on the U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wellman Polar Expedition, second), 1898-1899 (leader Walter Wellman), financed by the National Geographic Society and by private subscribers to complete the exploration of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa, and from there to attempt to reach the North Pole. The polar party failed to reach the North Pole after Wellman broke his leg in March 1899. From 26 April to 30 May 1899, Baldwin sledged to the east of Zemlya Vil'cheka, where he discovered and mapped the large island Graham Bell Land [Ostrov Greem-Bell], the most easterly member of the archipelago. He returned around the northern coast of Zemlya Vil'cheka to discover that the region that had been named La Roncire Peninsula was, in fact, an island [Ostrov Lya-Ransiyer].

Baldwin returned to Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa when he was appointed to lead the United States Exploring Expedition (Baldwin-Ziegler Polar Expedition), 1901-1902, sponsored by the New York millionaire William Ziegler to attempt to reach the North Pole. The main expedition ship America set up winter quarters on Ostrov Aldzher, returning to Tromsø in August 1902 after the planned journey toward the North Pole did not occur.

After the expedition, Baldwin worked in various capacities in government departments, serving as historian at the Office of Naval Records and Library of the Navy Department at Washington DC between 1926 and 1932. He died in 1933 in Washington DC

From the guide to the Evelyn Baldwin collection, 1898, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)