Amos Burg papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 1759

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of papers relating to the life and work of Oregon-born explorer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker Amos Burg. A significant portion of the collection consists of diaries, trip logs, notes, and correspondence that reflect Burg's travels; his work as an assignment and freelance writer, photographer, and filmmaker for the National Geographic Society, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Erpi Classroom Films; and his later career at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. A significant amount of this material relates to Alaska. Other travels well-represented are Burg's voyages on rivers in the United States and Canada and his time at Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego in South America.

The collection also holds Burg's research notes; drafts and published clippings of newspaper and magazine articles that he wrote; unpublished writings, including quotes, proverbs, and observations that Burg wrote down; notes and papers relating to speeches and lectures that he gave; scripts and other records relating to films he produced; published materials by others that are about Burg or mention him; and papers relating to a schooner he owned, the Endeavour. Other materials in the collection include scrapbook pages of clippings, publications, and ephemera relating to Burg; the papers of Burg's wife, Carolyn Burg; addresses; guest book entries; and published material that Burg collected.

Dates

circa 1855-1989
Majority of material found within 1908-1986

Creator

Burg, Amos (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Amos Burg, Jr. was born in 1901 in Portland, Oregon. At age 15, he signed on as a bellboy on the passenger ship Rose City; by the end of World War I, he had sailed around the world and earned the rank of able seaman. In 1920, he traveled down the Snake and Columbia rivers by canoe, the first of many river voyages he would take in his life. In 1922, he traveled from Montana to New Orleans via the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers. In late 1924, he canoed the entire length of the Columbia River.

In 1928, Burg traveled to Alaska, where he filmed the annual caribou migration. This trip was the basis of the article "Today on the Yukon Trail of 1898," which was published in National Geographic Magazine in 1930; it was the first of ten feature articles that Burg wrote for the magazine, and until the 1950s Burg worked as an assignment and freelance writer, photographer, and filmmaker for the National Geographic Society, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Erpi Classroom Films, Inc. This work included an expedition to Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego in South America; expeditions to Alaska, China, and Japan; and filming the coronation of Britain's King George VI. In 1938, Burg and Haldane "Buzz" Halstrom journeyed on the Green and Colorado rivers.

During World War II, Burg worked as an agent for the United States government in Argentina and Chile. After the war, he moved to Juneau, Alaska, where he worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from 1955 until his retirement in 1974. He produced 15 films during his tenure at the department, and both during his career and after retirement wrote the column "Campfire Reflections" in the department's magazine, "Alaska Fish Tails and Game Trails." He also wrote for Alaska newspapers under the pen name Sourdough Sam.

Burg married Carolyn Warren (1908-2000) in 1958. He died in 1986 in Juneau, Alaska, and had his ashes scattered over the Columbia River.

Sources: Obituary in the Daily Sitka Sentinel, June 16, 1986; articles in the Oregonian, 1924 and 1984-1986; collection materials; vital records on Ancestry.com.

Extent

8.4 Cubic Feet (6 record cartons; 1 legal document case; 1 slim legal document case; 1 flat box (14x18); 3 oversize folders (30x42))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers of Amos Burg (1901-1986), including diaries, travel logs, notes, correspondence, published materials, and ephemera. Burg was born in Portland, Oregon, and lived there until after World War II, when he moved to Alaska. He traveled on multiple rivers in North America, and was a writer, photographer and filmmaker who worked for the National Geographic Society, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Erpi Classroom films, and later the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged in 11 series:

Series 1: Diaries
Series 2: Trip records and memorabilia
Series 3: Correspondence
Series 4: Topical research materials
Series 5: Unpublished writings
Series 6: Published materials by Burg
Series 7: Lectures and speeches
Series 8: Materials relating to films by Burg
Series 9: Published materials about Burg
Series 10: Records of schooner Endeavour
Series 11: Personal and family papers and memorabilia

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to their condition, materials in Folders 1-3 of Box 9 and in Oversize Folder 3 may require assistance to view. Contact library staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of Carolyn Burg made between 1986 and 1995 (Lib. Acc. 17787; Lib. Acc. 20170; Lib. Acc. 22211).

Separated Materials

Photographs from Lib. Acc. 17787, Lib. Acc. 20170, and Lib. Acc. 22211 were separated to the Amos Burg photographs collection, Org. Lot 450. Films from Lib. Acc. 20170 and Lib. Acc. 22211 were separated to the Amos Burg motion picture collection, MIC 5. Artifacts were separated to Museum Collections, Oregon Historical Society.

Processing Information

The collection was initially processed in late 1992 or early 1993, with additions made circa 1995. The collection was reprocessed in 2023. Reprocessing included rehousing of materials and significant rearrangement. At that time, the collection description was revised to reflect these changes and to more thoroughly and accurately describe the collection's contents. Due to its condition, the original of the ship manual in Box 6, Folder 21, was discarded in 2023 after a preservation color photocopy was made.