Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

Biographical Note

Frederick Andrews Walpole (1861–1904) was a botanical artist for the Division of Botany of the United States Department of Agriculture (1896–1904).

Scope and Contents Note

This collection contains three of Walpole's diaries. The first (March–April 1882) concerns Walpole's train trip from Illinois to California; a walk of 177 miles from Redding, California, to Jacksonville, California; his search for land in southern Oregon, culminating in the purchase of property near Medford; accounts (1883–1885) relating to supplies, farm wages, board and other expenses for this period; and plans for a house. The second diary (January 1900–December 1901) includes accounts and material relating to botanizing and drawing in Alaska (May–September 1900, July–September 1901); travel back and forth from Alaska and Walpole's activities while living in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., during the two-year period; time spent with botanists and other friends; an account of salmon fishing in Alaska and of a trip in a "bidarka," or Aleutian dugout canoe; and lists of Aleut and Tlinglit names for locations. The third volume (January 1902–January 1903) relates to activities in Washington, D.C. and Portland, including botanizing and drawing in Oregon, and it includes accounts that are undated but of the same period. The last two volumes reflect Walpole's varied interests: while in Washington and Portland, he spent much time attending lectures on geography, natural history and other subjects, and attending art exhibits. In December 1902, for example, he heard both Lt. Robert E. Peary and Jane Addams speak.

Additional Collections and Materials

The Art Department has 805 mostly pencil and ink drawings and watercolors by Frederick Andrews Walpole (1861–1904) on indefinite loan from the Smithsonian Institution.

Finding aid

A finding aid for this collection is available online.

Other resources

For information about portraits of and biographical citations for this subject, see the Hunt Institute Archives Register of Botanical Biography and Iconography database.

For thumbnails of artwork by Walpole, see the Catalogue of the Botanical Art Collection at the Hunt Institute database.