WOMAN LEADS APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB EXPEDITION UP MT. KILIMANJARO 1959 SCRAPBOOK

12 1/4" x 14 3/4" x 2 1/4", portrait orientation. Generic photo album, in excellent condition, some wear to the rear part of the spine but otherwise splendid. The paper, though cheap newsprint, is not chipped nor creased, with only a few minor closed tears. 40 leaves/80 pages.

Although the journey up Kilimanjaro took place in July-August 1959, the scrapbook actually has items dating from 1957 and continuing to 1960.
The journey was organized on behalf of the Appalachian Mountain Club (the nation's oldest outdoor organization, centered in the northeast), with 8000 members at the time, 18 of whom went on this particular trip - the AMC's first to the continent of Africa, organized and led by the intrepid Ms. Swanzey Alberta Stutsman (1911-2003), assistant advertising manager of Mass Mutual Life Insurance Co., of Wilbraham, a suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts.

It was Ms. Stutsman herself who compiled this scrapbook, packed with letters, newspaper clippings, greeting cards, postcards, photographs, all relating to the trip or current science on Africa's natural history, anthropology, current politics, and wildlife. There are many 'before' items regarding the trip's preparation, photos of the people about to board the BOAC jetliner, and photos of their stay at the Safari Hotel at Arusha, close to Kilimanjaro.

After their return there are literally dozens of 'after' articles about Ms. Stutsman, who traveled around the northeast and her native Michigan giving talks and slide shows about her experiences, and many thank-you notes acknowledging a lovely time at the lectures. Stutsman apparently donated all the monies earned from these public presentations to fund the educational scholarship of a Sudanese boy who had come to study at an American school.

The album, though organized and not chaotically bursting, is crammed with ephemera:

-Several articles about the plane trouble experienced by AMC members on the flight home, from a concurrent expedition to Switzerland; the plane flew back to Shannon, Ireland, without incident.

-A 1958 yearbook of the Rift Valley Academy, in Kenya, still extant and considered one of the top high schools on the continent.

-A scientific treatise: "The Geological History of Kilimanjaro", by Sir E.O. Teale, founder of the Geological Survey of Tanzania.

-A National Geographic Map, from 1922, of the African continent. Folded, printed on very delicate paper, and with tape residue at the corners, this is rather large - measuring 28 1/2" x 32 1/2".

-Correspondence among the members of the AMC and planned itinerary for their stay in east Africa. Includes warnings about the strenuous nature of the hike involved and the necessary health checkups prior to setting out.

-Numerous cartoons (Dennis the Menace, etc.) relating to Africa, several relating to explorers and safaris, etc.

-An extensive article, by Jacquetta Hawkes, archaeologist (and J.B. Priestley's wife) about the African evolution of humankind, from the NY Times magazine.

-From the same publication, an article by famed British journalist Elspeth Huxley, about the coming extinction of endangered species due to poaching and habitat loss.

-a newsletter from an Africa church in Tanganyika (as Tanzania was known while it was a British colony [1916-1961] and for the first three years of independence).

-various brochures and advertisements for hotels and car rental services in Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya.

-an 8" x 10" glossy portrait of King Tom (Mangi Mkuu), leader of Tanganyika; and an article in which the photo was later utilized.

-several contemporaneous articles about recent finds by Louis Leakey, famed British anthropologist, who has claimed to find the "missing link" - a 600,000-year-old skull, possibly the earliest yet found of "modern man".

-announcements and photos of Ms. Stutsman's appearance on local WWLP-TV in Western Massachusetts, discussing her recent trip.

-an article about the Mau Mau Rebellion, in neighboring Kenya, then drawing to a close.

-Stationery from the Safari Hotel of Arusha, Tanganyika.