Walter Elmer Ekblaw (March 10, 1882 – June 7, 1949) was an American college professor who served as

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

on the

Crocker Land Expedition The Crocker Land Expedition took place in 1913. Its purpose was to investigate the existence of Crocker Land, a huge island supposedly sighted by the explorer Robert Peary from the top of Cape Colgate in 1906. It is now believed that Peary fraud ...

(1913-1917).

Life and career

Walter Elmer Ekblaw was born in

Champaign County, Illinois Champaign County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 205,865, making it the 10th-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Urbana. Champaign County is part of the Champaign–Urbana, ...

. He was one of six children born to Andrew Ekblaw (1854-1923) and Ingrid (Johnson) Ekblaw (1860-1942) both of whom were Swedish immigrants. He graduated from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1910. At the university, he was editor of the Daily Illini (1910). Together with fellow senior, Clarence Foss Williams (1886-1971), he also organized the first

homecoming on October 15, 1910. He taught at the

from 1910 to 1913. He subsequently became a research associate with the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

. He attended

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

where he received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in 1926. He served as a professor of geography at

from 1924 to 1949. In 1947, he received the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

from King

Gustav V of Sweden Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

for his work in promoting good relations between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He died in 1949 and was buried at the Glen Cemetery in

Ford County, Illinois Ford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 14,081. Its county seat is Paxton. Ford County was part of the Champaign–Urbana, IL Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

Crocker Land Expedition

From 1913 to 1917, he served as geologist and botanist of the

together with

Maurice Cole Tanquary Maurice Cole Tanquary (November 26, 1881 - October 25, 1944) was a professor of entomology, a member of the Crocker Land Expedition and is considered to be a pioneer in modern beekeeping. Early life Tanquary was the son of Thomas J. and Florence ...

of the University of Illinois who served as the

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

. The Crocker Land Expedition, which explored northern

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, was organized by Arctic explorers

Donald Baxter MacMillan Donald Baxter MacMillan (November 10, 1874 – September 7, 1970) was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career. He pioneered the use of radios, airplanes, a ...

. The expedition was sponsored by the

, the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...

, and the

' Museum of Natural History. Members of the ill-fated expedition, including Ekblaw, were rescued by the ship ''Neptune'', commanded by Robert Bartlett in 1917. On his return to the United States, Ekblaw wrote a number of papers including ''The importance of nivation as an erosive factor and of soil flow as a transporting agency in northern Greenland'' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 4, 1918, p. 288-93), and also one on ''The food birds of the Smith Sound Eskimos'' (Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 31 (o.s.), Vol. 26 (n.s.), No. 106, 1919, p. 1-5). Later publications dealt with ''The ecological relations of the polar Eskimo'' (Ecology, Vol. 2, 1921, p. 132-44) and ''Eskimo dogs forgotten heroes'' (Natural History, Vol. 37,1936, p. 173-84). Journals from Maurice Tanquary, Ekblaw, Donald and Mirriam MacMillan are available online at th
George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives
website. Digitization of materials at Bowdoin College related to the Crocker Land Expedition funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation in 2016.

Selected works

*''Correlation of the Devonian System of the Rock Island Region'' (1912) *''Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Devonian System in Rock Island County, Illinois'' (1912) *''Along Unknown Shores: Narratives of Exploration in the Far North'' (1918)

References

Other sources

Land Expedition to the north polar regions''
American Museum of Natural History and the American Geographical Society, University of Illinois)

External links