Alexander H. Rice Jr
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Alexander Hamilton Rice Jr. (August 29, 1875July 23, 1956) was an American physician, geographer, geologist and explorer especially noted for his expeditions to the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
. He was professor of geography at Harvard University from 1929 to 1952, and was the founder and director of the Harvard Institute of Geographical Exploration."A Nod to Ham Rice"
, ''Harvard Magazine'', March 1999.


Early life and military service

Alexander H. Rice Jr. was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on August 29, 1875. His grandfather was former Boston mayor, Massachusetts governor and US Congressman
Alexander Hamilton Rice Alexander Hamilton Rice (August 30, 1818 – July 22, 1895) was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. He served as Mayor of Boston from 1856 to 1857, a U.S. Congressman during the American Civil War, and as the 30th G ...
. After attending the Noble and Greenough School he earned an A.B. from Harvard College (1898) and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School (1904). On October 6, 1915, he married widowed RMS ''Titanic'' survivor Eleanor Elkins Widener. In 1914–1915 he volunteered for the Paris surgical staff of the Ambulance Américain, a group of American civilian doctors serving in Europe prior to the United States' entry into World War I. From 1915 to 1917 he directed the ''Hôpital 72, Société de Secours aux Blessés Militaires'', a French charity hospital also in Paris. On the United States' 1917 entry into the war, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve, directing the 2nd Naval District Training School for Reserve Officers at Newport, Rhode Island, where he served until 1919. In 1919, he was awarded the
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
for his service to the people of France. In 1922 Rice was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for US Congress from the Massachusetts 12th Congressional District.


Exploration and academic career

As a geographer and explorer Rice specialized in rivers. On seven expeditions, beginning in 1907, he explored of the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
, mapping a number of previously unmapped rivers in the northwestern area of the Amazon Basin reaching into Colombia and Venezuela. After his 1915 marriage, his socialite wife accompanied him on several expeditions to South America which were chronicled in the geographic literature and followed closely by the popular press. A 1916 expedition was the subject of a 1918 book by a colleague,
William Thomas Councilman William Thomas Councilman (January 1, 1854 in Pikesville, Maryland – May 26, 1933 in York Village, Maine) was an American pathologist. He is remembered for his contribution in a monograph on amoebic dysentery (1891) which described detailed obs ...
. During a 1920 trip, it was reported that "the party warded off an attack by savages and killed two cannibals""scantily clad... very ferocious and of large stature". (A subsequent headline read: "Explorer Rice Denies That He Was Eaten By Cannibals". In 1913, the ''Harvard College Class of 1898 Quindecennial Report'' had noted that, "An interesting feature of ice'swork in South America is frequent reports to the effect that he has been eaten by cannibals or has been a victim of the snakes which are said to be laying in wait for him all the time.") On an expedition in 1919 he ascended the Orinoco to its upper reaches in Venezuela, but had a disastrous battle with a group of Yanomami, who can be belligerent but are in no sense cannibal, and this was the only example throughout the twentieth century of a scientific expedition shooting and killing Amazonian indigenous people. That expedition continued, in 1920, to traverse the natural
Casiquiare canal The Casiquiare river () is a distributary of the upper Orinoco flowing southward into the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, South America. As such, it forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the world's largest r ...
, and descend the Rio Negro to the Amazon at
Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...
. His most important exploration in 1924-25 was the first to use aerial photography (from a Curtis Sea-Gull biplane with floats) and shortwave radio for mapping. This four-month expedition ascended the Rio Branco and its Uraricoera headwater (past Maraca Island and the mighty Purumame waterfall) and then, leaving its boats, cutting trails into the Parima hills. The team had a peaceful encounter with another group of Yanomami whom Dr Rice found poor and repellent but was impressed by their magnificent conical yano hut. He also established hospitals for Indians in Brazil, researched tropical diseases, and conducted expeditions in Alaska and Hudson Bay."Alexander Rice, Explorer, Was 80"
, ''The New York Times'', p. 25, July 24, 1956 – via ''Encyclopedia Titanica''
His explorations of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers won him honors which included: in 1914 Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, London; Gold Medalist,
Geographical Society of Philadelphia The Geographical Society of Philadelphia was founded by Angelo Heilprin in 1891 "to promote the discovery and appreciation of the many wonders of our world." Through grants, it has supported major explorations. It also sponsors educational program ...
; Gold Medalist, Société Royale de Géographie d'Anvers; and gold medalist, Harvard Travelers Club. He led his last expedition in 1924–1925. Dr Rice was closely associated with the Royal Geographical Society in London. After being awarded its Patron's Medal in 1914, he lectured there frequently, and published reports of his various expeditions only in its ''The Geographical Journal'', in 1914, 1918, 1921 and 1928. When the Society celebrated its centenary in 1930, he made the largest single donation (£25,000) to its appeal, which was used to build a lecture theater, library and other rooms at its headquarters. He gave many of his films and photographs to the RGS archive. In 1926 Rice offered to finance a railway for 850 km (500 miles) from Manaus north to Boa Vista (then Rio Branco Territory; now State of Roraima) if he was granted an operating franchise and land along it; the local governor refused. In 1929 Rice founded Harvard's Institute of Geographical Exploration, to which he and his wife provided a considerable endowment, and which under Rice's directorship became an important center for the science of
photogrammetry Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant ima ...
. Rice's other positions included Curatorship of the South American Section of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; Lecturer in Diseases of Tropical South America at Harvard Medical School; and Trustee of 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 belonged to the Rhode Island
Society of Colonial Wars The Society of Colonial Wars is a hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, ...
, and the New Hampshire
Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
. When the Institute closed in 1952, Rice retired to
Miramar Miramar is a place name of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It means "sea-view" or "sea sight" from ''mirar'' ("to look at, to watch") and ''mar'' ("sea"). It may refer to: Places Africa * Miramar, Port Elizabeth, see St Dominic's Priory School ...
, his wife's family mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, where he died on July 23, 1956.


Genealogy

Rice was a descendant of
Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...
, an English immigrant to
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
, as follows: *Alexander Hamilton Rice Jr., son of **John Hamilton Rice (1849–1899), son of **
Alexander Hamilton Rice Alexander Hamilton Rice (August 30, 1818 – July 22, 1895) was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. He served as Mayor of Boston from 1856 to 1857, a U.S. Congressman during the American Civil War, and as the 30th G ...
(1818–1895), son of ***Thomas Rice (1782c. 1859), son of ***John Rice (1751–1808), son of ***Elijah Rice (b. 1728), son of ***William Rice (c. 17001769), son of ****Edmund Rice (1653–1719), son of ****Edward Rice (1622–1712), son of *****
Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...
(1594–1663)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Alexander Hamilton Jr. American geologists American explorers People from Boston Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur 1875 births 1956 deaths Harvard Medical School alumni Noble and Greenough School alumni Harvard College alumni