Charles Wellington Furlong (1874–1967) was an American explorer, writer, artist and photographer from Massachusetts.

Life

Furlong was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

in 1874. He graduated from Massachusetts Normal Art School in 1895. From 1901-1902, he was a student at

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

, Harvard, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. He was the head of the Art Department at Cornell from 1896-1904. He was in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, 1904-1905;

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

, 1907-1908; and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, 1910. In 1915 he was a member of an expedition to the West African islands for the

Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan cler ...

(the ''Kitty A'' expedition). He was the first American to explore the Tripolitan Sahara. This experience led to his writing of The Gateway to the Sahara in 1909. Harper's magazine funded him on a trip to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

around 1909. His article "The Southernmost people of the world" came out of this trip. Even after the article was written he continued to travel and explore in South America. His world travels led to a decline in his overall health, in order to get better he traveled to the American West as

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

had done for his health earlier. In 1914, he became a member of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

until the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1918. After the war, he was a Member of the American Peace delegation in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

for a year. Then in 1919 he was appointed as the Special Military aide to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

for a brief time before he was reappointed as a Military observer, intelligence officer in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, Near East and Middle East. His association with the U.S. military was not a brief affair. He served as a Reserve officer for 34 years, attaining the rank of colonel. His knowledge of the Middle East was valuable during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1925, he helped establish a voting system in Tacona, Africa, personally designing ballots and setting up polling places in remote areas. While traveling the world he continued to write and create a variety of types and kinds of art, along with his work as a diplomat and military delegate. He died in 1967, leaving behind two children.

Works

Books

* * * ''Tripoli in Barbary''(1911)
''The vanishing people of the Land of Fire''

''The southernmost people of the world''

Articles

* * * * * * * * * * • -- (August, 1918) "Climbing the Shoulders of Atlas," Harper's Monthly Magazine 819 (1918): 420-434.

Artworks

http://americanart.si.edu/search/search_artworks1.cfm?StartRow=1&ConID=1704&format=short

References

External links

Charles Wellington Furlong papers
at the University of Oregon
Ask Art Biography

The Papers of Charles W. Furlong
at Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Furlong, Charles W. 1967 deaths 1874 births American male writers Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Artists from Cambridge, Massachusetts