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Natural History Collection

Housed in Special Collections in the Doheny Memorial Library, the rare books and serials in the Hancock Natural History Collection comprise approximately 78,000 volumes of books and periodicals published between 1525 and 1944. Most of the collection was acquired by Captain G. Allan Hancock with his purchase of the Boston Society of Natural History library in 1944. Additions to the collection since then have focused on marine biology, oceanographic expeditions, and antarctic research. Researchers in a wide variety of subject areas will find ample use of this visually appealing scientific collection. One of the richest natural history collections west of the Mississippi, the Hancock Collection covers a broad spectrum of scientific research, including botany, geology, microscopy, evolution, voyages and explorations, zoology, and bacteriology. Lavishly illustrated books, important scientific works and rare journals from past centuries abound. Samples are provided on this web site.

A Bibliography of the Hancock Natural History Collection has been compiled by the curator and is available on the internet. In addition, access to this collection is provided through Homer, USC Libraries online catalog.

Hancock Foundation Archive

During the 1930s Captain G. Allan Hancock led ten scientic expeditions along the eastern Pacific coast in his yacht the Velero III. Scientists, photographers and filmmakers joined the crew of these expeditions, which resulted in the collection of substantial systematic collections, and led to the publication of the results of these researches in the Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions.

In addition to the photographs and films produced during the expeditions, the Foundation Archive houses sound recordings from the broadcast studios of the campus radio station KUSC from the late 1930s to the 1950s, which was then located in the Hancock Foundation Building.