Bureau of Biological Survey Rodent and Bird Control Lantern Slides ---

Collection

Identifier: NWRC 0053

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Bureau of Biological Survey Bird and Rodent Lantern Slide Collection consists of two series of dated and undated lantern slides that are organized into five boxes. The dates fall between 1907 and 1919. The slides were created by the Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) and contain photographs documenting BBS operations in the Southwestern U.S. in bird and rodent control. Included are images of BBS campsites and crew, farmers, methods of animal damage control, as well as images of rodents, birds, and rodent and bird damage to crops. Also included are illustrated slides.

Dates

1907-1919

Creator

United States. Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

The Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) was formally established in 1905. It had its origins in the Section of Economic Ornithology, which was created in 1885 under the U.S. Department of Agriculture and subsequently renamed to reflect the expansion of its mission to study the impact of birds, including their food, migration, and distribution patterns, on agriculture. The responsibilities of the BBS grew to include the study of the agricultural impact of mammals, in addition to birds. In the 1910s, one of the primary functions of the BBS was the control of mammals. Its aim was to mitigate rodent damage to agricultural resources and predator damage to livestock and protected wildlife. Such animals as prairie dogs, pocket gophers, ground squirrels, and coyotes, as well as birds injurious to crops, were controlled by poison and trapping. The BBS communicated these methods to farmers. To meet its additional mandate of wildlife protection, the BBS also established bird and mammal reserves. The BBS remained under the USDA until 1939, when it was transferred to the Department of the Interior and a year later consolidated with the Bureau of Fisheries to form the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Bureau of Biological Survey preserved images of its scientific studies on lantern slides. The use of lantern slides dates to the seventeenth century, when hand-painted or hand-drawn slides would be projected as a form of children’s entertainment. Following the invention of photography in 1839, William and Frederick Langenheim, German-born brothers based in Philadelphia, developed photographic lantern slides in 1849. The brothers patented their invention a year later, and it began to be produced for widespread commercial use. Projected with “magic lanterns,” photographic lantern slides proliferated on lecture circuits and in classrooms, churches, and theaters for educational and entertainment purposes. They continued to be in use until the development of the slide projector in the 1950s.