Guide to the Jacob Bursey Diary Kept While Serving as a Member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, 1929 SPEC.PA.56.0141 Finding aid prepared by Sierra Sales Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
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2026 March This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2026-04-17T10:54-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Jacob Bursey Diary Kept While Serving as a Member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I SPEC.PA.56.0141 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 1 0.007 Cubic feet 1929 Jacob "Jack" Bursey (1903-1980) was a member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I (1928-1929) and the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-1941). The Jacob Bursey Diary Kept While Serving as a Member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, dated 1929, contains daily entries from Bursey and a memoranda note where he evaluates his time in Antarctica. Bursey's weather observations, his work with the sled dogs, and his experiences camping out on the trail are some of the topics covered in his daily diary entries. (1) artifact English Bursey, Jack, 1903- Acquisitions Information

Accession No. PA.2005.0010: Robert and Carol Heintz, 2005 July

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Jacob Bursey Diary Kept While Serving as a Member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, SPEC.PA.56.0141, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University

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Processed by: Sierra Sales, 2026 March; Finding aid written by: Sierra Sales, 2026 March

 Biographical Note

Jacob "Jack" Bursey (1903-1980) was a member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I (1928-1929) and the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-1941). Bursey was born in Newfoundland, and he learned to drive dog teams across frozen land and bays. In 1927, he applied to be a dog driver on Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, but he was not selected. Bursey signed on as a seaman on the SS City of New York, which was a ship Byrd used for Byrd Antarctic Expedition I. Once Bursey was in Antarctica, he was placed with a dog sledding team, and his job was to mark a safe trail and leave caches of supplies for the expedition party. Bursey joined the United States Antarctic Service Expedition in 1939; he led one of the longest dog team trips ever recorded and he received a congressional medal. During World War II, Bursey joined the United States Coast Guard, and in 1955 he was assigned to Operation Deep Freeze. Bursey wrote two books about the expeditions: Antarctic Night and St. Lunaire, Antarctic Lead Dog.

 Scope and Contents

The Jacob Bursey Diary Kept While Serving as a Member of Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, dated 1929, contains daily entries from Bursey and a memoranda note where he evaluates his time in Antarctica. Each entry begins with a weather report. Some entries are brief and only contain information about the weather conditions and the temperature. Other entries provide more details about Bursey's preparation and work to mark safe trails for the expedition party, his experience camping out on the trail, and his interactions with the dogs on his sled team.

 Bursey, Jack, 1903- Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1st: 1928-1930) Antarctica--Discovery and exploration--American--20th century Diaries Dogsledding--Antarctica--20th century Explorers--Antarctica--20th century Mushers--Antarctica--20th century Nature observation--Antarctica--20th century