Exhibit Features South Seas

This month our display cases feature a special part of the Library's collection: artifacts from the personal collection of Alvin Seale (1871-1958). Come in and view the beautiful head dresses made from coral, and ceremonial strings of sea shells and seeds.

Alvin Seale was a famous ichthyologist, well known as an authority on the fishes of Polynesia. He also gained recognition for his work as an aquarium designer. During his career, he worked as a curator for the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, headed an expedition to Alaska for the University of California, designed the aquarium for Manila, and assisted in the planning and administration of the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco.

Seale gifted these artifacts to the Library in 1936, in memory of his wife, Ethel Prouty.