HOFFMAN,
DAVID
PAPERS (1911-1913)
1
box (14 folders)
Biographical sketch: David Hoffman, an engineer
from Butte, Montana, traveled to Africa in 1911 as a member of a geographical
and topographical survey team prospecting for oil, gold and copper. He spent 16 months working on the Brunton
survey in the Belgian Congo.
Scope and content: The Hoffman Papers include correspondence, a personal journal and a
collection of photographs. The letters (1911-1913)--written to Hoffman’s
brothers, Donald and Rip, and to his father—begin when he reaches
“Brussellville” (Brazzaville) on the “last lap” of his journey to the Belgian
Congo. He describes his earlier stops
at Brussels, Waterloo, Antwerp, and subsequently Tenerife, Sierra Leone,
Portuguese Congo, Luibi (a village), and Kinshasa. After arriving in Kinshasa,
Hoffman describes his encampment and living conditions, a meeting with a famed
elephant hunter named Buckley, and an invasion of large ants on the village. He
also tells about native customs, and his critical references to natives and
servants reflects the attitudes of most Europeans in Africa during this
period. Hoffman’s journal gives an
account of his sea voyage to Europe and Africa. The photographs depict the
landscape of the Belgian Congo, and the gatherings, village life, workers, and
forms of dress of the local natives.
INVENTORY
CORRESPONDENCE
1 1 Letters
(November, December 1911)
1 2 Letters
(January, February1912)
1 3 Letters
(March 1912)
1 4 Letters
(May 1912)
1 5 Letters
(July, August 1912)
1 6 Letters
(September, October 1912)
1 7 Letters
(January 1913)
1 8 Letters
(March 1913)
1 9 Letters
(July, August 1913)
1 10 Letters
(Dates unknown – 3)
1 11 Transcripts
of letters
DIARY AND
PHOTOGRAPHS
1 12 Hoffman
diary
1 13 Transcript
of diary
1 14 Photographs