Case 4: Onsite Labor
These images in the archive document the multiple roles of women at the eclipse sites. The women were the wives of astronomers (including Elizabeth Campbell, who accompanied every expedition that her husband led), local missionaries, and female laborers hired onsite. They took care of not only the domestic side of the expedition but also actively participated in the construction of shelters and the operation of equipment.
The archive also documents the involvement of Indigenous Australians at Wallal and plantation workers at Flint Island. It is unclear how much these individuals were paid for their time or how their services were secured, but it is clear that the expeditions relied upon the workers' skill with local materials.
What did the locals think of the Americans and their scientific equipment temporarily installed in their community? Through the published reports of the astronomers, we know that in Chile James Schaeberle allowed local people to come look through the telescopic camera on the nights before the eclipse while in Indonesia the locals were interested but kept at bay by a police guard. Unfortunately, though the archives provide the perspectives of the astronomers and Mrs Campbell, they provide little direct insight into the experience of the locals in any of these locations.
