The Reverend Bernard R. Hubbard, S.J. (1888-1962), former Head of the Department of Geology at the University of Santa Clara, California, was a world-renowned authority on arctic phenomena and a recognized explorer, geologist, volcanologist, ichthyologist, oceanographer and paleontologist. He earned his nickname, "The Glacier Priest," while climbing the Austrian Alps, and from 1927 to 1962, he led 31 scientific expeditions into regions of Alaska and the Arctic.
During his expeditions, Father Hubbard snapped thousands of photographs and recorded thousands of feet of motion picture film, some of which appeared in Hollywood newsreels and features. He wrote several books and compiled an Eskimo dictionary that included the story of Christ, a catechism, and prayers of the Catholic Church. National magazines published Father Hubbard's articles, and he was once the world's highest paid lecturer, receiving as much as $2000 an appearance. Father Hubbard visited Marywood College on several occasions to lecture and present movies of his expeditions. His correspondence with Sister M. Saint Agnes Moran, I.H.M., of Marywood College, began in the 1930s and continued throughout his life. On January 27, 1935, in honor of the College, Father Hubbard named Lake Marywood, located south of Vencaminof Crater in Alaska. Marywood College students designed and hand-painted two expedition flags which Father Hubbard carried in 1939, and in 1949 he presented Marywood with two Alaskan huskies, "Damian" and "Pythias."
The Father Bernard Hubbard Collection reflects the relationship this priest shared with Marywood College.
The Father Bernard Hubbard Collection
Box 1 of 2
Folder 1
Correspondence, Father Hubbard to Sister M. Saint Agnes Moran, I.H.M., 1936-1958. Includes postcards from Alaska and black & white photographs.
Folder 2
Correspondence, Sister M. Saint Agnes Moran, I.H.M., to Father Hubbard, 1938-1943.
Folder 3
Correspondence, Father Hubbard to Sister M. Saint Agnes Moran, I.H.M.; correspondence between Sister M. Saint Agnes Moran, I.H.M., and Teresa Zitsman, Secretary, Father Hubbard Lectures, New York; miscellaneous letters pertaining to Father Hubbard, including two letters signed (signatures not authenticated) by Generals Omar Bradley and George Patton, Jr.; 1936-1958.
Folder 4
Hubbard, B. R. "A World Inside a Mountain." National Geographic 60 (1931): 319-354.
Folder 5
Three issues of The Marywood College Bay Leaf, each including an article about Father Hubbard's visits to Marywood, March 1939, December 1939, and December 1940.
Folder 6
Scrapbook of news clippings, photos, letters and programs about Father Hubbard, including his obituary, 1936-1962.
Folder 7
Scrapbook of news clippings, press releases, letters and programs pertaining to Father Hubbard, 1939-1951.
Folder 8
Newspaper clippings and magazine articles about Father Hubbard, 1939-1951.
Folder 9
Press releases about Father Hubbard, 1940.
Folder 10
News clippings, letters and programs pertaining to Father Hubbard and his visits to Scranton, with a 3" x 4" hand-painted flag carried on his 1937-38 Alaskan expedition, 1937-1957.
Box 2 of 2
Folder 11
Photocopies of five articles about Father Hubbard that appeared in The Marywood College Bay Leaf, 1935-39.
Folder 12
Scrapbook entitled "Publicity for Father Hubbard, S.J, Marywood, April 25, 1937." Includes news articles about Father Hubbard.
Folder 13
Scrapbook entitled "Marywood Secretarial Club, 1932." Includes news articles about Father Hubbard.
Folder 14
Scrapbook for Marywood Secretarial Club, 1936-38. Includes news articles about Father Hubbard.
Folder 15
"The Business Scriptorium," a 1936 Marywood College student publication that includes an article about Father Hubbard.
Father Hubbard Photo Collection, Folders 1-5
Eighty-one photographs, all black & white, in various sizes from 3" x 3" to 8" x 10", of Father Hubbard's Alaskan expeditions and visits to Marywood, 1939-1949.
Hand-painted Emblem
May be a model for Father Hubbard's 1939 Alaskan expedition flag. Emblem measures 8" x 10," painted on light tan cloth, mounted in a wood frame. Design shows a gold-edged shield, surrounded by thorns and topped with a red and gold crown. Center of shield has blue water in foreground with a boat; center contains two islands, one with a polar bear, the other with an image of Christ the King; upper shield contains a gold cross, surrounded by sunbeams against a blue sky. Lower part of shield has a white scroll depicting the letters IHS. Below the shield are the words "Christus Rex" in black.
