Charles Wellington Furlong (1874–1967) was an American explorer, writer, artist and photographer from Massachusetts.

Life

Furlong was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

in 1874. He graduated from

Massachusetts Normal Art School Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a Public university, public art school, college of visual art, visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation's oldest art schools, and t ...

in 1895. From 1901 to 1902, he was a student at

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. He was the head of the Art Department at Cornell from 1896 to 1904. He was in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, 1904–1905;

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

, 1907–1908; and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, 1910. In 1915 he was a member of an expedition to the West African islands for the

Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology The Museum of Comparative Zoology (formally the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology and often abbreviated to MCZ) is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural-history r ...

(the ''Kitty A'' expedition). He was the first American to explore the Tripolitan Sahara. This experience led to his writing of The Gateway to the Sahara in 1909. Harper's magazine funded him on a trip to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

around 1909. His article "The Southernmost people of the world" came out of this trip. Even after the article was written he continued to travel and explore in South America. His world travels led to a decline in his overall health, in order to get better he traveled to the American West as

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

had done for his health earlier. In 1914, he became a member of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1918. After the war, he was a Member of the American Peace delegation in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for a year. Then in 1919 he was appointed as the Special Military aide to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

for a brief time before he was reappointed as a Military observer, intelligence officer in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, Near East and Middle East. His association with the U.S. military was not a brief affair. He served as a Reserve officer for 34 years, attaining the rank of colonel. His knowledge of the Middle East was valuable during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1925, he helped establish a voting system in Tacona, Africa, personally designing ballots and setting up polling places in remote areas. While traveling the world he continued to write and create a variety of types and kinds of art, along with his work as a diplomat and military delegate. He died in 1967, leaving behind two children.

Works

Books

* * * ''Tripoli in Barbary''(1911)
''The vanishing people of the Land of Fire''

''The southernmost people of the world''

Articles

* * * * * * * * * * • -- (August, 1918) "Climbing the Shoulders of Atlas," Harper's Monthly Magazine 819 (1918): 420–434.

Artworks

http://americanart.si.edu/search/search_artworks1.cfm?StartRow=1&ConID=1704&format=short

References

External links

Charles Wellington Furlong papers
at the University of Oregon
Ask Art Biography

The Papers of Charles W. Furlong
at Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Furlong, Charles W. 1967 deaths 1874 births American male writers Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Artists from Cambridge, Massachusetts