The Samuel Finely Breese Morse Medal was established in 1902. Designed by Laura G. Fraser, this medal is awarded by the American Geographical Society

American Geographical Society

The American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...

 for "achievements and pioneering in geographical research."

History

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was a painter, but also noted inventor. After extensive travel in Europe, Morse invented the first recording telegraph, which he submitted at patent for in 1837. His system of dots and dashes, equip with a dictionary and words, later was known as Morse Code

Morse code

Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...

. After his death on April 2, 1872, the Society was willed funds “for the encouragement of geographical research.”

Recipients

The following people received the award in the year specified:

• 1928: Sir George Hubert Wilkins
• 1945: Archer M. Huntington
  Archer M. Huntington
  Archer Milton Huntington was the son of Arabella Huntington and the stepson of railroad magnate and industrialist Collis P. Huntington...
  
  
• 1952: Gilbert Grosvenor
• 1966: Charles B. Hitchcock
• 1968: Wilma B. Fairchild
• 1986: John C. Weaver
• 1991: Alexander Melamid
  Alexander Melamid
  Alexander Melamid is a Russian painter and performance artist who emigrated to New York City from the Soviet Union in 1977 with Vitaly Komar. He was born in Moscow and attended the Stroganov Art Institute, where he collaborated with Komar in the Russian SOTS ART movement...
  
  
• 1999: Donald J. Lloyd-Jones
• 2001: Douglas R. McManis
• 2004: Ronald F. Abler
• 2008: John E. Gould
• 2008: Richard H. Nolte

External links

• Official website