Collection Guide:
Rear Admiral Robert Stewart Quackenbush, Jr. (1904-1985) served in the United States Navy from 1927-1957. He was a 1927 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. His first years as an officer saw him serve on USS Arizona (BB-39) before taking on various commands associated with Naval Photography.
During the Second World War, Quackenbush established the Naval School of Photographic Interpretation and served as Senior Instructor. He was then assigned to the staff of Admiral Halsey and established the South Pacific Photo Interpretation Unit. Later, he was given freedom to travel through the Pacific with a group of photographers known as "Quackenbush's Gypsies."
After the war he served as the Commanding Officer of USS Tangier (AV-8), supervised photography during the Bikini atomic tests in 1946, and spent six months as the Chief of Staff of Operation High Jump in Antarctica. Between 1948-49, Quackenbush served as Director of Naval Photography Office in Washington, D.C. and as a Navy Member of the Photographic Section of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Additionally, Quackenbush served as the Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Key West and USS Randolph (CV-15). During his final years of Naval Service, he worked in various posts throughout Europe and NATO.
After his retirement, Quackenbush worked as a liason for the Polaroid Corporation between 1957 and 1969. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
These photographs are a sampling of the thousands of photographs in the Quackenbush Collection.
