George Comer (1858-1937), of East Haddam, Connecticut, was a whaling and sealing ship master who sailed vessels from New London and New Bedford to the Antarctic and Arctic Regions ca. 1875-1919. In addition to the normal activities of a ship master at sea, Capt. Comer recorded notes on Eskimo life, took pictures, and collected artifacts, which he then contributed to the American Museum of Natural History of New York. During his career he sailed aboard many whaling and sealing vessels, and commanded the schooners ERA, A. T. GIFFORD, and FINBACK. In World War I he served on the U.S.S. RADNOR, U.S.S. WYSKA, and U.S.S. ELINOR. Capt. Comer will always be remembered for his whaling/sealing voyages described in the following excerpts from a memorial address included in this collection.

"As he traveled to the uttermost parts of the globe he was not only interested in capturing whales but also in all the forms of life and mysteries of nature with which he came in contact. A natural student he soon acquired a knowledge of a language of the Eskimos, and having overcome the native taboos was able to learn much of Eskimo history and customs...

"Recognizing his unusual ability the American Museum of Natural History commissioned him to do considerable amount of work in anthropology and ethnology as well as in natural history. His records of geographical and topographical information were outstanding and he was made a fellow in the council of the Geographic Society. He made more than three hundred plaster casts, or life masks, of Eskimos which are now in museums in Germany, Canada, and in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. In the last named museum is the Comer Collection of skins of various Arctic animals, geological specimens, birds, bird's eggs, and other interesting specimens...

"He was as familiar with the Antarctic as with the Arctic, although he spent more years in the northern than the southern zone. He was in the Arctic when Peary made his dash to the North Pole and when Capt. Cook made his claims to discovery. He has been the companion and friend of all the Arctic explorers of his time...

"When in the later part of his life he ceased to travel to the North, he still kept up his correspondence with his scientific and sporting friends and also with his Eskimo friends. He was much in demand as a lecturer on whaling, and the Arctic and Antarctic lands and people, and he illustrated his lectures by many interesting photographs which he had himself taken and transferred to slides.