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Primary sourceInterview30 March 1910 (recorded); July 1910 (released)

My South Polar Expedition

Ernest Shackleton · 30 March 1910 (recorded); July 1910 (released)

A 1910 phonograph recording of Ernest Shackleton's own voice describing his Nimrod Expedition march toward the South Pole.

This is Shackleton's own recorded voice describing his Nimrod Expedition, a rare direct record of the man himself.

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Ernest Shackleton, "My South Polar Expedition," Edison Amberol cylinder recording, 30 March 1910.

About this source

What it is

This is an audio recording made on an Edison Amberol cylinder in March 1910, in which Ernest Shackleton speaks about his South Polar expedition. It was released commercially in July 1910, not long after his return from the Nimrod Expedition.

Why it matters

Recordings of historical figures' actual voices from this period are rare, making this a valuable primary source. It lets students hear how Shackleton himself chose to describe his famous march toward the Pole, in his own words and tone, rather than only reading about it secondhand.

Look closer

  • What does hearing Shackleton's own voice add that a written account cannot?
  • Why might he have wanted to record this for a commercial audience?
  • How might a public recording differ from a private account of the same events?

This interview is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ernest Shackleton on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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