fall into three categories: expeditions organized and led by members of the society's staff other expeditions in which members of the AGS staff took part expeditions under the society's auspices or assisted by the institution in any other ways Most notably: A Transcontinental Excursion was arranged and executed by the AGS in 1912. The idea for this excursion was generated by Professor William Morris Davis who, in 1908 "tried the unique experiment of conducting a geographical excursion in Europe, open to students of European and American universities". The excursion promoted the acquaintance of European geographers with Americans. Currently, the AGS sends teams of scholars to improve U.S. understanding of foreign lands and peoples, in order to reduce international misunderstandings and improve humanitarian assistance in case of natural disasters, technological accidents, terrorist acts and war. The organization aims to build a multi-scale Geographic information system (GIS) for each world region, collect unclassified GIS data, conduct participatory GIS, train a new caliber of regional experts, disseminate GIS data freely to the public and publish the results in popular media and scholarly journal. Each expedition is titled a Bowman Expedition, in honor of past AGS Director, Isaiah Bowman. Others include: Isaac Israel Hayes' Arctic Expedition to reach the North Pole Robert Peary's Polar Expeditions The Powell Expedition – exploration of the Grand Canyon Archives The AGS archive contains field notes, original maps, sketches, photographs, journals, artifacts, correspondence, expedition flags and memorabilia, field equipment, telegrams, press clippings, event programs, radio logs, meeting records, and many other documents and artifacts. In 2011 the AGS of NY and the AGS Library at UW Milwaukee began a project to organize, rehouse and create the finding aid for the society archives. The AGS Library was transferred to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1978. It holds a large collection of material from Latin American and the Polar Regions and contains over one-million items, some dating back to the 15th century. The AGS Travel Program Since 1984, the AGS have organized a Travel Program, sponsoring in excess of 250 educational trips for the general public. The AGS Travel Program lecturers are professional geographers, fellows of the society and authorities on the regions traveled. Trips are conducted through various means of travel, including private jet and ship. Fliers' & Explorers' Globe The American Geographical Society acquired its Fliers' & Explorers' Globe in 1929 as a gift from AGS President John H.