Dear Ed: Chronicles of a man as old as coal. 2003-10-10

Ed Conrad believes that he has found bits of a man as old as coal. The dispute rages even at this moment, elsewhere. This site is a respite and an honorarium for Ed's contribution to photography.

Ed's photographic abilities are varied. Taking a look at his site reveals that he is confident in framing landscape, portraiture and experimental shots with his companion Mavica. Of particular interest here, are his attempts at photoduplicating written documents. Successive fly-bys of his target spurl into broken animations that evoke a secondary image of the artist behind the lens. The form is elusive, but can approach art through its inadvertant metaphor. Sincerely, Ed, thanks for your efforts.

This site is foremost a collection of textual renditions of written documents photographically interpreted by Ed. Wherever possible, the original works are adjacent to the markup. (Be cautious though, some of those pages are quite large.) Also included, are some documents from alternate sources, such as newspaper articles or the Congressional Record. Every attempt has been made to accurately duplicate the original document. As always, questions and comments are encouraged.

This point is critically important: This site has made no attempt to confirm or deny any claims made concerning these documents -- that has been left to the debate. This resource only serves to aggregate the documents as they appear.

Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology reply.gif T. D. Stewart 1982-01-05 Ed Conrad [December 24, 1981] As an anthropologist I would have no interest in seeing an amorphous stony object, now out of context, and dated to 350 million years ago. University of Kansas at Lawrence Vertebrate Paleontology pseudoscience.gif Hans-Peter Schultze 1982-03-24 Ed Conrad [February-March 1982?] The picture you sent us show pointed objects distantly resembling teeth. Harvard University Department of Anthropology pseudoscience.gif David Pilbeam 1982-05-07 Ed Conrad [April-May 1982?] Thank you for your letter. I do not think you have a fossil. I find it incredible that anyone familiar with fossils would. Any further correspondence would waste both our times. St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School Department of Anatomy pseudoscience.gif M. H. Day 1982-05-21 Ed Conrad [April-May 1982?] I regret however that I still cannot agree that this specimen shows any acceptable evidence that would render it other than a naturally shaped rock that has some vague resemblances to a skull. Harvard University Office of the President reply.gif Elizabeth H. Keul 1982-06-16 Ed Conrad [June 6, 1982] This not is simply to acknowledge your letter of June 6 and to inform you that President Bok is unable to be of any help to you. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology reply.gif Raymond T. Rye II 1982-07-27 Ed Conrad If you can provide us with the specimens, we will gladly examine and return them along with a report of our findings. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology pseudoscience.gif Raymond T. Rye II 1982-09-09 Ed Conrad An x-ray analysis of the material reveals it to be quartz, the most abundant mineral of the earth's crust. Southern Methodist University Institute for the Study of Earth and Man pseudoscience.gif James E. Brooks 1982-09-17 Ed Conrad [August 16, 1982] All are unanimous in joining me in identifying the object contained in your folder not as a fossilized human skull but as a purely inorganic sedimentary concreation which coincidentally has a shape that roughly approximates that of a human skull. None of the usual skull-like features -- sutures, teeth, eye sockets, muscle scars, etc. -- are present, however. American Museum of Natural History Department of Anthropology pseudoscience.gif Ian Tattersall 1982-10-05 Ed Conrad [October 1, 1982] As for the tibia-like object whose picture you sent me, it certainly seems shaped like a tibia, and I am not surprised that a physician would identify it as such. However, to a geologist it looks like an ironstone concretion, a "pipestone". Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology reply.gif Raymond T. Rye II 1982-10-06 Ed Conrad We are sorry, but we cannot determine anything about your new find without seeing it firsthand. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology reply.gif Raymond T. Rye II 1982-10-22 Ed Conrad We are sorry, but research demands on our "Reaganized" staff and budget do not allow us the flexibility of preparing then sections for you at public expense. University of California, Berkeley Department of Anthropology pseudoscience.gif Nelson H. H. Graburn 1983-02-18 Ed Conrad [January 12, 1983] [quoting Tim White] The "tibia" looks like a root cast; the surface is far too undulating to be any kind of vertebrate tibia. The "crania" are pretty clearly concretions that happen to have a rough outline of a homonid crania. McGill University Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology pseudoscience.gif Robert L. Carroll 1983-07-14 Ed Conrad [June-July 1983?] My field of research involves primarily paleozoic amphibians and reptiles, not mammals. However, I see no evidence of bone in any of your photographs. University of Toronto Department of Anatomy reply.gif David H. Cormack 1983-09-18 Ed Conrad [September 2, 1983] I have attempted to bring this matter to the attention of local experts, but to no avail. I am therefore returning the material you sent, and wish you luck with future enterprises. Institute of Man science.gif Raymond A. Dart 1983-10-28 Ed Conrad I am of the opinion that your findings definitely warrant intense investigation by that subject's foremost experts Vatican City Secretary of State reply.gif Monsignor G. B. Re 1983-11-30 Ed Conrad [January 25, 1983] I am directed to acknowledge the letter and enclosures which you sent to His Holiness Pope John Paul II and I would assure you that the contents have bee noted science.gif Anonymous Dentist 1983-12-23 Ed Conrad [December 1983?] The results of your dental radiographic examination of several of your artifacts appear to resemble and appear very similar to certain dental radiographs of human teeth and bones. H. K. Cooper Clinic science.gif Wilton Krogman 1984-01-03 Ed Conrad [December 1983?] Man, oh man, you got something that will go down in the book on human paleontology. University of Cambridge Department of Physical Anthropology reply.gif J. P. Garlick 1984-01-10 Ed Conrad [December 1983?] I am afraid the specimen that you sent has been lost in the post and I enclose your envelope to show the condition in which it arrived. Emory University Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center science.gif Jeremy F. Dahl 1984-01-13 Ed Conrad [January 10, 1984] In conclusion, I do not believe there is any evidence to suggest that the fragment is primate material. Field Museum of Natural History Department of Geology pseudoscience.gif John R. Bolt 1984-01-16 Ed Conrad [December 1983?] I am returning your specimen, without further examination There is no reason to believe that this is bone, much less mammalian bone. Ed Conrad www.edconrad.com topic.gif Ed Conrad 1984-01-18 American Association of Anthropologists I would like to present a scientific paper at the 1984 convention in New York City in April, detailing a number of discoveries I have made which I am totally confident would shed considerable light on man's earliest presence on earth. H. K. Cooper Clinic science.gif Wilton Krogman 1984-01-26 Ed Conrad [January 1984?] What an impressing -- and challenging -- array of what appears to be fossilized skeletal items, which, in appearance, point to the possibility of hominid interpretations. University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology reply.gif Alan Mann 1984-02-08 William O'Brien [January 30, 1984] I met Mr. Conrad several years ago when he visited the University Museum, where my office is located, with a number of large boulders which he believed where the remains of fossilized skulls. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology pseudoscience.gif Raymond T. Rye II 1984-03-07 Enrique Gerszten We are enclosing copies of our correspondence with the intrepid Mr. Conrad, thus laying bare our association with a truly avid collector. Virginia Commonweath University Medical College of Virginia reply.gif Enrique Gerszten 1984-03-21 Raymond T. Rye II [March 7, 1984] Mr. Conrad found the enclosed monograph that I wrote in a Library and called me about his findings. He never told me about his dealings with your Institution. University of Pennsylvania Department of Anthropology reply.gif Alan Mann 1984-04-05 Ed Conrad [March 24, 1984] In response to your letter dated March 24, 1984, I have neither made, nor do I intend to make, any statements concerning your mental health. I sincerely regret any misunderstanding. Smithsonian Institution Special Assistant to the Secretary reply.gif Margaret C. Hird 1984-12-17 Gus Yatron [December 1984?] The Smithsonian has acted in good faith in this matter, and cannot change its scientific opinion based on the material it has seen so far. Congress of the United States United States Senate reply.gif Arlen Specter 1984-12-19 Ed Conrad [December 1984?] Thank you for your recent letter concerning your opposition to recently published interviews with Richard B. Leakey, where he asserted claims of undeniable proof of the evolution of man. Ed Conrad www.edconrad.com topic.gif Ed Conrad 1985-01-08 Gus Yatron [December 1984-January 1985?] I truly relish this goldon opportunity to respond to the contents of the letter forwarded to you by Margaret C. Hird, special assistant to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. National Science Foundation Biological, Behavioral and Social Sciences reply.gif David T. Kingsbury 1985-02-13 Gus Yatron [January 18, 1985] His assertions about his findings run counter to prevailing scientific interpretation. Congress of the United States House of Representatives reply.gif Gus Yatron 1985-02-13 Ed Conrad [January 8, 1985] I am enclosing the response that I received after contacting the National Science Foundation on your behalf. The City of New York Office of the Mayor reply.gif Edward T. Koch 1985-02-19 Ed Conrad Your research seems fascinating, and I wish you continuing success in your efforts to discover man's origins. Ed Conrad www.edconrad.com topic.gif Ed Conrad 1985-02-20 Gus Yatron [February 13, 1985] David T. Kingsbury, to his credit, has done a rather admirable job of laying down another smokescreen -- as the U.S. Geological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution, in previous letters to you concerning this matter of monumental importance to all mankind, had done previously. United Church of Christ Office of the President reply.gif ??? Christmas 1985-02-20 Ed Conrad [February 1985?] Neither Darwin's theory nor any subsequent archeological finds shake our basic faith in the god of all cration nor the thanksgiving we have in God's saving grace through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. National Enquirer Chairman reply.gif Generoso Pope Jr. 1985-02-23 Ed Conrad [January 1985?] I appreciate your taking the time and effort to send me your story suggestion. Common Cause Office of the Chairman reply.gif Z. McMillan 1985-04-17 Ed Conrad [January 30, 1985] Mr. Cox appreciates your interest in writing and would like you to have the enclosed brochure to give you a better idea of what this organization of which he is now Chairman is all about. University of California at Berkeley Museum of Paleontology reply.gif Michael T. Greenwald 1986-06-16 Ed Conrad [May 30, 1986] I'm terribly sorry Mr. Conrad, but you have apparently misplaced your fossils. Writer's Claim: Man Old As Coal? article.gif 1987-10-10 Ed Conrad? Hazleton, Pennsylvania Standard Speaker The problem is, the anthropologists and paleontologists simply don't know what to look for. Unfortunately, the vast, vast majority of them only know what they have read in books, or had been taught by professors who also had read it in books. Revelation? Mahanoy City Native Thinks So article.gif Reading Eagle Reading, Pennsylvania Bruce R. Posten 1988-02-21 Conrad has written a letter to Pope John Paul II, expecting that the Catholic Church might show some interest in a theory that possibly could cast a shadow over Darwin. Are Scientists Afraid of Ed Conrad? article.gif 1988-10-26 Bill O'Brien Shenandoah, Pennsylvania Evening Herald It could be the most stupendous archeological discovery of all time that Ed Conrad stumbled upon in Schuylkill County seven years ago. Maverick fossil hunter digs up attention on internet article.gif 1997-01-12 David Janoski Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania Times Leader "I'm not a Bible thumper. I'm certainly not a creationist," Conrad says. "But anyone who would not believe in a creator would have to be an imbecile." science.gif 2000-04-19 Nathan Sherman Chantilly, Virginia American Medical Laboratories Physician's Clinical Laboratory None of the constituents normally found in urinary calculi are present. Conversations for Exploration interview.gif 2003-08-15 Laura Lee ... those are people that I dealt with, nose-to-nose, and I got lies, got deceit, deception, collusion and corruption. Period. Ed Conrad www.edconrad.com topic.gif Ed Conrad 2003-09-26 US General Accounting Office Is it possible for me -- an American taxpayer -- to learn whether an Attorney David Sienkiewicz is on the payroll of the Smithsonian Institution or any other scientific institution? Congress of the United States House of Representatives reply.gif Tim Holden 2003-10-06 Ed Conrad [September 26, 2003?] According to the Office of Personnel Management, a privacy release form must be signed by Atty. David Sienkiewicz before any information can be released. This is not a confirmation that he is employed by the federal government.