Skip to main content

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Department of Geology

 Organization

Biography

Geology at Northwestern University was first offered as a course in natural history in 1856. At that time the field of natural history included botany, zoology and mineralogy. Despite a limited knowledge of geology, Oliver Marcy accepted appointment as Northwestern's first professor of natural science in 1862. For the next thirty-seven years he taught all of the University's courses in natural history. In 1892 the professorship of natural history was changed to a professorship of geology. Geology was still a part of the Department of Natural History and involved the fields dynamical geology, structural geology and geography, and historical geology.

Oliver Marcy died in 1899 and Northwestern president Henry Wade Rogers choose geologist Ulysses Sherman Grant to succeed Marcy. Grant soon became chairman of the Department of Geology and Geography. He spent his summers in the field, traveling widely across the United States and Alaska, and filling his notebooks with drawings and descriptions of daily activities. Some of his notebooks are located in this collection. Until his death in 1932, Grant specialized on the regions of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Alaska, searching for iron and copper-bearing ore, zinc and lead deposits, mineral resources, gas and oil.

Arthur L. Howland, Robert M. Garrels and David V. Harris, Oscar E. Gram and Howard W. Miller organized trips to explore the large chromite deposits in Montana during the late 1930s and early 1940s, areas of importance to industry and war manufacture.

At the same time William E. Powers mapped the general geology of Massachusetts with special consideration for road materials. Of economic as well as scientific importance was the investigation of gravel, clay and sand deposits of glacial origin in the valley of the Connecticut River. Notes and drawings of Powers trips are located in this collection. So are the field notebooks of John T. Stark, who went to Colorado in the summer of 1943 to examine an iron ore deposit to predict its extent and grade. Despite its relative inaccessibility – heights at Elk Mountain reach up to 13,000 feet - it was meant to be a possible supplement to the other domestic iron ore resources.

After World War II, efforts were made within the Department of Geology to develop mathematical geology. Mathematical techniques were applied to the exploitation of oil-bearing formations and other minerals and their accurate mapping and interpretation. The Department became a leader in research programs that were of special interest to the petroleum industry.

Found in 10 Collections and/or Records:

Edward C. Dapples (1906-2009) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/9
Abstract

The Edward C. Dapples Papers, filling three boxes, span the years 1938 to 1980 and cover his career as a geologist, consultant and university professor. The papers include biographical materials, correspondence, publications files, and research and subject files. Included in the subject files are drawings, booklets, a few letters, graphs, maps, diagrams, and bibliographies on various geological subjects from the period 1940-1976.

Dates: 1938-1980

Department of Geological Sciences, NASA Research Grant Reports

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/4
Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research Grant was a six year project to study the application of statistical techniques to remotely-sensed data for the purposes of lunar mapping. Using statistical analysis, Northwestern geologists profiled the composition, physical properties, and surface configurations of selected test sites in Michigan and California. This series consists of an incomplete run of periodically-issued status and special subject reports as well as a copy of...
Dates: 1964-1970

Department of Geological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/5
Abstract

This series, comprising three boxes, includes a small variety of master's theses and doctoral dissertations written by graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences. These theses and dissertations span the years from 1960 to 1973. The series does not form a complete record of graduate work sponsored by the Department during these years. Rather, these theses and dissertations mainly represent some of the work sponsored by E.H. Timothy Whitten, professor in the Department.

Dates: 1960-1973

Department of Geology Field Notebooks and Catalogs

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/12
Abstract

This collection contains field notebooks, cross section books, and catalogues of minerals, composed by professors, instructors, and students of Northwestern University's Geology Department between 1881 and 1953.

Dates: 1881-1953

Robert M. Garrels (1916-1988) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/10
Abstract Robert M. Garrels joined the Northwestern University faculty as an instructor in geology in 1941. In 1944 he became an assistant professor, and in 1949 an associate professor in 1949. After interruptions for work with the U.S. Geological Survey and at other universities, he returned to Northwestern as professor in 1974, retiring in 1980. His papers fill twenty-one boxes, spanning the period 1938 to 1988, are arranged into four principal categories: correspondence, teaching files, research...
Dates: 1938-1992

Department of Geological Sciences Departmental Administrative Records

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/8
Abstract

The records of the Department of Geology include departmental correspondence files, subject files, and grant and research proposal files.

Dates: 1939 - 1981

Department Of Geology Graduate Student Records

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/11
Abstract

The Geology Department graduate student records are comprised of twenty-five boxes. The material dates from 1936 to 1989. The records are arranged alphabetically by the student's surname and chronologically within each folder. The files consist mainly of the following: graduate school applications, transcripts, grade reports, and recommendations. Some files may contain correspondence, letters of acceptance, test booklets, or dissertation topic outlines.

Dates: 1936-1989

Laurence Louis Sloss (1913-1996) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/14
Abstract

The Papers of stratigraphic and petroleum geologist Laurence L. Sloss, who taught at Northwestern University from 1947-1981, consist of correspondence, publications, fieldwork (notes and maps), publications, and photographs.

Dates: 1932-1996; Other: Date acquired: 06/12/1997

Robert C. Speed (1933-2003) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/13
Abstract

Structural geologist and geophysicist Robert C. Speed (1933-2003) taught at Northwestern University from 1966 to 2002. His work focused on tectonics, structural geology, and active continental margins, mostly in Nevada, Barbados, and across the Caribbean. These papers document Speed's research, fieldwork, publications, and teaching life.

Dates: 1848-2003

E.H. Timothy Whitten (1927- ) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 11/3/14/6
Abstract Geologist E.H. Timothy Whitten's research interests included the origin and variability of granite as well as analysis of geological materials.The E.H. Timothy Whitten Papers, comprising two boxes, span the years from 1956 to 1981. The papers, including biographical materials, general correspondence, and course, research projects, and publications files, are scattered and provide only thin documentation of Whitten's personal life and academic career. Whitten's research projects files...
Dates: 1956-1981

Additional filters:

Subject
Geology--Study and teaching 5
Dissertations, Academic--United States--Bibliography 1
Geochemistry--Bibliography 1
Geologists 1
Geology--Bibliography 1