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24, 249, AM ot Blackwelder - Wikipedia
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Eliot Blackwelder
Eliot Blackwelder (June 4, 1880 ~ January 14, 1969)
was an American geologist and educator. Known
primarily as a field geologist, from 1922 to 1945 he was
head of the Stanford University department of geology.
He served as president of the Geological Society of
America in 1940 and of the Seismological Society of
America from 1947 to 1949.12]
Biography
He was born at Chicago, Ilinois on June 4, 1880, the
son of Isaac Simeon Blackwelder and Alice Gertrude née
Boughton] Isaac was an insurance adjuster, then
working on claims following the Great Chicago Fire of
1871/41 Alice was a former instructor at the University
of Kansas. Eliot had an older brother, Paul Bruce
Blackwelder, born in 1878.51 As a youth, Eliot
developed an interest in entomology, and by the age of
15 he was a member of the American Ornithological
Union. He matriculated to the University of Chicago,
where he chose geology as his vocation, gaining an A.B
in 1901.61
Immediately following graduation, he was invited by
Rollin D. Salisbury to accompany him on an expedition
to the Rocky Mountains.!£ll7] He would join Salisbury
again in 1902 as a field assistant to explore glaciation in
the Bighorn Mountains.!®) Blackwelder received a
fellowship at Chicago and became a geology
instructor.!2] From 1902-1903 he was a fellow then an
assistant at the University of Chicago.'3! In 1903-1904,
he worked as a paleontologist on the Carnegie Institute
expedition to China. He was one of the assistants to
Bailey Willis, the leader of the expedition. The trip
lasted more than a year, crossing Asia, northern China,
Eliot Blackwelder
Born June 4, 1880
Chicago, Illinois, US
Died January 14, 1969 (aged 88)
Palo Alto, California, US
Education Ph.D. (1914)
Alma mater University of Chicago
Spouse Jean Otis Bowersock
Parents Isaac Simeon Blackwelder
(father)
‘Alice Gertrude Boughton (mother)
Scientific career
Fields Geology
Thesis —_Post-cretaceous history of the
‘mountains of central western
Wyoming (https://www.journals.uc
hicago.edu/doi/10.1086/622215)
and ending on the Yangtze River. Much of the region covered was unknown to Western geologists. It
bitpsien wikipedia.org WikVEliot Blackwelder
a‘128, 249 0 lot Blackwalder- Wikipedia
resulted in a four volume report, one of which was assembled by Blackwelder! After returning to
America, on September 26, 1904, he was married to Jean Otis Bowersock,! a childhood friend.©
The couple would have seven children: two sons and five daughters.!5
He was offered a position as instructor at the geology department of the University of Wisconsin in
1905.6] During the following years he became assistant professor then associate professor in
geology.'3! Starting in 1906 he became associated with the United States Geological Survey. First he
was an assistant geologist in Alaska and southeastern Wyoming during 1906-1908. After 1909 he
worked as a geologist performing studies in northern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and western
‘Wyoming. Most of his field work involved stratigraphic and glacial features of these regions, as well as
their economic resources.™] In 1911, he co-authored an elementary textbook titled, Elements of
Geology, with Harlan H. Barrows./2) The same year he was named full professor at Wisconsin, and
would remain at the university until 1916.!3]
In 1914 he was awarded a Ph.D.[! with a thesis titled, Post-cretaceous history of the mountains of
central western Wyoming."3] From June 1916 until August 1916 he was head of the geology
department at the University of Mlinois.!®] In 1917 he was a member of the California Petroleum
Commission, ™"! having been appointed by the state governor, William D. Stephens."4! During 1919 he
was a visiting professor at Stanford University, where he taught for a quarter.“4! He became the chief
geologist for the East Butte Copper Mining Company in September 1919, remaining there until
1g21,/31l35] Tm 1921 he was lecturing at Harvard, taking the place of Reginald Aldworth Daly who was
on leave.!6] During 1921-1922, he partnered with Lewis A. Parkhurst and George C. Humphrey to
establish the Teton Syndicate, where Blackwelder served as a manager. This trust was intended to
locate and extract petro-minerals.071
In 1922, he was named full professor!®! at Stanford University, filling the chair of the geology
department to replace the retiring Bailey Willis.(“4! He would remain chair at Stanford until 1945.8!
In 1936, Blackwelde was elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences,!2!
then he was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1939.9! He served as president of the
Geological Society of America in 1940,!2°] after serving as Vice President in 1933 and 1939.5! He was
elected President of the Seismological Society of America, serving from 1947 to 1949. [2]
During his time at Stanford, Blackwelder made geological explorations of the Sierra Nevada range and
its glacial valleys. He explored the arid regions of the southwest, writing papers on the origins and
evolution of desert landscapes. He was one of the first geologists to favor an impact origin for the
Barringer Crater. After retirement, he served in the Palo Alto chapter of the Atlantic Union
Committee.“5! During the final years of his life, his body was weakened from Parkinson's disease. He
died on January 14, 1969, surviving his wife by three years.l!2! The couple were able to celebrate their
6oth wedding anniversary together.!6]
Bibliography
= Blackwelder, Eliot (1907). Research in China, Expedition of 1903-04, Report on Zoology (https:i/b
o0ks.google.com/books?id=EjEsAAAAYAAJ). Carnegie Institution of Washington
bitpsien wikipedia.org WikVEliot Blackwelder 218‘128, 249 0 Sot lackwelder- Whepedia
= Blackwelder, Eliot; Smith, Warren DuPré; Iddings, Joseph Paxson (1910). Regional Geology of
the United States of North America (https://books.google.com/books?id=RtgKAAAAIAA). C.
Winter.
= Blackwelder, Eliot; Barrows, Harlan H. (1911). Elements of Geology (https://books. google.com/boo
ks?id=8yIIAAAAIAAJ). American Book Company.
References
1. Krauskopf, Konrad B. (1976). "Eliot Blackwelder, 1880 — 1969" (http://www.nasonline.org/publicati
ons/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/blackwelder-eliot.pdf) (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of the
National Academy of Sciences. 48: 83-103. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
2. "Dr. Eliot Blackwelder is Dead; Retired Stanford Geologist, 88" (https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/
16/archives/dr-eliot-blackwelder-is-dead-retired-stanford-geologist-88.html). The New York Times.
January 16, 1969. p. 41. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
3. Marquis, Albert Nelson; Leonard, John William, eds. (1924). Who's who in America (https://books.
google.com/books?id=CcxapMo5EBIC&pg=PA422). A. N. Marquis and Company. p. 422.
4." S, Blackwelder, Pioneer Insurance Man, 86, Dead” (https://chicagotribune.newspapers.convarti
Cle/chicago-tribune/44945859/). Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. August 15, 1926. p. 12.
Retrieved March 4, 2024.
5. Harper, Dan. "Unitarians in Palo Alto, 1891-1934, A Biographical Dictionary" (https://www.danielha
rper.org/yauu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/UCPABiographicalDictionaryPROOF pdf) (PDF). Palo
Alto, California: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
6. Howard, Arthur D.; Krauskopf, Konrad B.; Page, Ben M. "Memorial to Eliot Blackwelder, 1880-
1969" (hitps://rock, geosociety.org/net/documents/gsa/memorials/v01/Blackwelder-E pdf) (PDF).
The Geological Society of America, Archived (https://web archive. orgiweb/20240304041139/http
sillrock.geosociety.orginet/documents/gsa/memorials/v01/Blackwelder-E.pdf) (PDF) from the
original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
7. Salisbury, Rollin D. (November 1901). "Glacial Work in the Western Mountains in 1901". The
Journal of Geology. 9 (8): 718-731. Bibcode:1901JG......9..718S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ab
s/1901JG......9..718S). doi:10, 1086/620970 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F620970).
JSTOR 30061414 (https://wwwjstor.org/stable/300614 14).
8. Salisbury, Rollin D.; Blackwelder, Eliot (February 1903). "Glaciation in the Bighorn Mountains".
The Journal of Geology. 11 (2): 216-223. Bibcode:1903JG.....11..216S (https://ui.adsabs. harvard.
edu/abs/1903JG.....11..216S). doi:10.1086/621070 (htips://doi.org/10.1086%2F621070)
JSTOR 30054783 (https:/iwwwjstor.org/stable/30054783).
9. Colby, Frank Moore, ed. (1924). New International Encyclopedia. Supplement (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=ySTWe3glinQC&pg=PA180). Vol. 1. Dodd, Mead, and Company. p. 180
10. Blackwelder, Eliot. "Willis Bailey” (https:/;www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirsim
emoir-pafs/willis-bailey.pdf) (PDF). National Academy of Science. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
11. Bishop, Bradford, ed. (1923). "Directory of Stanford Earth Scientists" (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=MS0PAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA14). Year Book and Directory of the Geological and Mining
Society of American Universities. Vol. 9. Stanford University. p. 14.
12. "Eliot Blackwelder" (http://www.nasonline.orgimember-directory/deceased-members/20001036.ht
mi). www.nasoniine.org. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
13. Stephens, Alida M. (1916). A List of American Doctoral Dissertations Printed in [1912-] 1938 (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=hTMAAAAAYAAJ8&pg=PA20). Library of Congress. Catalog
Division. p. 20,
14. "California Petroleum" (https:/mww.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.46.1184.231). Science. 46
(1184): 231-232, September 7, 1917. doi:10.1126/science.46.1184 (https://doi.org/10,1126%2F sci
ence.46.1184) (inactive November 1, 2024). Retrieved March 4, 2024.
hitpsensikipedia.orgWikVEtlot Blackwelder 424, 249, AM Flot Blackwelder - Wikipedia
15. "Eliot Blackwelder papers, 1901-1964" (https://archiveswest orbiscascade. org/ark:80444/xv51687
1), Archives West. Orbis Cascade Alliance. Retrieved March 4, 2024,
16. “University and Educational News". Science. New Series. 54 (1406): 575-576. December 9, 1921
USTOR 1645994 (htips:/Avwwjstor.org/stable/1645994)
17. Merk, Richard T. (April 2017). "Teton Syndicate” (https://tetonsyndicate.weebly.com/), Retrieved
March 4, 2024.
18. "Guide to the Eliot Blackwelder Papers” (https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9h4nf6n8/).
Online Archive of California, UC Libraries. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
19. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc. org/memhist/search?creator=Eliot+Blackwelder&
{itle=8subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=8keyword=&smode=advanced).
search.amphilsoc.org. American Philosophical Society. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
20. "Professor at Stanford 'U' Geology Head" (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-minneapolis-st
ar/20329483/). The Minneapolis Star. Minneapolis, Minnesota. December 28, 1939. p. 11
Retrieved March 4, 2024,
Further reading
= Douglass, John, "Eliot Blackwelder (1880-1969) and Lake Overflow re-proposed 1934" (https:/ww
2 paradisevalley.edu/~douglass/v_trips/grand_canyon/introduction_files/Part3.html). GPH 217
Grand Canyon: Deciphering the Grand Canyon. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
External links
= Works by or about Eliot Blackwelder (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%3
‘A%22Blackwelder%2C%20E liot%22%200R%20subject%3A%22Eliot%20Blackwelder%22%200
R%20creator%3A%22Blackwelder%2C%20Eliot%22%200R%20creator%3A%22Eliot%20Blackw
elder%22%200R%20creator%3A%22Blackwelder%2C%20E %2E%22%200R%201itle%3A%22E|
iot%20Blackwelder%22%200R%20description%3A %22Blackwelder%2C%20Eliot%22%200R%2
Odescription%3A%22Eliot%20Blackwelder%22%29%200R%20%28%221880-1969%22%20AN
D%20Blackwelder%429%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the Internet Archive
Retrieved from “https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index. php?itle=Eliot_Blackwelder&oldid=1254900824"
hitpsensikipedia.orgWikVEtlot Blackwelder 4