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Albert Homer Purdue Professional Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS P97

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains 18 notebooks; 23 manuscripts of published or unpublished articles, addresses and reports by Purdue; 45 reprints, tear-sheets, clippings and pamphlet printings of published articles, addresses and other works by, or about the academic or professional careers of, the Indiana native and Stanford University graduate who became Arkansas State Geologist and Arkansas State Superintendent of Mines and Metallurgy and who served as University of Arkansas professor of geology and mining from 1896 until 1912, when he accepted appointment as Tennessee State Geologist. Some of the material, which is arranged in 3 series, relates to John Casper Branner.

Dates

  • 1874-1918

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Albert Purdue was born on March 29, 1861, on a farm near Yankeetown, Indiana. Albert was the second oldest of eight children and spent his youth working on the family farm, receiving only minimal formal education. However, at the age of twenty, he entered the Indiana State Normal School (later Indiana State University) in Terre Haute where he received his diploma on June 8, 1888. Albert also attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, but obtained his Bachelor of Arts on May 31, 1893, as the first geology student graduated by Stanford University in California. While at Stanford, Purdue worked under Professor John Casper Branner, who was state geologist of Arkansas from 1887 to 1893. He also operated a laundry business with fellow geology student Herbert Clark Hoover, who later became president of the United States. Albert enrolled as a graduate student in geology on a fellowship at the University of Chicago but later left since he was given a position as professor of geology at Arkansas Industrial University. In 1898, he was promoted to full professor and married Ida Pace, an associate professor of English at the university, on December 22 and they had two sons. By legislative act, Albert was appointed ex officio state geologist of Arkansas from 1907 to 1912, in addition to his responsibilities for teaching and research at the university. As state, geologist, he oversaw publication of volumes on slates for 1909 (which he authored), coal mining for 1910 (by A. A. Steel), and water power for 1911 (by W. N. Gladson). He was also a field geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey during the summers of 1895 and 1900 through 1912. Folios published as a result of this field work depicting the geology of areas in Ozark, Hot Springs (Garland County), and southern Arkansas furthered Purdues reputation as a geologist. In 1912, the state cut off support for his position, and in February 1912, Purdue was granted leave to accept the position of state geologist of Tennessee. He officially resigned his university position that summer. He was presented with a silver cup by his students, and the university awarded him an honorary LLD degree. While state geologist of Tennessee, Purdue produced a series of volumes on the resources of the state, especially its base metals. At the point in his life, he was a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the Geological Society of America, and the Geological Society of London, as well as president of the Tennessee Academy of Sciences. An intestinal condition that had plagued him for nearly thirty years became increasingly acute in the latter stages of his life. A series of attacks left him periodically incapacitated, and a particularly severe attack in November 1917 while he was working in the field forced him to return to Nashville, Tennessee, for surgery. On the morning of the operation, he dictated a report on the manganese deposits he had been investigating in eastern Tennessee. Although the operation was at first deemed successful, complications set in, and Purdue died of kidney failure on December 12, 1917.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged in three series:

  1. Series 1. Notebooks
  2. Series 2. Manuscripts
  3. Series 3. Printed Materials

Acquisition Information

The Albert Homer Purdue Professional Papers were donated to the Special Collections Department by Richard Howell Purdue of Arlington, Virginia in July 1974.

Processing Information

Processed by Samuel Sizer; completed in November 1974.

Title
Albert Homer Purdue Professional Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Samuel Sizer
Date
November 1974
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Department Repository

Contact:
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444