Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a biographical dictionary

mnsss199 Florence Bascom Papers, 1870-1971 (1875-1940) Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by . Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Northampton, MA

2005

Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jennifer Smar. 2005-11-21 Finding aid written in English Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Florence Bascom Papers, 1870-1971 (1875-1940) Finding Aid MS 12 Revised 2005

Collection Overview Bascom, Florence, 1862-1945 Florence Bascom Papers1870-1971 1875-1940 MS 12 17 boxes (7 linear ft.) English; German Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

Geologist, Professor. The papers include biographical information, photographs, scrapbooks, sketchbooks, writings, memorabilia, financial records, and extensive personal and professional correspondence. Correspondents include Elaine Goodale Eastman, Annie Peck, Gifford Pinchot, Isabel Fothergill Smith, M. Carey Thomas, and Charles R. Van Hise. Correspondence from the Goldschmidt family is in German with English translation. Her writings include published and unpublished geology articles re: Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. The papers also contain speeches, U.S. Geological Survey reports, verse, and photographs, which include pictures taken on geological expeditions to western and southwestern U.S. and Mexico. Biographical Note

Florence Bascom, Heidelberg, 1907

Florence Bascom was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1862. She received both her B.S. (1882) and A.M. (1887) from the University of Wisconsin, where her father, John Bascom, was president. In 1893 she became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in geology. She taught at Rockford College and Ohio State University before teaching her first geology course at Bryn Mawr in 1895 as a reader in geology, and was a Professor of Geology from 1906 to 1928. Bascom introduced the undergraduate major in geology at Bryn Mawr, and eventually made it a graduate program of national reputation. Bascom was the first woman elected to the U.S. Geological Survey, for the mid-Atlantic Piedmont area. She was associate editor of American Geologist from 1896 to 1905 and was also the first woman elected as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1894, and in 1930, she was named vice-president. Florence Bascom died in 1945.

For a more detailed biography, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a biographical dictionary. Edited by Edward T. James and Janet Wilson James (Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Press, 1971).

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers include biographical information, photographs, scrapbooks, sketchbooks, writings, memorabilia, financial records, and extensive personal and professional correspondence. Correspondents include Elaine Goodale Eastman, Annie Peck, Gifford Pinchot, Isabel Fothergill Smith, M. Carey Thomas, and Charles R. Van Hise. Correspondence from the Goldschmidt family is in German with English translation. Her writings include published and unpublished geology articles re: Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. The papers also contain speeches, U.S. Geological Survey reports, verse, and photographs, which include pictures taken on geological expeditions to western and southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into seven series:

I: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND GENEALOGY II: PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA III: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MATERIALS IV: CORRESPONDENCE V: WRITINGS VI: ORGANIZATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS VII: INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS OVERSIZED MATERIALS Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.

Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Florence Bascom Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

History of the Collection

The Florence Bascom Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1976 by Isabel Fothergill Smith, who was a student of Florence Bascom and inherited her house along with its contents. She donated additional biographical materials in 1981, after publishing The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom.

Finding aid revised by Jennifer Smar, 2005.

Search Terms Geologists--United States--Biography--Sources Geology--Pennsylvania Geology--Study and teaching (Higher)--History--Sources Women geologists--United States--Biography--Sources Women scientists--United States--Biography--Sources Women--Suffrage--United States--History--Sources Bascom, Florence, 1862-1945-Correspondence Eastman, Elaine Goodale, 1863-1953 Peck, Annie S. (Annie Smith), 1850-1935--Correspondence Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946--Correspondence Smith, Isabel Fothergill, 1890- Thomas, M. Carey (Martha Carey), 1857-1935--Correspondence Van Hise, Charles Richard, 1857-1918--Correspondence Bascom family Curtiss family The stone lady : a memoir of Florence Bascom / by Isabel Fothergill Smith--Sources SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND GENEALOGY 1 1 Contents Bascom/Curtiss family 1 2 Invitation, correspondence, pamphlets, and marriage certificate, 1921-39 1 Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family (Boston, 1903) 1 Harris, Edward Doubleday. A Genealogical Record of Thomas Bascom, and his Descendants (Boston, 1870) Florence Bascom 1 3 Clippings and articles, 1935-39 1 4 Reminiscences by Florence Bascom and others: articles and notes, 1877-1945 1 5 Notes by Isabel F. Smith, 1888-1936 1 6-7 Clippings and articles, 1877-1959 Other Family 1 8 George Bascom (brother): clippings and correspondence, 1932-37 1 9 Emma Curtiss Bascom (mother): clippings, pamphlet, and notes, 1916 SERIES II. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA 2 1 Florence Bascom, n.d. 2 2 Florence Bascom in groups, n.d. 2 3 Bascom family, n.d. 2 4 Friends, n.d. 2 5 Animals, n.d. 3 1 "Topping" and other houses, n.d. 3 2 Expeditions, n.d. 3 3 Miscellaneous, n.d. 3 4 Unidentified, n.d. 4-5 Photograph albums (9), 1877-1909 6 Framed photographs, n.d. 7 Scrapbooks, address books, guestbook, and diary, ca. 1900-33 SERIES III. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MATERIALS Correspondence 8 1 Miscellaneous, 1894-1940 8 2 Peabody, Houghteling & Co., 1927-40 8 3 Financial fraud, 1940 8 4 TIAA, 1928-34 8 5 Contracts, 1895-1914 8 6 Tax documents, 1914-40 8 7 Business documents, 1927-39 SERIES IV. CORRESPONDENCE From Florence Bascom to 9 1 Family, 1915-37 9 2 Mira Dock, 1901-35 9 3 Goldschmidts, 1906-40 9 4 Isabel F. Smith, 1928-43 9 5 M. Carey Thomas, 1903-16 9 6 Others, 1898-1941 10 1 From Emma Bascom (mother) to Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Chadbourne, 1868-69 From family 10 2-3 Emma Bascom, 1878-90 10 4-7 John Bascom (father) (includes typed transcripts), 1883-1910 10 8 George Bascom (brother), 1936-37 10 9 Jean Bascom (sister), 1941 10 10 Nell Bascom (sister-in-law), 1924-30 10 11 Cousins, 1894-1934 From non-family, personal 11 1 A (includes Jane S. Atwill re: Elaine Eastman), 1929-35 11 2 B, 1911-39 11 3 C-D, 1893-1935 11 4 Clark, Robert, 1934-41 11 5 E-F, 1914-40 11 6 Eastman, E.G., 1930-40 11 7 G, 1911-40 11 8-9 Goldschmidt, Victor (includes English translation), 1907-38 11 10 H-I, 1911-34 11 11 J-K, 1911-39 11 12 L, 1896-1941 11 13 M, 1912-40 12 1 N-P (includes Annie Peck), 1904-39 12 2-3 Porter, Mary, 1914-40 12 5 R, 1911-40 12 6 S, 1911-41 12 7 Smith, Isabel Fothergill, 1934-41 12 8 T, 1913-33 12 9 U-V, 1931-37 12 10 W, 1908-40 12 11 Wyckoff, Dorothy (includes watercolor painting), 1923-41 12 12 Unidentified, 1921-37 Professional 13 1 A, 1892-1912 13 2 B, 1894-1930 13 3 Berkey, C., 1913-41 13 4 C, 1894-1935 13 5 Clark, William, 1900-17 13 6 Crosby, W.O., 1898-1912 13 7 D, 1896-1934 13 8 Dale, T. Nelson, 1896-1935 13 9 Diller, J.S., 1890-1910 13 10 Durden, Henry, 1896 13 11 E, 1904-12 13 12 F, 1894-1940 13 13 G, 1897-1934 13 14 H, 1896-194 13 15 Hayes, O. M., 1903-11 13 16 I, 1911-21 13 17 Department of the Interior, 1900-20 13 18 J, 1907-39 13 19 K, 1894-1937 13 20 Keith, Arthur, 1905-15 14 1 L, 1896-1934 14 2 M, 1896-1940 14 3 Miller, B.L., 1912-39 14 4 N-O, 1899-1907 14 5 P, 1897-1939 14 6 Park, Marion, 1928-38 14 7 Pinchot, Gifford, 1929-30 14 8 R, 1897-1940 14 9 S, 1897-1937 14 10 Smith, G.O., 1897-1914 14 11 Stose, G.W., 1899-1912 14 12 T, 1896-97 14 13 Thomas, M. Carey, 1894-1922 14 14 U, 1894-1910 14 15 U.S. Geological Survey, 1913-16 14 16 V, 1898-1907 14 17 Van Hise, Charles R., 1894-1905 14 18 W, 1894-1922 14 19 Watson, E.H., 1934-37 14 20 Wherry, E.T., 1908-14 14 21 Willis, Bailey, 1896-1931 14 22 Wright, F.E., 1896-1912 14 23 Miscellaneous, 1898-1931 15 1-5 Miscellaneous, 1886-1963 SERIES V. WRITINGS 16 1 High school and college papers, 1876-80 16 2 Pamphlets and bibliography, 1913-37 16 3-4 Pamphlets, 1896-1926 16 5 Articles and clippings, 1896-1934 16 6 U.S. Geological Survey: press releases, reports, and itinerary (presumed to be by Florence Bascom), 1915-36 16 7 Speeches, 1922-38 16 8 Unpublished writings, 1923-28 16 9 Verse, 1932 16 10 Notes, n.d. SERIES VI. ORGANIZATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS 17 1 Certificates and pamphlets, 1900-39 17 2 Phi Beta Kappa: pamphlets, clippings, and certificates, 1896-1904 17 3 Honors, awards, and certificates, 1875-1926 17 4 Testimonial for Florence Bascom: articles, telegrams, and correspondence, 1928 SERIES VII. INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS

[see also CORRESPONDENCE]

17 5 Blake, Sue Avis: verse and photograph, n.d. 17 6 Butler, Anna Bates: articles, 1905 17 7 Eastman, Elaine Goodale: correspondence, verse, and clippings, 1928-38 17 8 Goldschmidt, Victor: pamphlet and correspondence, 1908-12 17 9 Ogilvie, Ida: correspondence, clippings, and articles, 1928-40 17 10 Thomas, M. Carey: cards, pamphlets, and correspondence, 1899-1922 17 11 Maps, 1892 17 12 Women's rights: pamphlets and clippings, 1975-82 Memorabilia 17 Class list and verse, n.d. 17 Eye glasses in cases (3 pairs), n.d. 17 13 Correspondence, verse, and cards, 1897 The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom 17 14 Clippings and correspondence, 1975-82 17 15 Photographs (photocopies), n.d. 17 Copy of The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom by Isabel Fothergill Smith (Bryn Mawr College, 1981) OVERSIZED MATERIALS Flat File Photographs, 1939 Flat File Embroidered Bascom coat of arms, n.d. Flat File Degree certificates, 1877-1915 Flat File Paintings, 1931