Rollin D. Salisbury collection

Collection

Identifier: MC 94

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection holds a significant number of Salisbury's publications, as well as print and photocopied articles pertaining to his work and death. There are a number of photographs within his collection, including a folder of oversized photographs in the Oversize Photographs area. His papers also contain a limited amount of genealogical information.

Dates

1873-1963

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research; however, certain materials are very fragile and require Archives staff for handling, or use may be restricted altogether.

Biographical / Historical

Rollin D. Salisbury, born in Wisconsin in 1858, graduated from Beloit College as a member of the class of 1881, before working with T.C. Chamberlin for the U.S. Geological Survey, which he continued to work for from 1882 onwards. After working for a year at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, Salisbury taught at the University of Chicago from 1892 until his death, heading and developing the first Geology department in the United States. He was Helen L.D. Richardson's uncle and a Beloit alumnus from the class of 1881.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (3 boxes, bound volumes, photographs)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Rollin D. Salisbury earned world-wide fame for his work in the field of Geology. A Beloit graduate of the class of 1881, he worked as a professor at the University of Chicago for 30 years. This collection holds a significant number of Salisbury's publications, as well as print and photocopied articles pertaining to his work and death. There are also a number of photographs and a limited amount of genealogical information.

Arrangement

This collection has been compiled over the years through separate accessions of various sizes from various offices and individuals, none of which has any accompanying documentation. The original order of the documents is unknown. The arrangement order presented here has been imposed by the College Archives staff.

"The preservation of these letters of Rollin D. Salisbury, Beloit'81, M.A. '82, LLD. '04, we owe to the devotion of his close friend and confidant, Horace Spencer Fiske'82, to who they were written. In 1936 he gave them to Rollin Salisbury's niece Helen Louisa Drew, who thought they ought eventually to belong to Beloit College, for which she has edited them. She has had the aid of Mr. Fiske himself, of her mother, Elsie Salisbury Drew, and of the Alumni Office of Beloit College. The letters span the years between 1880, when Salisbury was ready for his senior year at Beloit College, and 1892, when he accepted the post of Professor of Geographic Geology at The University of Chicago." Rockford College. April, 1940.