The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Rollin D. Salisbury Papers 1880-1922
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Salisbury, Rollin D. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1880-1922 |
| Size: | 7.5 linear feet (15 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Rollin D. Salisbury, Professor at the University of Chicago, Dean of the Ogden School of Social Science, and Head of the Department of Geography was one of the scholars on the Peary Relief Expedition. Salisbury's papers consist of fifteen boxes containing personal correspondence, legal and financial records, professional correspondence, notebooks, lecture outlines, manuscripts, speeches, clippings, photographs, and postcards. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Salisbury, Rollin D. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Rollin D. Salisbury (1858-1922), a native of Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, graduated from Beloit College (Ph.B., 1881) as a student of Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, professor of geology. When Chamberlin resigned his post at Beloit in 1882 to become chief of the Glacial Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, Salisbury assumed his position on the faculty, completed a second degree (A.M., 1884), and remained at Beloit until 1891 teaching geology, zoology, and botany. In 1891, Chamberlin, as president of the University of Wisconsin, brought Salisbury to Madison as a professor of geology with a concentration in geographic geology. Their joint tenure at Wisconsin was brief, however, for in 1892 both left to join the faculty of the recently organized University of Chicago, Chamberlin as first Head Professor of the Department of Geology, and Salisbury as Professor of Geographic Geology in the Department.
Once in Chicago, Chamberlin and Salisbury turned their energies to the formation of the new Department and the launching of a professional publication, the Journal of Geology, which Salisbury served as managing editor and editor for geographic geology. Salisbury's abilities soon brought him other University positions as well: he was named Dean of the University Colleges (1894-1896), University Examiner (1895-1898), and Dean of the Ogden Graduate School of Science (1899-1922), a post giving him general administrative supervision of the University's graduate programs in physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. In 1903, Salisbury's duties as professor and dean were enlarged by his appointment as the first Head of the Department of Geography, the first graduate department of its kind at an American university. Patterned after a proposal submitted by J. Paul Goode in 1902, the Department marked a decisive step in the development of academic geography from a specialization within geology to an independent discipline with its own field of inquiry. Drawing on his work in the geographic and physiographic aspects of geology, Salisbury recruited faculty and guided the curriculum of the Department of Geography for the next fifteen years, while continuing to offer courses both there and in the Department of Geology and Paleontology as Professor of Geographic Geology. In 1919, with the retirement of Chamberlin, Salisbury assumed the position of Head of the Department of Geology and Paleontology, an administrative post he held until his sudden illness and death in 1922.
lthough Salisbury's most substantial contributions were in teaching and administration, he also devoted himself to a wide range of field projects in geology and geography. During the school year 1887-1888, while on leave from Beloit to study at the University of Heidelberg, he traveled extensively in Germany and made careful notes on Pleistocene formations in the north German lowlands. In 1895, having been recommended by Chamberlin, he was able to make further observations on glacial activity as geologist with the Peary Relief Expedition in northern Greenland. He served for many years as assistant geologist (1882-1892) and geologist (1892-1910) with the U.S. Geological Survey, and for much of that time (1891-1910) was supervisor of the Pleistocene Division of the Geological Survey of New Jersey. In 1919, as a result of his considerable experience, Salisbury was named a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Illinois State Geological Survey. Publications generated by his field and survey work included the "Preliminary Paper on the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi Valley" (1885) written with Chamberlin; a series of reports on the geology of New Jersey which appeared from 1892 to 1917; a text in the American Science Series, Geology (3 vols., 1904-1906), written with Chamberlin; and Physiography, a text issued in five editions between 1907 and 1919.
Salisbury's specialization in geographic geology and his direction of the first graduate department of geography gave him important responsibilities in the development of professional geography. The first president of the Geographic Society of Chicago (1898-1899), Salisbury was also a charter member (1904), vice-president (1908), and president (1912) of the Association of American Geographers, and a chairman and vice-president (1917) of Section E (Geology and Geography) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His most lasting impact on geography, however, was felt through the work of his students, who in the early decades of the twentieth century composed nearly a third of the membership of the A.A.G. and included such figures as Wallace Atwood, Wellington Jones, Charles Colby, Harlan Barrows, Robert Platt, and Carl Sauer. While these scholars, all leaders in the first generation of academic geography, produced theories and methods that eventually diverged widely from Salisbury's model, they nevertheless remained faithful to the spirit of his weekly student-staff seminars and found their careers shaped by his insistence on the importance of rigorous field research.
Series I: PERSONAL PAPERS
The personal papers are organized into four sub-series: Personal Correspondence, Legal and Financial Correspondence, Legal and Financial Documents, and Biographical. Typescripts of early Salisbury letters found in were evidently prepared by Helen L. D. Richardson during her custody of the papers. Charles Keyes, in his obituary, reveals that while Salisbury commonly signed himself "R. D. Salisbury," he had no middle name.
Series II: PROFESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE
Salisbury's correspondence with T. C. Chamberlin includes important letters on the organization of the Department of Geology, the construction of the Walker Museum, and the publication of the Journal of Geology, among other matters. In addition to exchanges with Departmental faculty and students, Salisbury maintained professional correspondence with a number of other colleagues and assistants engaged in geological work: William Alden, G. K. Gilbert, William Hayes, Frank Leverett, Charles Walcott, and Bailey Willis of the U.S. Geological Survey; G. N. Knapp, Henry Kümmel, Charles Peet, F. C. Schrader, John Smock, Irving Upson, and A. R. Whitson of the Geological Survey of New Jersey; Frank DeWolf, Fred Kay, and Josua Lindahl of the Illinois State Geological Survey; and Zonia Baber, Henry Cox, Ulysses Grant, Henry Patten, Harry Pearson, William Stirling, and Frederick West of the Geographic Society of Chicago.
Series III: NOTEBOOKS
Several notebooks in this series date from Salisbury's year of study and travel in Germany, England, and other parts of Europe during 1887-1888. The notes collected on his tour of scientific buildings and laboratories at Johns Hopkins and Harvard in 1889 undoubtedly proved useful in equipping Walker Museum three years later. The remainder of the notebooks, while largely undated, reveal the range of Salisbury's intellectual interests.
Series IV: LECTURES, NOTES AND MANUSCRIPTS
Material in this series has been arranged chronologically within seventeen topical categories. For the most part, these professional writings on geology and geography consist of outlines prepared for University courses or public lectures, although some are more substantial prose manuscripts. The records of the Society for Visual Education document Salisbury's efforts to harness the new mass medium of motion pictures for the cause of socialization and popular enlightenment.
Series V: SPEECHES
In contrast to the lectures in Series IV, these speeches were prepared for specific occasions such as the presentation of the Geographic Society of Chicago's Helen Culver Gold Medal or a high school graduation. The organization is chronological.
Series VI: TEACHING MATERIALS
While material in this series is miscellaneous in character, it focuses on subjects in which Salisbury considered himself to be an authority: administration and teaching. In his precise suggestions on the conduct of classes and communication with students, one encounters the conceptual basis for his formidable pedagogical reputation.
Series VII: PHOTOGRAPHS AND POSTCARDS
These photographs and postcards depict scenes of Salisbury's travels and field excursions in Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and the western United States. Those from the Peary Relief Expedition to Greenland are identified on the verso in Salisbury's hand.
Series I: Personal Papers |
Subseries 1: Personal Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | 1880-1909 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | 1910-1919 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | 1920-1922 and undated |
Subseries 2: Legal and Financial Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | 1886-1892 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | 1893-1896 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | 1897-1899 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | 1901-1922 and undated |
Subseries 3: Legal and Financial Documents |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Loans, 1890-1892 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Life insurance premiums, 1893-1909 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Common stock, 1894-1910 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Real estate, general, 1898-1907 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Real estate, property tax receipts, 1888-1894 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Real estate, property tax receipts, 1895-1908 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Miscellaneous receipts, 1892-1894 |
Subseries 4: Biographical |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Biographical clippings, 1892-1903 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Reviews of RDS publications, 1892-1913 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Geological clippings, 1896-1921 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Scrapbook on Shackleton Antarctic expedition, 1909 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Geographic Society of Chicago dinner programs, 1918-1920 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Humorous tributes by students, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Anecdotes collected by RDS, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Notes on Republican politics, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | Miscellaneous memorabilia, 1892-1922 |
| Box 2 Folder 14 | Memorial tribute by Board of Directors, John Crerar Library, 1922 |
| Box 2 Folder 15 | Keyes, Charles. "Rollin D. Salisbury: Life Sketch," 1922; Wrather, W. E. "Obituary: Rollin D. Salisbury," 1922 |
Series II: Professional Correspondence |
| Box 2 Folder 16 | A, general (includes Edward E. Ayer) |
| Box 2 Folder 17 | Alden, William C. |
| Box 2 Folder 18 | Ames, Herman V. |
| Box 2 Folder 19 | Atwood, Wallace W. |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | B, general (includes Harlan H. Barrows) |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Baber, Zonia |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Bain, H. Foster |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Baker, Charles Lawrence |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Bevan, Arthur |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Blackwelder, Eliot (SEE ALSO Willis, Bailey) |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Bowman, Isaiah |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Bownocker, John A. |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | Branner, J. C. |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Branson, Edwin B. |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | Bratton, S. T. |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Butler, Nathaniel |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | C, general |
| Box 3 Folder 14 | Cady, Gilbert H. |
| Box 3 Folder 15 | Calkins, R. D. |
| Box 3 Folder 16 | Capen, S. P. |
| Box 3 Folder 17 | Carman, J. Ernest |
| Box 3 Folder 18 | Chamberlin, Thomas Chrowder, 1892 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Chamberlin, Thomas Chrowder, 1893-1894 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Chamberlin, Thomas Chrowder, 1895-1896, 1917 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Chaney, Ralph W. |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Clark, William Bullock |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Conkling, Richard A. |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Cowles, Henry C. |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Cox, Henry J. |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Crerar Library (includes C. W. Andrews) |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | D, general (includes N. H. Darton and John Dewey) |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | De Booy, Theodoer |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | DeWolf, Frank W., 1904-1910 |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | DeWolf, Frank W., 1911-1916 |
| Box 4 Folder 13 | DeWolf, Frank W., 1917-1918 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | DeWolf, Frank W., 1919-1921 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | E, general |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | F, general (includes W. F. Ferrier) |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Fenneman, Nevin M. |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Finch, John Wellington |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Fisher, Elizabeth F. |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Fiske, Horace S. |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | G, general (includes Thomas W. Goodspeed) |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | Geikie, James |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | Geographic Society of Chicago |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | Gilbert, G. K. |
| Box 5 Folder 12 | Goode, J. Paul |
| Box 5 Folder 13 | Grant, Ulysses Sherman |
| Box 5 Folder 14 | H, general (includes William R. Harper, D.C. Heath, and Henry Holt) |
| Box 5 Folder 15 | Haas, William H. |
| Box 5 Folder 16 | Halliwell, A. C. |
| Box 5 Folder 17 | Hayes, C. William |
| Box 5 Folder 18 | Hills, Thomas M. |
| Box 5 Folder 19 | Hobbs, William H. |
| Box 5 Folder 20 | Holmes, William H. |
| Box 5 Folder 21 | Holway, R. S. |
| Box 5 Folder 22 | I, general (includes Illinois State Academy of Science) |
| Box 5 Folder 23 | Iddings, Joseph P. |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | J, general |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Jahn and Ollier Engraving Co. |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Jillson, Willard R. |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | K, general |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Kay, Fred H. |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | Kay, George F. |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Knapp, G. N., 1892-1894 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Knapp, G. N., 1902-1906, 1917 |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Knox, John K. |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | Kümmel, Henry B., 1891-1893 |
| Box 6 Folder 11 | Kümmel, Henry B., 1894-1901 |
| Box 6 Folder 12 | Kümmel, Henry B., 1902-1906, 1922, and undated |
| Box 6 Folder 13 | L, general |
| Box 6 Folder 14 | Lawson, Andrew C. |
| Box 6 Folder 15 | Leffingwell, E. D. K. |
| Box 6 Folder 16 | Leighton, Morris M. |
| Box 6 Folder 17 | Leuschner, A. O. |
| Box 6 Folder 18 | Leverett, Frank |
| Box 6 Folder 19 | Lindahl, Josua |
| Box 6 Folder 20 | Lowden, Frank O. |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | M, general (includes Lawrence Martin and Kirtley F. Mather) |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | McCallie, S. W. |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | McClellan, Myrta Lisle |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | McCourt, Walter E. |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Mehl, Maurice G. |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Moore, Elwood S. |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Moore, Raymond C. |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Morse, William C. |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | N, general |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | O, general |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | P, general |
| Box 7 Folder 12 | Parker, Francis W. |
| Box 7 Folder 13 | Parks, Emerson M. |
| Box 7 Folder 14 | Patten, Henry J. |
| Box 7 Folder 15 | Pearson, Harry J. |
| Box 7 Folder 16 | Peary, Robert E. |
| Box 7 Folder 17 | Peet, Charles E., 1891-1894 |
| Box 7 Folder 18 | Peet, Charles E., 1895-1911 and undated |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Penrose, R. A. F., Jr., 1892-1899 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Penrose, R. A. F., Jr., 1901-1910 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Penrose, R. A. F., Jr., 1911-1922 |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Peterson, William |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Pinchot, Gifford |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | Platt, Robert S. |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | Powell, John Wesley |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | Pricer, J. L. |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | Q, general |
| Box 8 Folder 10 | R, general (includes Julius Rosenwald, Theodore Roosevelt, and Martin Ryerson) |
| Box 8 Folder 11 | Randolph, Isham |
| Box 8 Folder 12 | Reid, Harry Fielding |
| Box 8 Folder 13 | Revell and Co. |
| Box 8 Folder 14 | Ross, George H. |
| Box 8 Folder 15 | S, general (includes Nathaniel S. Shaler) |
| Box 8 Folder 16 | Schrader, F. C. |
| Box 8 Folder 17 | Scott, E. H. (Scott, Foresman) |
| Box 8 Folder 18 | Skiff, F. J. V. |
| Box 8 Folder 19 | Smith, Eugene A. |
| Box 8 Folder 20 | Smith, Jesse L. |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Smock, John C., 1891-1893 |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Smock, John C., 1894-1895 |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Smock, John C., 1896-1897 |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | Smock, John C., 1898-1905 |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | Smock, John C., 1906-1918 |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | Society for Visual Education |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | Stirling, William R. |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | T, general |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | Tuskegee Institute |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | U, general (includes Warren Upham) |
| Box 10 Folder 3 | U.S. Geological Survey, Chief Clerk |
| Box 10 Folder 4 | University Club |
| Box 10 Folder 5 | University of Chicago Press |
| Box 10 Folder 6 | Upson, Irving S. |
| Box 10 Folder 7 | V, general |
| Box 10 Folder 8 | Van Hise, Charles R. |
| Box 10 Folder 9 | W, general |
| Box 10 Folder 10 | Walcott, Charles T. |
| Box 10 Folder 11 | Weller, Stuart |
| Box 10 Folder 12 | West, Frederick T. |
| Box 10 Folder 13 | Whitson, A. R. |
| Box 10 Folder 14 | Williams, H. S. |
| Box 10 Folder 15 | Willis, Bailey |
| Box 10 Folder 16 | Winslow, Arthur |
| Box 10 Folder 17 | Wisconsin Society of Chicago |
| Box 10 Folder 18 | Woolman, Lewis |
| Box 10 Folder 19 | Y-Z, general |
| Box 10 Folder 20 | Unidentified |
Series III: Notebooks |
| Box 11 Folder 1 | "Gleanings," commonplace book, 1879 |
| Box 11 Folder 2 | Notes on German vocabulary, 4 notebooks, [1887-1888] |
| Box 11 Folder 3 | "Notitzen von Prof. Rosenbuschs Vorlesungen über Mineralogie," [in German, 1887-1888] |
| Box 11 Folder 4 | Notes on biology, [in German, 1887-1888] |
| Box 11 Folder 5 | Notes on geology, [in German, 1887-1888] |
| Box 11 Folder 6 | Field notes, Germany, 6 notebooks, [partly in German, 1887-1888] |
| Box 11 Folder 7 | Field notes, Europe, 2 notebooks, 1887 and undated |
| Box 11 Folder 8 | "College Trip to Eastern Institutions, 1889" |
| Box 11 Folder 9 | Notes on the geology of Wisconsin, 1890 |
| Box 11 Folder 10 | Notes on the geology of New Jersey, 1901 |
| Box 12 Folder 1 | On the origins of geologic activity, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 2 | On sedimentation, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 3 | On world history, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 4 | On nebulae, rhetoric, vocabulary, and other subjects, 2 notebooks, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 5 | On fjords, loess, deserts, rock decay, and other subjects, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 6 | On comets, biology, evolution, the rotation of the earth, and other subjects, undated |
Series IV: Notes and Manuscripts |
| Box 12 Folder 7 | Announcements of RDS lectures, 1894-1920 |
| Box 12 Folder 8 | Reviews of RDS lectures, 1895-1904 and undated |
| Box 12 Folder 9 | Atmosphere and Climate
|
| Box 12 Folder 10 | Chicago and Great Lakes Region
|
| Box 12 Folder 11 | Geography
|
| Box 12 Folder 12 | Geology
|
| Box 12 Folder 13 | Grand Canyon
|
| Box 12 Folder 14 | Greenland
|
| Box 12 Folder 15 | New Jersey
|
| Box 12 Folder 16 | Ores and Mining
|
| Box 12 Folder 17 | Origin and History of the Earth
|
| Box 13 Folder 1 | "The New Geology," outline, 9 copies, 1913-1921
|
| Box 13 Folder 2 | Origin of Man
|
| Box 13 Folder 3 | "Lieutenant Peary’s Work in the Arctic Regions," 1895
|
| Box 13 Folder 4 | Teaching of Physiography, outline, 1901, 1903
|
| Box 13 Folder 5 | "Ground Water," outline, 1905
|
| Box 13 Folder 6 | Polar Exploration
|
| Box 13 Folder 7 | Topography, geography, and climate of Puerto Rico, outline, 3 copies, 1914-1916 |
| Box 13 Folder 8 | Society for Visual Education
|
| Box 13 Folder 9 | South America
|
Series V: Speeches |
| Box 13 Folder 10 | Speeches, 1889-1910
|
| Box 13 Folder 11 | Speeches, 1910-1913
|
| Box 13 Folder 12 | Speeches, 1914-1915
|
| Box 14 Folder 1 | Speeches, 1916-1917
|
| Box 14 Folder 2 | Speeches, 1918-1919
|
| Box 14 Folder 3 | Speeches, undated
|
Series VI: Teaching Materials |
| Box 14 Folder 4 | University administration and curriculum, 4 untitled manuscripts and miscellaneous notes, 1898 and undated |
| Box 14 Folder 5 | Classes
|
| Box 14 Folder 6 | Communication with students in the classroom, manuscript and typed transcript, 1889 |
| Box 14 Folder 7 | Syllabi of RDS University Extension Division courses, 1894-1902
|
| Box 14 Folder 8 | Exams
|
| Box 14 Folder 9 | Field trips
|
| Box 14 Folder 10 | Laboratory exercises
|
| Box 14 Folder 11 | Bibliographies on geology, 1911-1912 and undated |
Series VII: Photographs and Postcards |
| Box 14 Folder 12 | "Caracoles en los Andes" |
| Box 14 Folder 13 | Europe, scenery and friends |
| Box 14 Folder 14 | Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Box 15 Folder 1 | Grand Canyon |
| Box 15 Folder 2 | Hawes, Rollin B. |
| Box 15 Folder 3 | Peary Relief Expedition, 1895 |
| Box 15 Folder 4 | Puerto Rico |
| Box 15 Folder 5 | Western United States (includes RDS field party, Indians, stagecoach, and Yellowstone National Park) |
| Box 15 Folder 6 | Yosemite Valley |
| Box 15 Folder 7 | Yosemite and California, postcards |