Contents


Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND GENEALOGY

SERIES II. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA

SERIES III. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MATERIALS

SERIES IV. CORRESPONDENCE

SERIES V. WRITINGS

SERIES VI. ORGANIZATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS

SERIES VII. INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS

OVERSIZED MATERIALS

Florence Bascom Papers, 1870-1971 (1875-1940)

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by .

2005

Collection Overview

Creator:Bascom, Florence, 1862-1945
Title:Florence Bascom Papers
Dates:1870-1971
Dates: 1875-1940
Abstract: 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 Her writings include published and unpublished geology articles re: Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts.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.
Extent: 17 boxes(7 linear ft.)
Language: English; German
Identification: MS 12

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).

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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.

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Search Terms

Return to the Table of Contents

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into seven series:

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SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND GENEALOGY


Box
Folder
11
Contents


Bascom/Curtiss family

2
Invitation, correspondence, pamphlets, and marriage certificate, 1921-39


Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family (Boston, 1903)


Harris, Edward Doubleday. A Genealogical Record of Thomas Bascom, and his Descendants (Boston, 1870)


Florence Bascom

3
Clippings and articles, 1935-39

4
Reminiscences by Florence Bascom and others: articles and notes, 1877-1945

5
Notes by Isabel F. Smith, 1888-1936

6-7
Clippings and articles, 1877-1959


Other Family

8
George Bascom (brother): clippings and correspondence, 1932-37

9
Emma Curtiss Bascom (mother): clippings, pamphlet, and notes, 1916

SERIES II. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA


Box
Folder
21
Florence Bascom, n.d.

2
Florence Bascom in groups, n.d.

3
Bascom family, n.d.

4
Friends, n.d.

5
Animals, n.d.

Box
Folder
31
"Topping" and other houses, n.d.

2
Expeditions, n.d.

3
Miscellaneous, n.d.

4
Unidentified, n.d.

Box


4-5
Photograph albums (9), 1877-1909

Box


6
Framed photographs, n.d.

Box


7
Scrapbooks, address books, guestbook, and diary, ca. 1900-33

SERIES III. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MATERIALS



Correspondence

Box
Folder
81
Miscellaneous, 1894-1940

2
Peabody, Houghteling & Co., 1927-40

3
Financial fraud, 1940

4
TIAA, 1928-34

5
Contracts, 1895-1914

6
Tax documents, 1914-40

7
Business documents, 1927-39

SERIES IV. CORRESPONDENCE



From Florence Bascom to

Box
Folder
91
Family, 1915-37

2
Mira Dock, 1901-35

3
Goldschmidts, 1906-40

4
Isabel F. Smith, 1928-43

5
M. Carey Thomas, 1903-16

6
Others, 1898-1941

Box
Folder
101
From Emma Bascom (mother) to Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Chadbourne, 1868-69


From family

2-3
Emma Bascom, 1878-90

4-7
John Bascom (father) (includes typed transcripts), 1883-1910

8
George Bascom (brother), 1936-37

9
Jean Bascom (sister), 1941

10
Nell Bascom (sister-in-law), 1924-30

11
Cousins, 1894-1934


From non-family, personal

Box
Folder
111
A (includes Jane S. Atwill re: Elaine Eastman), 1929-35

2
B, 1911-39

3
C-D, 1893-1935

4
Clark, Robert, 1934-41

5
E-F, 1914-40

6
Eastman, E.G., 1930-40

7
G, 1911-40

8-9
Goldschmidt, Victor (includes English translation), 1907-38

10
H-I, 1911-34

11
J-K, 1911-39

12
L, 1896-1941

13
M, 1912-40

Box
Folder
121
N-P (includes Annie Peck), 1904-39

2-3
Porter, Mary, 1914-40

5
R, 1911-40

6
S, 1911-41

7
Smith, Isabel Fothergill, 1934-41

8
T, 1913-33

9
U-V, 1931-37

10
W, 1908-40

11
Wyckoff, Dorothy (includes watercolor painting), 1923-41

12
Unidentified, 1921-37


Professional

Box
Folder
131
A, 1892-1912

2
B, 1894-1930

3
Berkey, C., 1913-41

4
C, 1894-1935

5
Clark, William, 1900-17

6
Crosby, W.O., 1898-1912

7
D, 1896-1934

8
Dale, T. Nelson, 1896-1935

9
Diller, J.S., 1890-1910

10
Durden, Henry, 1896

11
E, 1904-12

12
F, 1894-1940

13
G, 1897-1934

14
H, 1896-194

15
Hayes, O. M., 1903-11

16
I, 1911-21

17
Department of the Interior, 1900-20

18
J, 1907-39

19
K, 1894-1937

20
Keith, Arthur, 1905-15

Box
Folder
141
L, 1896-1934

2
M, 1896-1940

3
Miller, B.L., 1912-39

4
N-O, 1899-1907

5
P, 1897-1939

6
Park, Marion, 1928-38

7
Pinchot, Gifford, 1929-30

8
R, 1897-1940

9
S, 1897-1937

10
Smith, G.O., 1897-1914

11
Stose, G.W., 1899-1912

12
T, 1896-97

13
Thomas, M. Carey, 1894-1922

14
U, 1894-1910

15
U.S. Geological Survey, 1913-16

16
V, 1898-1907

17
Van Hise, Charles R., 1894-1905

18
W, 1894-1922

19
Watson, E.H., 1934-37

20
Wherry, E.T., 1908-14

21
Willis, Bailey, 1896-1931

22
Wright, F.E., 1896-1912

23
Miscellaneous, 1898-1931

Box
Folder
151-5
Miscellaneous, 1886-1963

SERIES V. WRITINGS


Box
Folder
161
High school and college papers, 1876-80

2
Pamphlets and bibliography, 1913-37

3-4
Pamphlets, 1896-1926

5
Articles and clippings, 1896-1934

6
U.S. Geological Survey: press releases, reports, and itinerary (presumed to be by Florence Bascom), 1915-36

7
Speeches, 1922-38

8
Unpublished writings, 1923-28

9
Verse, 1932

10
Notes, n.d.

SERIES VI. ORGANIZATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS


Box
Folder
171
Certificates and pamphlets, 1900-39

2
Phi Beta Kappa: pamphlets, clippings, and certificates, 1896-1904

3
Honors, awards, and certificates, 1875-1926

4
Testimonial for Florence Bascom: articles, telegrams, and correspondence, 1928

SERIES VII. INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS


Box
Folder
175
Blake, Sue Avis: verse and photograph, n.d.

6
Butler, Anna Bates: articles, 1905

7
Eastman, Elaine Goodale: correspondence, verse, and clippings, 1928-38

8
Goldschmidt, Victor: pamphlet and correspondence, 1908-12

9
Ogilvie, Ida: correspondence, clippings, and articles, 1928-40

10
Thomas, M. Carey: cards, pamphlets, and correspondence, 1899-1922

11
Maps, 1892

12
Women's rights: pamphlets and clippings, 1975-82


Memorabilia


Class list and verse, n.d.


Eye glasses in cases (3 pairs), n.d.

13
Correspondence, verse, and cards, 1897


The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom

14
Clippings and correspondence, 1975-82

15
Photographs (photocopies), n.d.


Copy of The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom by Isabel Fothergill Smith (Bryn Mawr College, 1981)

OVERSIZED MATERIALS



Photographs, 1939


Embroidered Bascom coat of arms, n.d.


Degree certificates, 1877-1915


Paintings, 1931