Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences Records

Collection

Call Number: UA159

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Scope and Contents

This collection contains articles; books and booklets; building plans; correspondence; course catalogs and course packets; equipment and instruments; notes; photographs; and serials. The materials document the activities of the Department of Geology and the Department of Earth and Ocean Studies. Prominent individuals include Robert L. Nichols, a noted explorer, geologist, and Tufts University faculty member.

Dates

Creation: 1850 -- 2012

Creator

Department of Geology (Organization)
Department of Earth and Ocean Studies (Organization)
School of Arts and Sciences (Organization)

Language of Materials

English

Access

This collection is open for research. This collection may require review before it is available for use. Please contact DCA for further details.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Please see “Reproductions and Use” on the Digital Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permission to publish. Copyright to all materials created by Tufts University employees in the course of their work is held by the Trustees of Tufts University.

Biographical / Historical

The Department of Geology first appeared in the Catalogue of Tufts College for the 1892-1893 academic year. By the 1893-1894 academic year, the Department of Geology articulates a list of courses that comprise its curriculum. Professor Marshall is listed as being the head of the Department. For the 1902-1903 academic year, the Department of Geology articulated the following philosophy and mission statement, "The subjects offered in the department of Geology have a twofold object: to give an outline of the structure and history of the earth; and to give a training in the methods of observational science".

Professor Alfred Church Lane, a leading scholar and a long-serving chairman of the Department of Geology resigned during the 1935-1936 academic year over his refusal to sign the "loyalty oath" which the state of Massachusetts had recently made a precondition for individuals teaching in its schools. The state law which stipulated the signing of the "loyalty oath" as a precondition for teaching in Massachusetts schools called on teachers to "support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts".

The Department of Geology began offering a Master of Arts degree for the 1939-1940 academic year. It concluded this degree program after the 1970-1971 academic year.

In 2012, the name of the department was changed to the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences.