Florence Bascom Papers, 1870-1971 (1875-1940)
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jennifer Smar. 2005-11-21
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Florence Bascom Papers
Creation of Florence Bascom Papers
Time of Creation of Florence Bascom Papers
Bascom, Florence, 1862-1945
Biographical History for: Florence Bascom Papers
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 Her writings include published and unpublished geology articles re: Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts.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.
Geologists--United States--Biography--Sources
lcsh
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
The stone lady : a memoir of Florence Bascom / by Isabel Fothergill Smith--Sources
Bascom, Florence, 1862-1945-Correspondence
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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
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND GENEALOGY
Contents
Bascom/Curtiss family
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
Clippings and articles, 1935-39
Reminiscences by Florence Bascom and others: articles and notes, 1877-1945
Notes by Isabel F. Smith, 1888-1936
Clippings and articles, 1877-1959
Other Family
George Bascom (brother): clippings and correspondence, 1932-37
Emma Curtiss Bascom (mother): clippings, pamphlet, and notes, 1916
SERIES II. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA
Florence Bascom, n.d.
Florence Bascom in groups, n.d.
Bascom family, n.d.
Friends, n.d.
Animals, n.d.
"Topping" and other houses, n.d.
Expeditions, n.d.
Miscellaneous, n.d.
Unidentified, n.d.
Photograph albums (9), 1877-1909
Framed photographs, n.d.
Scrapbooks, address books, guestbook, and diary, ca. 1900-33
SERIES III. BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL MATERIALS
Correspondence
Miscellaneous, 1894-1940
Peabody, Houghteling & Co., 1927-40
Financial fraud, 1940
TIAA, 1928-34
Contracts, 1895-1914
Tax documents, 1914-40
Business documents, 1927-39
SERIES IV. CORRESPONDENCE
From Florence Bascom to
Family, 1915-37
Mira Dock, 1901-35
Goldschmidts, 1906-40
Isabel F. Smith, 1928-43
M. Carey Thomas, 1903-16
Others, 1898-1941
From Emma Bascom (mother) to Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Chadbourne, 1868-69
From family
Emma Bascom, 1878-90
John Bascom (father) (includes typed transcripts), 1883-1910
George Bascom (brother), 1936-37
Jean Bascom (sister), 1941
Nell Bascom (sister-in-law), 1924-30
Cousins, 1894-1934
From non-family, personal
A (includes Jane S. Atwill re: Elaine Eastman), 1929-35
Clark, Robert, 1934-41
Eastman, E.G., 1930-40
Goldschmidt, Victor (includes English translation), 1907-38
N-P (includes Annie Peck), 1904-39
Porter, Mary, 1914-40
Smith, Isabel Fothergill, 1934-41
Wyckoff, Dorothy (includes watercolor painting), 1923-41
Unidentified, 1921-37
Professional
Berkey, C., 1913-41
Clark, William, 1900-17
Crosby, W.O., 1898-1912
Dale, T. Nelson, 1896-1935
Diller, J.S., 1890-1910
Durden, Henry, 1896
Hayes, O. M., 1903-11
Department of the Interior, 1900-20
Keith, Arthur, 1905-15
Miller, B.L., 1912-39
Park, Marion, 1928-38
Pinchot, Gifford, 1929-30
Smith, G.O., 1897-1914
Stose, G.W., 1899-1912
Thomas, M. Carey, 1894-1922
U.S. Geological Survey, 1913-16
Van Hise, Charles R., 1894-1905
Watson, E.H., 1934-37
Wherry, E.T., 1908-14
Willis, Bailey, 1896-1931
Wright, F.E., 1896-1912
Miscellaneous, 1898-1931
Miscellaneous, 1886-1963
SERIES V. WRITINGS
High school and college papers, 1876-80
Pamphlets and bibliography, 1913-37
Pamphlets, 1896-1926
Articles and clippings, 1896-1934
U.S. Geological Survey: press releases, reports, and itinerary (presumed to be by Florence Bascom), 1915-36
Speeches, 1922-38
Unpublished writings, 1923-28
Verse, 1932
Notes, n.d.
SERIES VI. ORGANIZATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS
Certificates and pamphlets, 1900-39
Phi Beta Kappa: pamphlets, clippings, and certificates, 1896-1904
Honors, awards, and certificates, 1875-1926
Testimonial for Florence Bascom: articles, telegrams, and correspondence, 1928
SERIES VII. INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS
Blake, Sue Avis: verse and photograph, n.d.
Butler, Anna Bates: articles, 1905
Eastman, Elaine Goodale: correspondence, verse, and clippings, 1928-38
Goldschmidt, Victor: pamphlet and correspondence, 1908-12
Ogilvie, Ida: correspondence, clippings, and articles, 1928-40
Thomas, M. Carey: cards, pamphlets, and correspondence, 1899-1922
Maps, 1892
Women's rights: pamphlets and clippings, 1975-82
Memorabilia
Class list and verse, n.d.
Eye glasses in cases (3 pairs), n.d.
Correspondence, verse, and cards, 1897
The Stone Lady: A Memoir of Florence Bascom
Clippings and correspondence, 1975-82
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