Arrangement of the collection is alphabetical within series:

Series 1 - Life and Works

Series 2 - Geology - Subject Files

Series 3 - Geology - Sketch Maps

Series 4 - Maps - Kentucky Counties and Related Areas

Series 5 - Maps - Historical

Series 6 - General History

Series 7 - Other Countries

Series 8 - Photographs

Series 9 - Pamphlets

Part 2 - Writings

Note regarding records in Part 2 of collection: These materials were originally held by Syracuse University but were deaccessioned by that institution and donated to Berea College in 1994.  They were added to Berea’s Jillson collection in August 2000.  They consist mainly of Jillson’s correspondence with the Syracuse Archives and typescripts of many of his published works.

Willard Rouse Jillson was born May 28, 1890, in Syracuse, New York where as a youth he was greatly interested in natural science, geography, and travel. His undergraduate degree (Syracuse, 1912) was followed by a Masters at the Washington State University (1915) and further studies at the University of Chicago and Yale. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Syracuse University (1921) and Berea College (1925).  After working as a petroleum geologist in the South and West, he came to Kentucky in 1917 where he proceeded to amass a fortune dealing in oil, gas and coal leases. It was also at this time that he married Oriole Marie Gormley of Prestonsburg, Floyd County, Kentucky.

In 1919, Governor A. O. Stanley appointed Jillson as the State Geologist for the Department of Geology and Forestry. This Department was later reorganized with the Geology section becoming the Kentucky Geological Survey. A major achievement of Jillson’s administration was the publishing of at least one map for each of Kentucky’s 120 counties, an effort that contributed greatly to the rapid exploitation of the state’s coal and gas resources. Additional endeavors included teaching Geology at the University of Kentucky, serving as curator of the Kentucky State Museum, and membership on the Kentucky’s State Park Commission (chairman 1924-1928) during which time the first four Kentucky state parks were established.

After Jillson’s 1932 resignation from state service he continued to write extensively, work as a consultant for coal, oil, and gas companies, and teach Geology at Transylvania University (1947-1951). After leaving Transylvania he devoted much time to the acquisition and development of Kentucky gas and coal properties. Dr.  Jillson was also an avid historian and naturalist with wide ranging interests in Kentucky history. In addition to numerous Geological works, he published widely in such fields as paleontology, regional history, bibliography, and biography.   Jillson died at the age 85 in Louisville, Kentucky, October 4, 1975.