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Collection Overview
Title: Wilbur G. Burroughs Papers
Predominant Dates:1927-1959
ID: RG 09/9.05
Primary Creator: Burroughs, Wilbur G.
Extent: 12.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
Arrangement is in eleven series: Correspondence; Writings; Printed Matter; Scientific Discoveries; Photographs; Documents; Class Notes; Organizations; Subjects; and Maps.
Series Descriptions:
Series 1: Correspondence
Materials in this series include correspondence with family, friends, and students as well as businesses and Berea College faculty.
Family correspondence is fragmented and undated. Correspondence with friends spans 1910-1974. Student correspondence spans 1922-1974 (sufficient materials for separate folders for Lyle and Evelyn Dockery, Rev. Harold Short, Elbert Stephens and Raymond Woerth), with separate folders for war-time letters. Sympathy cards and letters to Mrs. Burroughs on the passing of Dr. Burroughs are also separate. Berea College correspondence includes letters from both William J. and Francis Hutchins. Business correspondence is arranged alphabetically from Berea College to YMCA.
Series 2: Writings
Material consists of diaries dating from 1899-1947 (not inclusive), manuscripts of geographical and geological works, including “The Development of Kentucky.” There are also manuscripts of fictional short stories and historical writings.
Series 3: Printed Matter
This series contains a box of published work by J.B. Burroughs; including his book, Titian, Son of Saturn, and magazine articles. The published material by Wilbur Burroughs includes pamphlets on geology, science, and history. There are also magazine articles that are collaborations between Wilbur and his father. These include articles from “Coal Age” and “Colliery Engineer.” The last box consists of newspaper clippings on Wilbur and Mavis Burroughs from 1920-1950. There is also a folder on the other members of his family including his father, mother, brother Wallace, and his cousins, the Durfree brothers.
Series 4: Scientific Discoveries
This series includes all the correspondence and publicity regarding the Moundbuilders, the prehistoric footprints, and Indian Fort. There is also a folder on discoveries that members of his geology class made. There is a folder of notes, but no extensive discussion of findings is included.
Series 5: Photographs
Materials include photographs of Burroughs and all of his family members as well as friends, students, and possessions (cars, boars, houses). There are landscape and vacation photographs as well as photographs of Appalachian poverty. The bulk of photographs regard the Moundbuilder relics, Indian Fort, and prehistoric footprints. There are also photos of geological formations and mining. The last box contains postcards which Dr. Burroughs collected on his vacations around the country.
Series 6: Documents
These are deeds, patents, grade certifications and contracts between individuals and with Berea College (worker’s commission, etc). Also included are graduation certificates for Joseph Burroughs.
Series 7: Class Notes
Notes from geology and geography classes. Also includes “General Science,” “Military Map Reading,” and “Methods of Teaching Geography.” Two notebooks from classes that Burroughs attended as a student are also included.
Series 8: Subjects
These are listed alphabetically and range from Berea College Students to YMCA. Subjects of note are the Brown Mountain Lights, Geology Museum, and Rose Hill Oil Geological Survey.
Series 9: Organizations
These are organizations that Burroughs actively participated in as well as certificates and cards of membership. Included are the Royal Geographical Society of England, the Kentucky Academy of Science and various Berea College honor societies.
Series 10: Maps
These are maps of the Berea and Richmond regions. Maps of the Indian Fort site are included; additional maps of this area can be found in Series 4 box 12. Item 22.5 is a large hand drawn map, the subject is unknown but it is probably a map of the Indian Fort area.
Series XI: Scrapbooks
These are scrapbooks of newspaper clippings which are largely repeated in Series III. Of interest is a series of published stories of Joseph Burroughs’ adventures in the Klondike.
Subjects: Berea College, Berea College -- Faculty, Berea College -- Forest -- Indian Fort, Geography -- Study and teaching., Geography., Geology -- Study and teaching., Geology., Madison County (Ky.) -- History., Maps.
Languages: English
Abstract
Wilbur Greeley Burroughs was born in Shortsville, New York on December 7, 1886 to Joseph B. and Emma Greeley Burroughs. Wilbur and his younger brother, Wallace, attended Oberlin where he received his A.B. in 1909 (Phi Beta Kappa) and A.M. in 1911. Burroughs founded the Geology department at Berea College in 1920 and went on to receive his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1932. In 1927, Burroughs was elected president of the Kentucky Academy of Science.
This collection consists of Burroughs correspondence with friends and students along with some of his scientific writings pertaining to geography, geology and archaeology. The collection also includes a large number of photographs of the prehistoric human footprints and Moundbuilder artifacts which he discovered in Madison County, KY. The artifacts left by the Moundbuilders were discovered in 1926 in the area of Indian Fort Mountain outside of Berea. In 1939, Dr. Burroughs discovered the famous prehistoric footprints. It should be noted that some of Burroughs scientific claims regarding the dating of the origin of man have been disputed. These artifacts are not included in the archival collection, but can be found in the Burroughs Geology Museum at the Hall Science Building.
Dr. Burroughs was a member of many honor societies including the Royal Geographical Society of England and the Kentucky Colonels as well as various Berea College societies.
Dr. Burroughs retired in 1955 as Nathaniel Southgate Shaler Professor and the chairman of the department. In 1959, the Berea College Geology Museum was officially named in honor of Dr. and his wife Mavis Reynolds Burroughs.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
These are the papers of Wilbur G. Burroughs including his correspondence, writings, class notes, and information regarding his work with the Berea College Geology Department.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog
Access Restrictions:
Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Use Restrictions:
Federal copyright regulations apply. Some materials may be restricted. Please consult archivist.
Preferred Citation:
[Item/Folder/Box], RG 09/9.05: Wilbur G. Burroughs Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Berea College, Berea, KY.
Processing Information:
This finding aid was updated in March 2014 by Lori Myers-Steele, Project Archivist. A new box list was created and information was updated at that time.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by College Archive Record Group:
[College Archive Record Group 9.05],
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- College Archive Record Group 9.05
- Series 1: Correspondence
- Box 1
- Folder 1-1: Family
- Folder 1-2: Friends 1910-1929
- Folder 1-3: Friends 1949-1074
- Folder 1-4: Students-James F. Conley
- Folder 1-5: Students-Lyle and Evelyn Dockery
- Folder 1-6: Students-Rev. Harold Short
- Folder 1-7: Students-Elbert D. Stephens
- Folder 1-8: Students-Raymond Woerth
- Folder 1-9: Students-Wartime
- Folder 1-10: Students-1922-1949
- Folder 1-11: Students-1951-1959
- Folder 1-12: Students-1959
- Folder 1-13: Students-1960-1974
- Folder 1-14: Sympathy letters on passing of W.G. Burroughs
- Folder 2-1: Animal Rights
- Folder 2-2: Berea College-Francis Hutchins
- Folder 2-3: Berea College-William J. Hutchins
- Folder 2-4: Berea College-General
- Folder 2-5: Christmas Cards/Thank you letters
- Folder 2-6: Fragments
- Folder 2-7: General: New York
- Folder 2-8: Letter of Recommendation
- Box 2
- Folder 2-9: Miscellaneous
- Folder 2-10: Postcards
- Folder 2-11: Undated
- Folder 2-12: Who's Who and Biographies
- Folder 3-1: Business, Berea College
- Folder 3-2: Business, Financial Institutions
- Folder 3-3: Business, Geological Surveys
- Folder 3-4: Business, Goodbody and Company
- Folder 3-5: Business, Miscellaneous
- Folder 3-6: Business, Insurance Agencies
- Folder 3-7: Business, Oil and Gas companies
- Folder 3-8: Business, Publishing companies
- Folder 3-9: Business, Russell Means
- Folder 3-10: Business, Taxes
- Folder 3-11: Business, Transactions
- Folder 3-12: Business, West Side YMCA
- Folder 3-13: Business-Manganese Mining
- Box 3
- Item 1: Correspondence Diary, 1941
- Item 2: Correspondence Diary, 1945
- Item 3: Correspondence Diary, 1943
- Item 4: Correspondence Diary, 1948
- Item 5: Correspondence Diary, 1949
- Item 6: Correspondence Diary, 1950
- Item 7: Correspondence Diary, 1951
- Item 8: Correspondence Diary, 1952
- Item 9: Correspondence Diary, 1953
- Item 10: Correspondence Diary, 1954
- Folder 4-1: Address Books
- Folder 4-2: Address Lists, 2-Apr
- Series 2: Writings
- Box 3
- Folder 5-1: Diaries, 1899-1901
- Folder 5-2: Diaries, 1902-1903
- Folder 5-3: Diaries, 1904-1906
- Box 4
- Folder 5-4: Diaries, 1908
- Folder 5-5: Diaries, 1942, 1947
- Folder 6-1: County Maps and State Base Maps, 1928
- Folder 6-2: The Development of Kentucky
- Folder 6-3: The Development of Kentucky
- Folder 6-4: Thesis for Geology of Madison County, Kentucky
- Folder 7-1: Fragments
- Folder 7-2: Fiction, God's Gift
- Folder 7-3: Fiction, In the Heart of the Storm
- Folder 7-4: Fiction, In the Heart of the Temple
- Folder 7-5: Fiction, The Praying Company
- Box 5
- Folder 7-6: Fiction, Short Stories
- Folder 7-7: Fiction, Stories about Bryce Burroughs
- Folder 7-8: Fiction, The Two comrades
- Folder 7-9: Fiction, The Woman on the Bridge
- Folder 7-10: Historical
- Folder 7-11: Historical, Turning Points in American History
- Series 3: Printed Matter
- Box 5
- Item 1: Book: Titan, Son of Saturn
- Folder 8-1: Article in the Lancet
- Folder 8-2: When our Friends Die, Where do They Go?
- Folder 8-3: Miscellaneous
- Box 6
- Folder 9-1: Berea Sandstone in Eroded Cleveland Shale
- Folder 9-2: Economic Geology of Berea Sandstone
- Folder 9-3: Geography and Stratigraphy of the Susquehanna Basin (I)
- Folder 9-4: Geography and Stratigraphy of the Susquehanna Basin (II)
- Folder 9-5: Introduction to Physical Science
- Folder 9-6: Oberlin's Parts in the Slavery Conflict
- Folder 9-7: Unconformity between the Bedford and Berea Formations
- Folder 9-8: The Geographical Journal
- Folder 10-1: The Bible and Science
- Folder 10-2: Coal Age
- Box 7
- Folder 10-3: Coal Industry
- Folder 10-4: Colliery Engineer
- Folder 10-5: Lists of articles
- Folder 10-6: Miscellaneous
- Folder 10-7: Mountain Life and Work
- Folder 10-8: Scientific, Miscellaneous
- Folder 10-9: Yachting
- Folder 11-1: W. G. Burroughs 1920s
- Folder 11-2: W .G. Burroughs 1930s
- Folder 11-3: W. G. Burroughs 1940s
- Folder 11-4: W. G. Burroughs 1950s
- Folder 11-5: Burroughs Family
- Series 4: Scientific Discoveries
- Box 8
- Folder 12-1: General
- Folder 12-2: Moundbuilders: Correspondence
- Folder 12-3: Moundbuilders: Newspaper clippings
- Folder 12-4: Moundbuilders: Writings
- Folder 12-4.5: Prehistoric Footprints: Maps
- Folder 12-5: Prehistoric Footprints: Correspondence, nd, 1938
- Folder 12-6: Prehistoric Footprints: Correspondence, 1939-1947
- Folder 12-7: Prehistoric Footprints: Correspondence-, 1957-1970
- Folder 12-8: Prehistoric Footprints: Writings
- Folder 12-9: Prehistoric Footprints: Newspaper clippings
- Folder 12-10: Prehistoric Footprints: Miscellaneous notes
- Box 9
- Item 1: Prehistoric Footprints: Rubbings (stored in Map Box)
- Series 5: Photographs
- Box 10
- Folder 13-1: Wilbur Greeley Burroughs
- Folder 13-2: Mavis Reynolds Burroughs
- Folder 13-3: Wilbur and Mavis Burroughs
- Folder 13-4: Wallace Cohurn Burroughs
- Folder 13-5: Emma Greeley Burroughs
- Folder 13-6: Joseph Birbeck Burroughs
- Folder 13-7: Fuzzy-the family dog
- Folder 13-8: Durfree cousins
- Folder 13-9: Friends of Wilbur Burroughs
- Folder 13-10: Berea students
- Folder 13-11: Possessions
- Folder 14-1: Appalachian poverty
- Folder 14-2: Geological formations
- Folder 14-3: Historical sights
- Box 11
- Folder 14-4: Indian Fort and Moundbuilders
- Folder 14-5: Landscapes
- Folder 14-6: Mining and industry
- Folder 14-7: Miscellaneous
- Folder 14-8: Prehistoric footprints
- Folder 15-1: Appalachia/Mideast
- Folder 15-2: Canada
- Folder 15-3: Florida
- Box 12
- Folder 15-4: Georgia
- Folder 15-5: Kentucky
- Folder 15-6: New York
- Folder 15-7: Northeast
- Folder 15-8: Pennsylvania
- Folder 15-9: Souvenirs
- Folder 15.5-1: Negatives-Miscellaneous (1)
- Folder 15.5-2: Negatives-Miscellaneous (2)
- Folder 15.5-3: Negatives-Indian Fort and Prehistoric Footprints
- Folder 15.5-4: Negatives-Family and friends
- Folder 15.5-5: Duplicate photos and postcards
- Series 6: Documents
- Box 12.5
- Item 1: Miscellaneous Documents (Oversized, flat box)
- Box 13
- Folder 16-1: Berea College
- Folder 16-2: Contracts
- Folder 16-3: Deeds and wills
- Folder 16-4: General
- Folder 16-5: Grade/Degree certification
- Folder 16-6: Patents
- Series 7: Class Notes
- Box 13
- Folder 17-1: Diagrams
- Folder 17-2: General Science classes
- Folder 17-3: Geography (I)
- Folder 17-4: Geography (II)
- Folder 17-5: Geology (I)
- Folder 17-6: Geology (II)
- Folder 17-7: Methods of Teaching Geography, Volumes I and II
- Box 14
- Folder 17-8: Military Map Reading
- Folder 17-9: Miscellaneous
- Folder 17-10: Notebooks
- Folder 17-11: Notebooks
- Series 8: Subjects
- Box 14
- Folder 18-1: Berea College students
- Folder 18-2: Brown Mountain Lights
- Folder 18-3: Family History
- Folder 18-4: Geology Department
- Folder 18-5: Geological Survey, Rose Hill Oil
- Folder 18-5.5: Geological Survey, East Ohio Gas
- Folder 18-6: Geological Survey, Lists of Maps and Reports 1923-1954
- Folder 18-7: Geological, Miscellaneous
- Box 15
- Folder 18-8: Geology Museum
- Folder 18-8.5: House plans
- Folder 18-9: Miscellaneous
- Folder 18-10: Sketches
- Folder 18-10.5: Poultry House
- Folder 18-11: Speaking schedules
- Folder 18-12: Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
- Series 9: Organizations
- Box 15
- Folder 19-1: Berea College
- Folder 19-2: Kentucky Academy of Science
- Folder 19-3: Kentucky Colonels
- Folder 19-4: Miscellaneous
- Folder 19-5: Royal Geographical Society
- Series 10: Maps
- Box 15
- Folder 20-1: Berea
- Folder 20-2: Big Hill and Berea
- Folder 20-3: Indian Fort
- Folder 20-4: Richmond
- Folder 20-5: General
- Box 16
- Item 1: Berea and Big Hill (map box)
- Box 17
- Item 1: Well Surveys (map box)
- Box 18
- Item 1: Large hand drawn map
- Series 11: Scrapbooks
- Box 19
- Item 1: Scrapbook
- Item 2: Scrapbook
- Item 3: Scrapbook
- Item 4: Scrapbook
- Item 5: Scrapbook
- Item 6: Scrapbook
- Item 7: Copy of American Boy Magazine
- Box 20
- Item 1: Scrapbook
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