Mount Holyoke Through ‘Geological’ Time 

In our institutional learning goal statement, Mount Holyoke College emphasizes the ‘transformative power of experiential learning’. The geology and geography department has delivered on the promise of experiential learning for decades, as seen through this display. Whether our students are looking through microscopes, performing a weather balloon experiment on Clapp roof, or wielding rock hammers in their pleated skirts, this department has always been, and continues to be, committed to the importance of hands-on learning.

Timeline 

1930/31

The first year that an annual report for the president’s office (Mary Woolley at the time) was written by Mignon Talbot. She writes about her disdain for 

still not having a proper museum space, 13 years after the Williston fire. 

1935/36

The first annual report written by Robert Balk (in photograph above). 

1942/43 

 “At the request of the Army Map Service, the ESMWT administration approached the College in November with a request to give a course in Military 

Map Making for seniors who would be available for government work after graduation. Fifteen (11 seniors, 3 graduate students, and 1 junior) students 

registered, but 5 had to withdraw for various reasons, but the ten others will start work in Washington within a few weeks after graduation. Lecture notes

and laboratory material were prepared by the Army Map Service, and on the whole the course was well organized. To take care of the drafting, a 

considerable amount of new equipment had to be purchased, but the Army has contributed generously in financing some of this equipment, and furnishing 

us with several hundred special maps, including foreign military maps, bombing target charts, and others.”

-Robert Balk Department Chair in an Annual Report 

1950/51

“In mid 1951 private industry, government agencies and several branches of the Armed Services are seeking trained geologists assiduously. Thus, in a

matter of a few months there has been a rapid shift and professional opportunities in both geology and geography have probably increased at least ten-fold.

The Conservation and Military Geology Branches of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Atomic Energy Commission, Army Map Service, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Corps of Army Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Mines represent only a few agencies now soliciting personnel.”

-John C. Haff Department Chair in an Annual Report

1956/57

“Reports from the Central Intelligence Agency indicate that our graduates are meeting their responsibilities in a most satisfactory manner.”

-Minnie E. Lemaire Department Chair in an Annual report 

1958/59

“Reports of our graduates are heartening. Those employed by the C. I. A. have made a fine record.” 

-Minnie E. Lemaire Department Chair In an Annual Report

1968/69

“First, the shift of geography from the physical to the social sciences (from Group II to Group III) was indicated in order that Mount Holyoke keep abreast

of those institutions where geography is a major contributing discipline. As a result of this change, the Geography Department has planned a new basic 

course for the coming academic year.”

-Peter M. Engass Department Chair in Annual report 

1986/87

Five college consortium collaboration- “MHC faculty member were involved in four co-taught courses with Five-college colleagues this past year” 

-Martha M. Godchaux Department Chair in Annual report 

1998/99

“We will also attempt a merger with the Environmental Studies Program, effective July 1, 1999, to become the new Department of Earth and Environment.”

-Lauret Savoy Department Chair in Annual report

Lois Brown, the student using the microscope in the photo to the left, was a Mount Holyoke alum who graduated in 1940. Brown majored in geology and archaeology at Mount Holyoke. She also completed student work for the geology department, and was head of the fencing club. The summer before her senior year, she attended a field course in geology at the University of Wyoming where she collected various fossil specimens. Brown later donated specimens collected in Wyoming, two of those are displayed here. She went on to go to graduate school at Radcliffe in 1941, studying vertebrate paleontology. The following year she completed a graduate school program at Harvard for aerial photography and aero-surveying. From 1942-1946 Brown served as a lieutenant in Naval Air Navigation for the United States, and was the second woman to be designated as a Naval Air Observer. After WWII, she married a naval officer, had children, and worked for her local library for many years. She passed away in 2006. In total, the Mount Holyoke paleontology collection holds eighteen fossil specimens from Lois Brown. Many alumni have donated to our nearly 9,000 specimen paleontology collection. 

Mortar and pestle are still used today in geology classes to crush samples into fine powders for further analysis. This metal stand is used to hold pipettes (glass tubes) in geochemistry experiments.

The microscope used in this photo is displayed to the right, and was manufactured in 1913. Next to the microscope is a rock from the Robert Balk collection (Professor Balk is in a photograph in the field), along with two thin sections of this same rock. A thin section is a slice of rock that is mounted on a glass slide so it can be examined using a petrographic microscope. 

A compass (displayed here), used to measure orientation of geological structures in the field.