ICU.SPCL.BRETZ Guide to theJ Harlen Bretz Papers Finding aid prepared by DM, 1982; MEH, 2005 University of Chicago Library

Finding aid encoded by KEF, 2006 Finding aid written in English University of Chicago Library Guide to theJ Harlen Bretz Papers Finding aid prepared by DM, 1982; MEH, 2005

Acknowledgments

Descriptive Summary Bretz, J Harlen. Papers 1905-1977Documents in English 12.5 linear feet (25 boxes)

Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

The papers of J Harlen Bretz comprise 12.5 linear feet of material, including a Bretz family genealogy; Bretz' autobiography, Memories; a journal of the Louise A. Boyd Expedition to East Greenland (1933); publications and correspondence related to Bretz' controversial theory of the channeled scablands of Washington; professional correspondence; field notes; offprints; and photographs. Information on UseAccess

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Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Bretz, J Harlen. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

J Harlen Bretz was born in 1882 in Ionia County, Michigan. After receiving an A.B. from Albion College in 1905, he taught high school for several years in Seattle, Washington, where he began independent field work in the geology of the Puget Sound region. In 1911, Bretz entered the University of Chicago as a graduate fellow in geology, studying under Thomas C. Chamberlin, Rollin D. Salisbury, and Stuart Weller. Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1913, he accepted a position at the University of Washington as assistant professor of geology. One year later, at the invitation of Salisbury, he returned to the University of Chicago as an Instructor in Geology (1914-1915). Bretz spent the remainder of his career at Chicago as Assistant Professor (1915-1921), Associate Professor (1921-1926), and Professor of Geology (1926-1947).

Bretz' major contribution to geology was his study of the channeled scablands, a rugged, heavily scoured section of the Columbia plate in eastern Washington. Challenging the gradualist uniformitarianism that had governed previous interpretations of the area, Bretz attributed the topography of the scablands to the action of a sudden, catastrophic flood brought on by the release of waters from glacial Lake Missoula. Bretz' theory was disputed by many leading authorities in Pleistocene geology and attracted particularly severe criticism from the U.S. Geological Survey at a meeting of the Geological Society of Washington, D.C. in 1927. Later studies by Bretz and others, however, contributed supporting evidence to the theory, and final confirmation was supplied by aerial photographs taken from orbiting satellites in the mid-1970's. By that time, the geological profession had reversed itself and embraced the theory it once rejected, hailing Bretz in publications and at conferences as a courageous empiricist vindicated by fact.

Bretz also made important advances in the geological study of limestone caves and karst landscapes. In 1930, geologist William Morris Davis had argued that caves were not formed above the water table, as was commonly supposed, but were instead the result of underground water circulating below the water table. Bretz' work on the caves of Missouri, begun in the late 1930's, furnished crucial evidence to support Davis' theory and went on to make substantial contributions to the description of limestone caverns and the analysis of the general erosional history of the Ozark Uplift.

Results of Bretz' field work in Washington, Missouri, Alberta, Greenland, Bermuda, and the Chicago region were published in numerous articles and a number of monographic studies, including Glaciation of the Puget Sound Region (1913), Geology of the Chicago Region (1939-1956), Earth Sciences: Meteorology, Oceanography, Geology (1940), Caves of Missouri (1956), and Geomorphic History of the Ozarks of Missouri (1965). Bretz also received two major professional awards, the Niel A. Miner Award of the National Association of Geology Teachers in 1959, and the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America in 1979. Bretz died in 1981 at his home in Homewood, Illinois, at the age of 98.

Scope Note

Series I: Biographical

Material in this series has been divided into four subseries: General, Departmental and Professional, Louise A. Boyd Expedition to East Greenland, 1933, and Channeled Scablands Controversy.

Most of the General sub-series is devoted to typescript and printed copies of Bretz' autobiography, Memories, which was issued in four parts from 1973 to 1975. Friends and colleagues responded warmly to Bretz' vigorous and occasionally ribald recollections of field work and campus life at the University of Chicago. This sub-series also includes a family genealogy compiled by Bretz in 1949; a Sears, Roebuck catalog containing the model for the Bretz house in Homewood; and a humorous 95th-birthday tribute by Rudolf Bretz asserting that Bretz was born Harley but changed his to J Harlen while at Albion College. Bretz recalled in Memories, Part II that the period after the J was dropped several years later at the insistence of Rollin Salisbury, who noted that it was not properly an abbreviation of any name.

The Departmental and Professional material consists of chronologically organized folders containing bibliographies of Bretz' publications; notes taken at a course given by Stuart Weller; letters from students; correspondence related to the Miner Award and Penrose Medal; and a tribute to Bretz' field pedagogy from M. King Hubbert. Bretz' remarks at his retirement dinner in 1947 are also worth noting in that they anticipate many of the themes developed later in the Memories, and include an admission by Bretz that he sometimes imitated the harsh classroom manner of his mentor, Salisbury.

The Louise A. Boyd Expedition to East Greenland in 1933 was financed and led by Louise Boyd, a wealthy amateur photographer, under the auspices of the American Geographical Society. Bretz joined the expedition as physiographer and published the results of his observations in "Physiographic Studies in East Greenland." This sub-series devoted to the expedition includes correspondence with Louise Boyd and Isaiah Bowman of the A.G.S.; short vignettes of wildlife and scenery; and Bretz' journal describing his personal experiences on the trip.

The controversy over the channeled scablands is documented in the fourth sub-series. Here can be found Bretz' outline for his 1927 lecture at the Cosmos Club; a U.S. Geological Survey booklet of 1973 incorporating Bretz' conclusions; articles by Victor R. Baker comparing Bretz' scablands to similarly channeled areas on the planet Mars; congratulations from friends and colleagues on Bretz' vindication; and two articles by Stephen Jay Gould summarizing the entire debate.

Series II: Correspondence

This series consists of alphabetically arranged professional correspondence. Topics reflected in the correspondence include Victor Baker's defense of Bretz' scablands theory; Bretz' dispute with William H. Hobbs over the interpretation of scablands topography; a proposal to John C. Merriam of the Carnegie Institution for possible grant support for scablands studies; discussion with Rollin Salisbury regarding a fellowship at the University of Chicago in 1911; and the editing and publication of Earth Sciences (1940) by John Wiley and Sons.

Series III: Field Notes

Field notes in this series have been arranged into two chronological sub-series. The first, Notebooks, consists of 78 small field notebooks or notebook fragments containing Bretz' manuscript notes on field work from 1905 to 1954. The early notebooks concentrate on Puget Sound glaciation and the formation of the channeled scablands, while later ones reflect his subsequent travels and research interests. A series of nine numbered notebooks from 1948 deals exclusively with Bretz' study of limestone caves in Missouri.

The second group of notes, Looseleaf Binders, consists of typescript field notes from 1916 to 1956 bound in 13 looseleaf binders with some additional disbound looseleaf material. In general, the binders contain notes for a particular year or group of years, although some are devoted largely to a single topic. A binder from 1928, for instance, contains reports on soil samples taken at various points in Washington and Oregon, while other binders have notes on such specific subjects as the Chicago region; Greenland; limestone caves in Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other states; Grand Coulee; Alberta; Ozark peneplanation; and Bermuda. A final binder contains undated notes.

Series IV: Publications

This series contains offprints of Bretz' published work and occasional folders of related correspondence. The series is divided into four subseries: Caves and Karst Formations; Channeled Scablands; Glaciation; and Other Publications. Within each sub-series, offprints have been arranged in strict chronological order by date of publication.

Series V: Photographs

Photographs in this series have been separated into two general groups: those which are essentially Biographical, and those which document Bretz' studies of Alberta; Caves; Channeled Scablands; and Greenland. Biographical photographs depict Bretz in the field with colleagues and students and demonstrate his interest in double entendre signs, of which he had a large collection. Three folders of photographs concern the Bretz Laboratory for Geomorphology and Sedimentation at Albion College and Bretz' donation of boulders for study by geology students at his alma mater.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html Additional information on geology at the University of Chicago during Bretz's tenure on the faculty can be found in the President's Papers and the papers of Rollin D. Salisbury and Stuart Weller. Subject Headings Bretz, J Harlen, 1882-1981 Columbia Plateau Caves Geologists Geology Geology, Washington (State) Photographs INVENTORY Series I: Biographical Subseries 1: General 1 1 Bretz family genealogy, 1949 1 2 Bretz family genealogy, correspondence 1 3 Bretz family genealogy, related materials 1 4 Memories, Part I; Some Recollections of a Geologist on Entering His 90th Year; typescript 1 5 Memories, Part I; printed copy with correspondence tipped in 1 6 Memories, Part I; second printed copy 1 7 Memories, Part II: printed copy with correspondence tipped in 1 8 Memories, Part II: second printed copy 1 9 Memories, Part III; typescript 1 10 Memories, Part III; printed copy 2 1 Memories, Part III; second printed copy 2 2 Memories, Part IV: Additional Albion Matter and Other Memories and Stories 2 3 Reactions to Memories from friends 2 4 Sears, Roebuck prefabricated house catalog, 1924 (including "The Verona," p. 84, model for JHB home 2 5 Datebook, 1929 2 6 Miscellaneous autobiographical notes and reminiscences, 1976-1979 and undated 2 7 "In Celebration," tribute to JHB by Rudolf Bretz, 1977 2 8 Miscellaneous biographical clippings Subseries 2: Departmental and Professional 2 9 Julian D. Barksdale, Geology at the University of Washington, 1895-1973 (1974) 2 10 Bibliographies of JHB, 1907-1980 2 11 Invertebrate Paleontology (Geology 21-22), Autumn and Winter Quarters 1911-1912, Professor Stuart Weller, lecture and laboratory notes 3 1 Student grade reports, 1929-1947 3 2 Letters from students in military service, 1942-1945 3 3 Letters from students in military service, 1942-1945 3 4 Geological Society of America, annual meeting, December 1946, JHB general chairman 3 5 "Memoirs," remarks at retirement dinner, 1947 3 6 Tributes from colleagues, 1949-1965 3 7 Department of Geology, social events, 1950-1951 3 8 Niel A. Miner Award, National Association of Geology Teachers, 1959 3 9 D. Jerome Fisher, The Seventy Years of the Department of Geology, University of Chicago, 1892-1961 (1963), annotated 3 10 M. King Hubbert, "Bretz' Baraboo, Wisconsin, Field Course: An Example of Superb Scientific Pedagogy," address, 1966 3 11 Seattle Times article on JHB and reactions, 1971 3 12 Correspondence with M. King Hubbert regarding JHB professional biography, 1972 4 1 Penrose Medal, Geological Society of America, arrangements for presentation, 1979 4 2 Penrose Medal, Geological Society of America, citation 4 3 Penrose Medal, Geological Society of America, congratulations 4 4 Penrose Medal, Geological Society of America, congratulations Subseries 3: Louise A. Boyd Expedition to East Greenland 4 5 Correspondence, December 1932-October 1933 4 6 Correspondence, January-June 1934 4 7 Correspondence, July-December 1934 4 8 Correspondence, January 1935-April 1937 4 9 Reading notes on the geology of Greenland 4 10 "Munchausen in Greenland," manuscript 4 11 "Baron Bunyan in Greenland," typescript 4 12 Journal, July-September 1933 5 1 "Greenland: To and In and From," bound typescript journal, 1933 5 2 Miscellaneous memorabilia 5 3 "Physiographic Studies in East Greenland," 1935 Subseries 4: Channeled Scablands Controversy 5 4 Lecture before the Geological Society of Washington, D. C., Cosmos Club, 1927, outline 5 5 Lecture before the Geological Society of Washington, related correspondence 5 6 International Geological Congress excursion to the Channeled Scablands, correspondence, 1930-1933 5 7 U.S. Geological Survey, The Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington: The Geologic Story of the Spokane Flood (1973), annotated 5 8 Geological Society of America, Geological Excursions in the Pacific Northwest (1977). 6 1 Victor R. Baker, articles on catastrophic flooding on Mars and Earth, 1973-1978 6 2 Richard B. Waitt, Jr., Guidebook to Quaternary Geology of the Columbia, Wenatchee, Peshastin, and Upper Yakima Valleys, West-Central Washington (1977) 6 3 Victor R. Baker and Dag Nummedal, eds., The Channeled Scabland (1978), with other articles and letters of tribute tipped in 6 4 Victor R. Baker and Dag Nummedal, reactions from friends and colleagues 6 5 Stephen Jay Gould, "When the Unorthodox Prevails" and "The Great Scablands Debate," with related correspondence, 1978 Series II: Correspondence 6 6 Introduction to correspondence by JHB, 1978 6 7 A, general 6 8 B, general 6 9 Baker, Victor R. 6 10 Behre, Charles H., Jr. 6 11 C, general 6 12 Chaney, Ralph W. 6 13 Culver, Harold E. 6 14 D, general 6 15 E, general 6 16 Ekblaw, George E. 7 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica 7 2 F, general 7 3 Fenneman, Nevin M. 7 4 Flint, Richard F. 7 5 Freeman, Otis W. 7 6 Fryxell, F. M. 7 7 G, general 7 8 Goldman, Marcus I. 7 9 Goldsmith, Julian R. 7 10 H, general 7 11 Hay, Oliver P. 7 12 Hill, C. L. 7 13 Hobbs, William H. 7 14 Hubbert, M. King 7 15 I-J, general 7 16 K, general 7 17 Kay, George F. 7 18 L, general 7 19 Lamey, Carl A. 7 20 Landes, Henry 7 21 Large, Thomas 7 22 Lehman, S. W. 7 23 Leighton, Morris M. 7 24 Link, Theodore 8 1 M, general 8 2 McCann, Frank 8 3 Madison, Hector T. 8 4 Malott, Clyde A. 8 5 Merriam, John C. 8 6 N-O, general 8 7 P, general 8 8 Parks, Henry M. 8 9 Q, general 8 10 R, general 8 11 Runner, Joseph L. 8 12 S, general 8 13 Salisbury, Rollin D. 8 14 T, general 8 15 Taylor, Lawrence D. 8 16 Thomson, Francis A. 8 17 Trowbridge, A. C. 8 18 U-W, general 8 19 Waitt, Richard B., Jr. 8 20 Watson, Russell 8 21 Weaver, Charles E. 9 1 Wentworth, Chester 9 2 Wiley & Sons, John (includes Gerald Wendt), 1936-1939 9 3 Wiley & Sons, John (includes Gerald Wendt), 1940-1945 9 4 Williams, Ira 9 5 Willis, Bailey 9 6 Zahuranec, Bernard J. 9 7 Unidentified Series III: Field Notes Subseries 1: Notebooks 9 8 1905-1907 9 9 1909 9 10-13 1910-1914 10 1-3 1910-1914 10 4 1912 10 5 1913 10 6 1914 10 7 1916 10 8 1919 11 1 1920, July-August 11 2 1920, August-September 11 3 1921 11 4 1922 11 5 1923 11 6 1924 11 7 1926 11 8 1927, July-August 11 9 1927, August-September 11 10 1928 11 11 1929 11 12 1932 12 1 1933 12 2 1935 12 3 1946 12 4-8 1948 12 9 1949 12 10 1950 12 11 1951 12 12 1954 12 13 Undated, Niagaran reefs 13 1 Undated, Wisc./Ill. driftless vs. Ozarks 13 2 Undated, miscellaneous Subseries 2: Looseleaf Binders 13 3-8 Disbound notes, 1916-1920 13 9 1922-1926 14 1 1927 14 2 1928 14 3 1928, soil analyses 15 1 1929 15 2 1931-1932 15 3 1933 16 1 1935-1940 16 2 1937 16 3 1941 17 1 1946 17 2 1952 17 3 1956 18 1 Undated, Guadalupe, Pecos, Llano Series IV: Publications Subseries 1: Caves and Karst Formations 18 2 Caves and Karst Formations "Solution Cavities in the Joliet Limestone of Northeastern Illinois," 1940 "Vadose and Phreatic Features of Limestone Caverns," 1942 18 3 "Origin of the Filled Sink-Structures and Circle Deposits of Missouri," 1950 18 4 Caves and Karst Formations "Genetic Relations of Caves to Peneplains and Big Springs in the Ozarks," 1953 "Cavern-Making in a Part of the Mexican Plateau," 1955 "Origin of Bermuda Caves," 1960 "Bermuda: A Partially Drowned, Late Mature Pleistocene Karst," 1960 18 5 "Caves of Illinois," 1961 Subseries 2: Channeled Scablands 18 6 Channeled Scablands "The Channeled Scablands of the Columbia Plateau," 1923 "Glacial Drainage on the Columbia Plateau," 1923 18 7 Channeled Scablands "The Age of the Spokane Glaciation," 1924 "The Dalles Type of River channel," 1924 18 8 "The Spokane Flood Beyond the Channeled Scablands," 1925 18 9 "Channeled Scabland and the Spokane Flood 1927 The Spokane Flood: A Reply," 1927 18 10 Channeled Scablands "Alternate Hypotheses for Channeled Scabland," 1928 " "The Channeled Scabland of Eastern Washington," 1928 "Bars of Channeled Scabland," 1928 19 1 "Valley Deposits Immediately East of the Channeled Scabland of Washington," 1929 19 2 "Valley Deposits Immediately West of the Channeled Scabland," 1930 19 3 "The Channeled Scabland," 1932 19 4 "Channeled Scabland of Washington: New Data and Interpretations," 1956 19 5 "Washington's Channeled Scabland," 1959 19 6 "The Lake Missoula Floods and the Channeled Scabland, 1969 Glaciation Subseries 3: Glaciation 19 7 Glaciation "Glacial Lakes of Puget Sound," 1910 "The Terminal Moraine of the Puget Sound Glacier," 1911 "The Satsop Formation of Oregon and Washington," 1917 "The Late Pleistocene Submergence in the Columbia Valley of Oregon and Washington," 1919 "The Juan de Fuca Lobe of Cordilleran Ice Sheet," 1920 19 8 "Keewatin End Moraines in Alberta, Canada," 1943 19 9 "Keewatin End Moraines in Alberta, Canada," related correspondence 19 10 Glaciation "Glacial Lake Merrimac," 1950 "Causes of the Glacial Lake Stages in Saginaw Basin, Michigan," 1951 "The Stages of Lake Chicago: Their Causes and Correlations," 1951 19 11 Glaciation "Glacial Grand River, Michigan," 1953 "Correlation of Glacial Lake Stages in the Huron-Erie and Michigan Basins," 1966 "Correlation of Glacial Lake Stages in the Huron-Erie and Michigan Basins," related correspondence Subseries 4: Other Publications 19 12 "Modern Conceptions of Earth History," 1924 "The Origin of Man," 1926 "The United States During the Ice Age," 1932 19 13 "The Physiography of North America," 1939 20 1 "Geology of the Chicago Region," Part I, 1939 "Geology of the Chicago Region,", Part II, 1955 20 2 "Geology of the Chicago Region,", map supplement, 1943 20 3 "Caliche in Southeastern New Mexico," 1949 20 4 "A High-Level Boulder Deposit East of the Laramie Range, Wyoming," 1952 20 5 Review of Kenneth Roberts, Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod (1951), 1952 20 6 Review of Kenneth Roberts, The Seventh Sense - A Sequel to "Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod (1953), 1954 Review of Kenneth Roberts, related correspondence 20 7 "Dynamic Equilibrium and the Ozark Land Forms," 1962 Review of Kenneth Roberts, related correspondence 20 8 "An Open Letter Chiefly to Geologists Interested in the Pleistocene of the Midwest," 1968 Review of Kenneth Roberts, related correspondence Series V: Photographs Subseries 1: Biographical 20 9 Phillip Bretz stone house, Melmore, Ohio 20 10 Bretz family reunion, 1887 20 11-12 Bretz family portraits 20 13 JHB childhood 21 1 Boulder Strewn, JHB home 21 2 JHB with colleagues 21 3-4 Fieldwork, general 21 5 Fieldwork, caves 21 6 Devil's Lake field course group, 1947 21 7 Perry Farm Canyon field trip, undated 21 8 Humorous 21 9 J Harlen Bretz Laboratory for Geomorphology and Sedimentation, Albion College, 1971 21 10 Moving of boulders from Bretz home to Albion College, 1976 21 11 Bretz boulders in courtyard of Science Center, Albion College Subseries 2: Alberta 21 12-14 General views 21 15 Contact prints and negatives Subseries 3: Caves 21 16 Cave entrances 22 1-3 Cave interiors 22 4 Cave rock specimens Subseries 4: Channeled Scablands 22 5-6 General views 22 7-8 Aerial views 22 9-10 Maps 23 1 Photo album with prints and negatives, 1922-1927 23 2 Grand Coulee, photo album with typescript commentary Subseries 5: Greenland 24 1 England, Norway, and Greenland, photo album 24 2 England, Norway, and Greenland, contact prints and negatives 25 1-5 General views