Title:

Robert L. Smith papers, approximately 1940-1990

Creator/Contributor:

Smith, Robert L. (Robert Leland), 1920-, creator, creator.

Creator/Contributor:

Friedman, Irving, 1920-2005.

Includes correspondence, reports, project files, personnel records and photographs from Smith's time employed with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from 1940s to the 1990s. The bulk of the collection are correspondence files, including letters with colleagues in the field of geology and archaeology throughout the world. This series also includes correspondence with Irving Friedman, Smith's partner in his work on the obsidian hydration dating method. Reports include service reports submitted to the USGS by various colleagues on geological projects. Smith's project files include correspondence, research materials, memorandums, and reports for various projects Smith completed for the USGS, including his work on Mount St. Helens eruption 1980 and other volcanic events; work plans and accomplishments for USGS projects; volcanic event information reports from the Smithsonian Institute; and reports from the Smithsonian Institute's Center for Short Lived Phenomenon. Smith's personnel records primarily include professional and technical records submitted to USGS. Smith's professional papers include correspondence, speeches, and other writings regarding awards received by Smith; materials about professional conferences, symposiums and seminars; correspondence regarding writings for publication in professional journals; minutes and reports from the National Academy of Sciences, Division of Earth Sciences. There are a significant amount of photographs of volcanos located throughout the world; photographs of volcanic features such as domes, craters, and caldera; and photographs of colleagues working in laboratories.

Date:

1940 (issued)

Subject:

n-us-ca

Smith, Robert L. (Robert Leland) -- 1920- -- Archives

Volcanology

Volcanoes

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.

Robert L. Smith papers, BANC MSS 2019/183, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

In English.

Robert Leland Smith was born in 1920 and raised in Fair Oaks, California. Smith had been interested in archaeology throughout his youth and began working as a volcanologist and scientist with the United States Geological Survey in the 1940s. Considered an authority on ash-flow tuffs, silicic volcanism, and caldera structures, Smith was best known for his work with Irving Friedman in discovering the obsidian hydration dating method. Smith and Irving presented their findings to the archaeological community in 1960. Their research was important to the study of native peoples in California, the Great Basin, and the American Southwest as obsidian and other volcanic glasses were the primary materials used by native peoples to fabricate tools and other artifacts. Smith died in Sacramento, California on June 17, 2016.

print

7.5 (6 1

English

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/libraries/bancroft-library/unprocessed-collections-form

Origin:

California

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.