|
|
|
|
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Geologists from across the country will be gathering at New Harmony, Ind., this weekend to celebrate the restoration of an important center in the development of geology in North America -- the laboratory of pioneering geologist and former Indiana University Professor David Dale Owen.
The Indiana Geological Survey, an institute based at IU Bloomington, is one of three organizations sponsoring a symposium on Owen and his impact. The program begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday (July 25) at the New Harmony Inn, located at 506 North St., in New Harmony. Other organizers are the Kentucky Geological Survey and the University of Southern Indiana.
Owen, the first state geologist of Indiana, became one of the best-known geologists in the nation and was among an enclave of famous scientists who gathered at New Harmony during the 1830s.
In 1837, Owen began his services as state geologist with a study on the availability of coal and the presence of quality building stone. Between 1838 and 1859, he was employed in numerous, far-reaching geological projects, most of them supported by the then-newly formed U.S. Geological Survey.
For example, he was commissioned by the federal government to survey 10 Midwestern states, mapping mineral resources throughout the region and opening the way for industrial development.
With his legislative appointment as the first state geologist, Owen also joined the faculty at IU, where he assembled a renowned collection of minerals and scientific specimens. "This was one of the most significant archaeological and geological collections to be found on the North American continent," wrote historian Thomas D. Clark in his 1970 book, Indiana University: Midwestern Pioneer -- Volume One, The Early Years.
The Rapp Granery, built by the Harmonie Society (also known as the Rappites) in 1818 as part of their utopian community and known as the Rapp Granary, became the home of Owen's laboratory in 1833. He was the son of Robert Owen, a Welsh-born philanthropist who with another benefactor, William Maclure, brought scholars, scientists and educators together at New Harmony to create a center of social and scientific advancement.
In 1843, David Dale Owen purchased the granary -- the largest building of its kind in the nation -- and kept it open as a museum for the enjoyment and instruction of townspeople and visitors to New Harmony.
When the restoration is completed in December 1998, the granary will serve as a geologic education center and museum of paleontologic and rock collections, in the spirit of Owen's quest for knowledge for the public good.
Saturday's symposium was organized by Norman Hester, recently retired Indiana state geologist and director of the Indiana Geological Survey; Donald Haney, Kentucky state geologist and director of the Kentucky Geological Survey; and David Rice, president emeritus of the University of Southern Indiana, who is coordinating the restoration of the Granary.
"The symposium is intended to focus attention on the fact that the David Dale Owen
Laboratory housed one of the finest paleontologic, mineralogic, and rock collections in the United States," notes Hester, "that New Harmony served as the spawning ground for many of the outstanding geologists and paleontologists of the early to middle 1800s, and the importance of preserving this legacy."
In addition to Hester and Haney, other speakers at the symposium will include Connie Weinzapel, curator of Historic New Harmony; Gerry Friedman, professor of geology at Brooklyn College; Larry Woodfork, director and state geologist of the West Virginia Geological Survey; Marcus Milling, director of the American Geologic Institute; and Tom Straw, a retired professor of geology at Western Michigan University.
Speakers will cover the history of the Harmonists, Owen's contribution to American geology and the future of the geologic profession.
The public is encouraged to attend and can register between 1 and 5 p.m. Friday and between 8 and 9 a.m. Saturday at the New Harmony Inn. The program will conclude at 3 p.m., and be followed by a reception and tour of the granary. Cost is $35 per person, and lunch is included. For more information, contact Deborah DeChurch of the Indiana Geological Survey at 812-855-1941.