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George Frederick Kay Papers Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department. Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials. Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement. Acquisition and Processing Information: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from the Iowa Geological Survey Bureau in 1998. Guide created by Denise Anderson, September 2007. Photographs: None |
George F. Kay, 1925 |
Scope and Contents
This collection includes the professional correspondence and field notes of George F. Kay while serving as state geologist for Iowa, 1911-1934, and as professor and head of the University of Iowa Geology Department, beginning in 1907. Speeches and offprints of articles are also included.
Biographical Note
George Frederick Kay was born in Ontario, Canada, on September 14, 1873. Mr. Kay served as principal of public schools in Zephyr, Ontario from 1892-1894. He graduated from Owen Sound Collegiate Institute in 1896. He took his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto in 1900 and 1902. Kay married Bethea Hopper on December 26, 1902, and they had three children: George Marshall (1904), Marjorie (1907), and Calvin (1912).
While living in Ontario, Kay was a geologist for the Canadian government. He was assistant professor of geology at the University of Kansas, 1904-1907, before joining the faculty at the State University of Iowa as full professor of geology in 1907. Kay was promoted to head of the department in 1911 and served as geologist for the state of Iowa, 1911-1934. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1914. Dr. Kay was considered an authority on the glacial history of Iowa, and the Pleistocene Epoch in particular. In 1917 he was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts, a position he held until his retirement on September 1, 1941. George F. Kay died July 19, 1943.
[D. Anderson; 09/2007]
Related Materials
Folder, "Kay, George Frederick. ," Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)
Prior, Jean C. "The State Geological Survey of Iowa." In The State Geological Surveys: A History, edited by Arthur A. Socolow, pp. 134-145, illus., notes. n.p.: Association of American State Geologists, 1988.
Papers of Samuel Calvin (RG99.0083)
Box Contents List
Box 1
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey
---. 1908-1910
---. 1906-1911
---. 1919-1920
Box 2
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. E-Z, 1913
---. A-R, 1915
Checking account statements, 1927-1929
Box 3
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. 1914
---. A-O, 1912
---. A-J, 1914
Box 4
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. 1922-1923
---. S-Z, 1915
---. A-H, 1916
Correspondence, George Marshall Kay (son of George Frederick Kay), 1923-1925
Box 5
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. July 1920-March 1921
---. March-November 1921
---. January-September 1917
Box 6
Maps and field notes, Iowa Geological Survey
---. Folders 1-9
Box 7
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. B-L, 1918-1919
---. 1919-1920
---. 1907-1911
Box 8
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. K-Z, 1916
---. 1903, 1924-1926
---. 1922
Box 9
Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey, cont.
---. Folders 10-26
Box 10
Correspondence
---. A-M, 1930-1934
Box 11
Correspondence, cont.
---. A-N, through folder 24, 1925-1930
Box 12
Correspondence, cont.
---. A-Z, 1930-1934
Box 13
Field notes
---. Folders 36-42
Box 14
Field notes, cont.
---. Folders 43, 44, 51, 54, 58
Box 15
Field notes, cont.
---. Folders A, B, C, 59, 60
Box 16
Correspondence, O-Z, 1930-1934
Field notes, folders 25-43
Miscellaneous
Box 17
Correspondence
---. 1911-1913
---. 1922
---. 1924-1925
Box 18
Field notes, folders 10-15, 17-19
Box 19
Field notes, folders 27-35
Box 20
Offprints
Speeches and radio addresses
Box 21
Field notes, folders 55, 57