Photographs from the early years of the Department of Geology

East side of Arts and Convocation Hall, early 1920s The Arts Building at the University of Alberta was completed in 1915, and served as the main teaching building for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Department of Geology moved into the third floor that year, with preparation laboratories in the basement, and remained there until 1958. Source: Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

Don A. Taylor (centre) and Donald (?) Allan (background), Bighill Creek, north of Cochrane, Alberta, July 1935 As early as 1935, John A. Allan recommended that a park be established to protect Big Hill Springs: 'This short valley containing tufa deposits is one of the most beautiful spots in Alberta east of the Rocky Mountains and I recommend that it be preserved as a park reserve for the pleasure of visitors.' The area subsequently became a provincial park in 1957. Taylor became the first Curator of Geology at the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-1511

John A. Allan, southeast of Frank Slide and Turtle Mountain, Alberta, 1933 Canada's deadliest rock avalanche occurred at 4:10 am on April 29, 1903, when 30 million cubic metres of rock fell down Turtle Mountain and buried the eastern part of the town of Frank, killing 90 people. Between 1931 and 1933, Allan wrote three reports on the stability of Turtle Mountain for the Alberta Department of Public Works. He concluded that the main cause of the tragedy was the geological structure of the mountain. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-1357

Students (seated) and instructor Alan E. Cameron (standing),ca. 1921 The thirteen students are seated in front of a display of ore specimens in the Geological Museum, located on the third floor of Arts and Convocation Hall at the University of Alberta. Cameron was Lecturer in both the Departments of Geology and Mining Engineering. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-500

John A. Allan (left) and R.C. Jackson (right), Sulphur Mountain, Banff National Park, Alberta, 1914 Climbing mountains was a routine requirement of fieldwork undertaken by Allan for the Geological Survey of Canada. This picture is taken well above the Spray River on what was then Terrace Mountain in Rocky Mountains Park (later named Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park). Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-415

George F. Sternberg (left) and William A. Kelly (right), near Steveville, southeast Alberta, August 1921 A block of dinosaur bones still enclosed in rock is being wrapped in burlap and wet plaster to prepare it for transport to the University of Alberta. Sternberg worked for the University of Alberta from 1920 to 1922 collecting and preparing dinosaur specimens. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-411

Ralph L. Rutherford, Victoria Settlement (near Pakan), Alberta, September 25, 1917 Rutherford is cooking over natural gas on the riverbank during an expedition for the Geological Survey of Canada along the North Saskatchewan River. On this trip, he was assisting John A. Allan. Subsequently, Rutherford obtained his doctorate, and in 1923 joined the Department of Geology as Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-234

John A. Allan, near Steveville, southeast Alberta, 1921 Allan discovered a fine skull of the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Gorgosaurus libratus (UALVP 10) that summer. It was collected and prepared by George F. Sternberg, and has been on public display in the Paleontology Museum at the University of Alberta since 1935. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-435

Composite mount of the hadrosaur Corythosaurus, and Poundmaker's tipi, Arts and Convocation Hall, ca. 1935 When the Paleontology Museum opened to the public in 1935, it exhibited both paleontological and ethnological collections. The tipi of Chief Poundmaker (Pitikwahanapiwiyin) was transferred to the University of Alberta by Justice Lucien Dubuc in 1927, and a presentation involving representatives of the Plains Cree was held in May 1932. The tipi was moved to the Provincial Museum of Alberta upon its opening in 1967. Source: Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

Field assistants near Saskatchewan River Crossing, Alberta, 1942 This fieldtrip was made by John A. Allan in preparation for the publication of the General Geology of Alberta (Alberta Research Council Report No. 34, 1943). The Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Lake Louise was completed in 1940, and it is apparent that the expedition drove this route. The view is looking south to Mount Sarbach (centre), Kaufmann Peaks (left of centre) and Epaulette Mountain (far left). Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-2339

North bank of the North Saskatchewan River, below the Alberta Legislature Building, Edmonton, September 1921 A class from the University of Alberta examines the local sandstone. The north end of the High Level Bridge (completed in 1913) may be seen in the left background. Source: Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

Dr. Percival S. Warren, Cadomin, Alberta, ca. 1957 Warren (at right) joined the Department of Geology at the University of Alberta in 1920 as Professor of Paleontology and Stratigraphy. He and two others are examining the contact between the Mesozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks on the railway track near Cadomin.

Skull of the pachycephalosaurid dinosaur Stegoceras validum, skull of the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Gorgosaurus libratus, and George F. Sternberg, ca. 1935 Upon its opening in 1935, the Paleontology Museum was one of the first institutions in western Canada to exhibit dinosaur bones to the public. Sternberg collected and prepared the specimens on exhibit, including the Stegoceras (UALVP 2) and the Gorgosaurus (UALVP 10). Funds for preparing the specimens were provided by the Carnegie Corporation. Source: Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences

Dr. Charles R. Stelck, O.C., D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.C., P.Geol., outside the hotel at Pouce Coupe, British Columbia, August 19, 1939 Professor Emeritus Stelck obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Department of Geology at the University of Alberta. He returned as a faculty member after obtaining his doctorate at Stanford, and became one of Canada's preeminent geologists, known as the dean of Canadian paleontology. For his service to Canada and the University of Alberta, he was awarded the Order of Canada in 1996 and a Doctor of Science in 2003. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-5587

Norman L. Bowen, unidentified woman, John A. Allan, and Mary Lamont at the Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, 1911 Both the pioneering experimental petrologist Norman L. Bowen and John A. Allan received their doctorates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1912. Mary Lamont obtained her medical degree in 1911 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Boston). Mary and Norman were married in 1911. Allan founded the Department of Geology at the University of Alberta in 1912. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-183

Ralph L. Rutherford, Alan E. Cameron, John Hornby, Major A. White, Major Sullivan, Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, ca. 1920 The location of Fort Smith on the Slave River made it the administrative and transportation hub for the western Arctic in the early twentieth century. This photograph was annotated with the professions of those pictured: Rutherford - geologist, Cameron - mining engineer, Hornby - northern explorer, White - metallurgist, and Sullivan - transportation official. Both Rutherford and Cameron were affiliated with the Department of Geology. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-3230

Crooked Rapids Camp, near Saddle Lake, Alberta, June 1917 Expedition craft Ruby and Unio, both flying the Union Jack and the latter also flying the flag of the Geological Survey of Canada. The members of the party include Nelius T. Ronning. Tragically, he and another student of the Department of Geology, Charles MacDougall, drowned in 1920 in Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-71

Personnel of four expeditions gathered at the camp of Charles M. Sternberg, Little Sandhill Creek, southeast Alberta, July 21, 1917 Standing (left to right): Gustav E. Lindblad - assistant to C.M.S., Ralph L. Rutherford - assistant to J.A.A., Percy A. Taverner - ornithologist at the National Museum, Charles M. Sternberg, C.H. Young - assistant to P.A.T., Charles H. Sternberg, John A. Allan - Professor of Geology at the University of Alberta. Seated (left to right): cook for C.H.S., assistant to C.H.S., Bruce McKee - assistant to C.H.S. The Sternbergs were famous dinosaur hunters. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-199

Southwest of Pincher Creek, Alberta, June 26, 1931 Considerable exploration for oil and gas was carried out around Pincher Creek in the 1920s and 1930s. Despite the discovery of natural gas in this area, commercial exploitation of these resources did not occur until considerably later. Source: University of Alberta Archives #79-23-1000

John A. Allan, third floor of Arts and Convocation Hall, 1922 Allan strongly believed in the collection and exhibition of rock, mineral and fossil specimens for teaching students and the public. He founded the first museum collection at the University of Alberta in 1912. Source: University of Alberta Archives #77-84-507