Memorial to Charles F. Bassett 1900-1990 · 2015. 5. 12. · Memorial to Charles F. Bassett...
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Memorial to Charles F. Bassett 1900-1990 KENNETH G. BRILL, JR. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri 63103 Charles Fernando Bassett died at the age of 90 on Octo- ber 10, 1990. He was born on May 13, 1900, in Castile, New York, the son of Alfred S. Bassett and Adelaide Smith Bassett. He was educated in the local schools and graduated from Castile High School in 1918. He entered Cornell University and in addition to taking a full course of study, he joined the Students Army Training Corps. The attempt to be both a student and a soldier was difficult and he as well as others had to make up scholastic deficiencies during the summer. To quote Charles, “Unforeseen cir- cumstances made it necessary for me to work my way. During my freshman year I worked for my board and room and did whatever odd jobs I could find. The following year I worked for my room and board and worked by the hour around the [geology] department in addition to carrying a full schedule of courses.” Upon receiving an A.B. degree in geology from Cornell in1922 heenrolled in graduate school at the University of Illinois, Urbana. He held a part-time jobteachinglaboratory courses in the geology department and received the M.A. degree in 1924. His dissertation dealt with the Devonian strata of the Alto Pass Quadrangle in southern Illinois, where he discovered “the pres- ence of the Oriskany Sandstone and a new formation composed of chert.” In the summer of 1924 while working toward a Ph.D. degree he visited all the outcrops of Silurianrock in north- ern Illinois, measuring sections and collecting fossils. During the summer of 1925he mapped Devonian strata for a new edition of the geologic map of Kentucky. In 1926 he was offered a job in Venezuela as district resident geologist with the Lago Petroleum Corporation in the Bolivar Coast fields on Lake Maracaibo. He found that this job gave him the opportunity to repay debts he had incurred while in college. He said, “I spent five years [1926-1931] in Venezuela in the drilling fields during the period of expansion. I was in charge of geological work in five fields and had five geologists working under my direction as well as a scout. Our work consisted of determination of horizons, casing seats, final depths of wells, sands to be produced, size and perforation of screen pipe, and a considerable amount of petroleum engineering.” In 1928 he married Gladys W. Hawley, who accompanied him to Maracaibo. Their son, Neal Favor, was bom in 1931 upon their return to the United States. Charles then began a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, and at the same time assisted in the geology department. His dissertation dealt with the Dundee Limestone of south- eastern Michigan. When he received his degree in 1933, teaching jobs were scarce, so for two years he worked for the Michigan Department of Conservation making surveys of ground water in the state forests. From 1935 to 1943 he was a member of the faculty of the physical sciences department teaching geology and geography at the University of Kansas City (now the University of Mis- souri—Kansas City). He served at times as chairman of the department, and at the outbreak of World War II he became head of civil defense for the university. Sam Ellison, Jr., one of his stu- dents, remembers Charley as a “very thorough teacher.” Charles led summer field courses in the 1
Transcript of Memorial to Charles F. Bassett 1900-1990 · 2015. 5. 12. · Memorial to Charles F. Bassett...
Memorial to Charles F. Bassett 1900-1990
K EN N ETH G. B R ILL , JR.Department o f Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri 63103
Charles Fernando Bassett died at the age of 90 on October 10, 1990. He was born on May 13, 1900, in Castile,N ew Y ork, the son of A lfred S. B assett and A delaide Smith Bassett. He was educated in the local schools and graduated from Castile High School in 1918. He entered Cornell University and in addition to taking a full course of study, he joined the Students Army Training Corps. The attempt to be both a student and a soldier was difficult and he as well as others had to make up scholastic deficiencies during the summer. To quote Charles, “Unforeseen circum stances made it necessary for me to w ork my way.During my freshman year I worked for my board and room and did whatever odd jobs I could find. The following year I worked for my room and board and worked by the hour around the [geology] department in addition to carrying a full schedule of courses.”
Upon receiving an A.B. degree in geology from Cornell in 1922 he enrolled in graduateschool at the University of Illinois, Urbana. He held a part-time job teaching laboratory coursesin the geology department and received the M.A. degree in 1924. His dissertation dealt with the Devonian strata o f the Alto Pass Quadrangle in southern Illinois, where he discovered “the presence o f the Oriskany Sandstone and a new formation composed of chert.” In the summer of1924 while working toward a Ph.D. degree he visited all the outcrops of Silurian rock in northern Illinois, measuring sections and collecting fossils. During the summer of 1925 he mappedDevonian strata for a new edition of the geologic map of Kentucky.
In 1926 he was offered a job in Venezuela as district resident geologist with the Lago Petroleum Corporation in the Bolivar Coast fields on Lake Maracaibo. He found that this job gave him the opportunity to repay debts he had incurred while in college. He said, “I spent five years [1926-1931] in Venezuela in the drilling fields during the period of expansion. I was in charge of geological work in five fields and had five geologists working under my direction as well as a scout. Our work consisted of determination of horizons, casing seats, final depths of wells, sands to be produced, size and perforation of screen pipe, and a considerable amount of petroleum engineering.”
In 1928 he married Gladys W. Hawley, who accompanied him to Maracaibo. Their son, Neal Favor, was bom in 1931 upon their return to the United States.
Charles then began a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, and at the same time assisted in the geology department. His dissertation dealt with the Dundee Limestone of southeastern Michigan. When he received his degree in 1933, teaching jobs were scarce, so for two years he worked for the Michigan Department of Conservation making surveys of ground water in the state forests.
From 1935 to 1943 he was a member of the faculty of the physical sciences department teaching geology and geography at the University of Kansas City (now the University o f Missouri— Kansas City). He served at times as chairman of the department, and at the outbreak of World War II he became head of civil defense for the university. Sam Ellison, Jr., one of his students, remembers Charley as a “very thorough teacher.” Charles led summer field courses in the
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Black Hills and did field research in western Colorado where I first met him. His field studies resulted in papers on Cambrian graptolites in Glenwood Canyon and on Pennsylvanian strati- graphic sections in the Elk Mountains and the McCoy area.
He left the university in 1943 and joined the exploration department of the Gulf Oil Corporation in Pittsburgh. He worked on various projects until 1958, when changes in management caused him to leave Gulf. He took a one-year appointment as associate professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at the New York State Teachers College at New Paltz (now SUNY— New Paltz). For the following two years he was associate professor of geology at the University of Tulsa. In 1962 Charles became professor and head of the Department of Geology and Geography (later Earth Sciences) at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. After seven years at Drury he retired, but continued to live in Springfield.
He was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 1967, and at one time was a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Association of Missouri Geologists.
Gladys Bassett, who predeceased her husband, was an outgoing person who was a volunteer for many organizations in places where they lived. They are survived by their son, Neal F. Bassett. They enjoyed Colorado and bought an old cabin in the abandoned town of Marble where they spent their vacations.
Charley was quiet and friendly. He had received vocal training as a young man and sang in glee clubs, choirs, and quartets. He also gave recitals. A former colleague, Richard Ordway, said, “He was a most congenial and pleasant man to work with. The students liked him— My memories of him are all very positive.”
The testimonial delivered at his retirement in 1969 honored Charles F. Bassett for his patience, interest, and helpfulness with students; for his willingness to aid Drury College in a time of need, after a distinguished career in other excellent institutions; for his excellence of scholarship and effectiveness in teaching, as well as his administrative ability as chairman of the Department of Geology; and for his “integrity as a scholar and a person, and ... genuine desire for the whole education of the student.”
I am indebted to a number of persons who provided biographical information about Charles. Among them are John E. Moore, president of Drury College, who was most helpful and who supplied the photograph; Samuel P. Ellison, Jr., of Austin, Texas; Richard Ordway of Bradenton, Florida; Richard J. Gentile of Kansas City; Marilyn Burlingame, assistant archivist at the University of Missouri—Kansas City; and L. A. Ensign, Alumni Records Office, University of Michigan.
SELECTED BIBLIO G R A PH Y OF C. F. BASSETT
1925 The Devonian strata of the Alto Pass quadrangle: Illinois State Academy of Science Transactions, v. 18, p. 360-368.
1934 Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Dundee limestone of southeastern Michigan [abs.]: Geological Society of America Proceedings for 1933, p. 379.
1935 Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Dundee limestone of southeastern Michigan: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 46, p. 425-462.
1938 Graptolites from Cambrian strata in Glenwood Canyon of the Colorado [abs.]: Geological Society of America Proceedings for 1937, p. 304-305.
1938 Paleozoic section in the vicinity of Dotsero, Colorado [abs.]: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 49, p. 1909.
1939 Paleozoic section in the vicinity of Dotsero, Colorado: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 50, p. 1851-1865.
1944 Lower Pennsylvanian section exposed in the Elk Mountains fault zone, Gunnison County, Colorado [abs.]: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 55, p. 1465.
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