Scope and Contents
The collection contains material created by Thomas Condon and material gathered by others about Condon.
Condon's own materials include his class teaching record (1887-1889), a few pieces of correspondence, excerpts from a Board of Regents meeting regarding the appointment of Condon as the Board president (1882), and photographs of minerals, fossils, and other specimens, and the Condon family.
Correspondence includes letters from Condon to Joseph Henry; Condon to Spencer F. Baird; Condon to F. V. Hayden; letters from Joseph Henry to Condon; and from Baird to Condon. Many of the letters discuss Oregon geology.
The photographs are of specimens collected by Condon and identified by him. Also available is a catalogue of the "Condon Collection" of specimens and minerals, and geology publications and pamphlets regarding Oregon geology, and Thomas Condon.
Some of these materials were sent to Special Collections and University Archives in 1946, by Herbert T. Condon.
The collection also contains photocopies of Thomas Condon correspondence held by the Smithsonian.
Dates
- 1870-1900; 1946
- Majority of material found within 1870 - 1900
Creator
- Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1887 (Person)
- Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 (Person)
- Condon, Thomas, 1822-1907 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Thomas Condon (1822-1907) was an Irish Congregational minister, a geologist and paleontologist, and a professor at the University of Oregon.
"Thomas Condon was born in Cork County, Ireland and immigrated to New York City in 1833. After attending grade school and college, he taught for some years before graduating from Auburn Theological Seminary of New York, in 1852. He traveled around Cape Horn to Portland, Oregon where he was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1853. Condon served as pastor at St. Helens in 1853; Forest Grove in 1854; Albany from 1855 to 1861, and The Dalles from 1862 to 1870."
"Beginning in 1865, while living in The Dalles, he was the first scientific investigator of the fossils of the John Day area. In 1872, Condon became Oregon's first state geologist while teaching geology at Pacific University. When the University of Oregon was founded in 1876, he was appointed its first professor of geology, and continued as professor and chair of Natural Sciences until 1907."
"Most of Thomas Condon's fossil collections can be found at the University of Oregon, and Pacific University. Among other things, Condon Hall at the University of Oregon, and the primary visitor center at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument are named for him. The town of Condon in Gilliam County is named after his nephew."
[Source: Oregon Blue Blook online: http://bluebook.state.or.us]
Extent
1 linear feet (2 containers) : 1 clam shell box and 1 photo box
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Thomas Condon (1822-1907) was an Irish Congregational minister, a geologist and paleontologist, and a professor at the University of Oregon. The collection (1870-1900; 1946) contains correspondence, Condon's class teaching record, UO Board of Regents meeting minutes, a catalogue of the Condon specimen collection, geology publications, and photographs of minerals, specimens, the Condon family, and fossils.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff in the 1970s and Tanya Parlet, 2013.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection received a basic level of processing including minimal organization and rehousing.
Description information is drawn in part from information supplied with the collection and initial surveys of the contents.
- Catalogs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- College teachers -- Oregon -- Eugene Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Fossils -- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Geological specimens -- Catalogs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Geological specimens -- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Geologists -- Oregon -- Eugene Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Geology -- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Geology -- Research -- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Geology -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Oregon -- Eugene Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hayden, F. V. (Ferdinand Vandeveer), 1829-1887
- Pacific University
- Paleontologists -- Oregon -- Eugene Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographic prints Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Tintypes Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- University of Oregon
- Title
- Guide to the Thomas Condon Papers
- Status
- Revise Description
- Author
- Tanya Parlet.
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
