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Finding Aid to the Andrew C. Lawson Papers, 1880-1954, bulk 1890-1951
BANC MSS C-B 602
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Andrew C. Lawson papers
Date (inclusive): 1880-1954,
Date (bulk): bulk 1890-1951
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 602
Creator:
Lawson, Andrew C. (Andrew Cowper), 1861-1952
Extent:
Number of containers: 26 boxes, 7 cartons, 6 oversize folders, 2 oversize volumes
Linear feet: 19.85
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Andrew C. Lawson papers, 1880-1954, consist of personal and professional papers
related to Lawson's career in geology and as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley during the
first half of the twentieth century. Of particular note are Lawson's records documenting his work as chairman of
the California Earthquake Investigation Commission. Included in the collection are project files, field
notebooks, correspondence, writings, maps, and subject files, as well as, some biographical material and
property files.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice
may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the
Library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in
writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000.
Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is
restricted to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Andrew C. Lawson Papers, BANC MSS C-B 602, The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley.
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Andrew C. Lawson collection of lantern slides relating to the development of man, BANC PIC 1957.006--LAN
Andrew C. Lawson photograph and postcard albums, BANC PIC 1957.004-ALB
Andrew C. Lawson photograph collection, BANC PIC 1957.003--PIC
California State Earthquake Investigation Commission photographs from the Andrew C. Lawson collection, BANC
PIC 1957.007--NEG
Lantern slides of the caves of Les Eyzies from the Andrew Lawson collection, BANC PIC 1957.005--LAN
Photographs have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library. (BANC PIC
1957.003-.007)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public
access catalog.
University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of
Geology and Geophysics
Geological Survey of Canada
Geological Survey (U.S.)
Geological Society of America
California State Earthquake Investigation
Commission
Geology
San Francisco Earthquake, Calif., 1906
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (Oakland and San
Francisco, Calif.)
The Andrew C. Lawson Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Mrs. Andrew C. Lawson on September 19,
1956. Additions by the University of California Berkeley Seismology Lab were made in December 2006.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by History Associates, Incorporated in 2004; additions by Alison E. Bridger in 2007.
Andrew Cowper Lawson, geologist and professor, was born in Anstruther, Scotland, July 25, 1861, moving to
Hamilton, Ontario when he was five. Graduating from the University of Toronto in 1883, he worked with the
Canadian Geological Survey and continued his education, receiving a Masters in 1885. In 1888 he received a Ph.D.
from Johns Hopkins University.
He continued work with the Canadian Geological Survey in the Lake Superior area after graduation, but early in
1890 he resigned and moved to Vancouver as a consulting geologist for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. In October,
1890, he accepted an invitation from Professor Joseph LeConte to become an Assistant Professor of Mineralogy and
Geology at the University of California where he remained throughout his career. Lawson succeeded LeConte as
department chair upon LeConte's death in 1901.
During his tenure at Berkeley, he observed, mapped and interpreted Coast Range geology, and organized
systematized courses of instruction in mineralogy, petrography, and field geology. His was the first field
geology course at any university in the country. In 1893, he established the first scientific publication series
at Berkeley,
The Bulletin of the Department of Geology and served as its editor
for thirty-five years.
Lawson was also heavily involved in the promotion of the study of seismology, serving as the chairman of the
State Earthquake Investigation Commission, appointed by Governor George C. Pardee after the devastating San
Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and serving as the first Vice- President of the Seismological Society of America
(founded in 1906).
Lawson married Ludovika von Jansch of Brünn, Moravia in 1889. They had four sons. After her death in
1929, he married Isabel R. Collins of Ottawa in 1931. They had one son. He died June 16, 1952.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Andrew C. Lawson papers, 1880-1954, consist of personal and professional papers related to Lawson's career
in geology and as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley during the first half of the twentieth
century. Of particular note are Lawson's records documenting his work as chairman of the California Earthquake
Investigation Commission. Included in the collection are project files, field notebooks, correspondence,
writings, maps, and subject files, as well as, some biographical material and property files.