Charles Elijah Decker Collection
Scope and Contents
FULL FINDING AID (PDF)
University of Oklahoma professor. General correspondence (1911-1957); papers (1923-1950) of the University of Oklahoma chapter of the geology fraternity, Sigma Gamma Epsilon; correspondence (1925-1942), membership lists, and expense records (1934-1935) from the Oklahoma Academy of Science; manuscripts, reprints and research correspondence (1932-1934, n.d.) from Decker's research on Oklahoma geology and on graptolites; correspondence (1925-1946) and notebooks (n.d.) concerning the Methodist Episcopal Church in Norman, Oklahoma; correspondence and printed material (1931-1952) concerning the University of Oklahoma; and correspondence and printed material (1913-1955) from various universities and geological associations. Charles Elijah Decker Photograph Collection also in repository.
Dates
- Creation: 1861-1957
Creator
- Decker, Charles Elijah, 1868-1958 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
On June 26, 2023, the Western History Collections began a preservation project that has made many of its collections unavailable for a period of time. This collection is among the materials temporarily unavailable. Please contact Western History Collections if you wish to be added to a contact list to be notified when this collection becomes available.
Available for public access.
Biographical / Historical
Born Dixon, Ill., 1868; A.B. Northwestern, 1906; A.M. Chicago, 1908; ten years on farm
because of illness of parents; Ph.D., 1917; Hon. Sc.D., Oklahoma City University, 1935.
Institute of Geology, Northwestern, 1908-09; Asst. Chicago, 1908, 1912, 1917; summers
Ill., 1912-13; Colo. State Col., 1923; Cornell, 1924-26; inst. geol., Oklahoma 1916; head
of Dept. of Paleontology 1930; 1931 placed in charge of general correspondence and
distribution of publications of Oklahoma Geological Survey, closed that year because of
lack of appropriations, and maintained this work until reopening of dept. July, 1935.
Professor Emeritus of Paleontology, (retired 1951) after 34 years service. Fellow
Geological Society; fellow Paleontological Society; member Association. Petroleum
Geologists (Secretary.-treasurer, 1919-26); Society Econ. Paleontology and Mineralogy
(pres. 1930); Oklahoma Academy (pres. 34). Internationally recognized authority on
graptolites. Grand President of Sigma Gamma Epsilon from 1924-32. A prolific writer.
His field: graptolites; minor faults and folds in Great Lakes region; transverse structures
in Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma; Arbuckle and Viola lime-stone; Henryhouse and
Sylvan Shales; petroleum and natural gas of U.S.
See also Oklahoma Daily, June 18, 1953 for "Research Professor Emeritus Awarded
Plaque by Sigma Tau Epsilon, Honorary Earth Fraternity at Banquet of this Group."
Extent
5.33 Cubic Feet (5.33 ft.)
Language of Materials
English
Ownership and Custodial History
Gift of Charles Elijah Decker.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers: Source of acquisition--Decker, Charles Elijah. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1952.
Subject
- Anderson, G. E., 1879-1940 (Person)
- Fitts, John Augustus, 1879-1942 (Person)
- Weidman, Samuel, 1870-1945 (Person)
- American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Organization)
- Geological Society of America (Organization)
- Methodist Episcopal Church (Norman, Okla.) (Organization)
- Oklahoma Academy of Science (Organization)
- Oklahoma Junior Academy of Science (Organization)
- Sigma Gamma Epsilon. Gamma Chapter (University of Oklahoma) (Organization)
- University of Oklahoma -- : Curricula. (Organization)
- Higgins, D. F. (Daniel Franklin), 1882-1930 (Person)
- Description rules
- Appm
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Box: 1 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 2 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 3 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 4 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 5 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 6 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 7 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 8 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 9 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 10 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 11 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 12 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 13 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 14 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 15 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 16 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 17 (Mixed Materials)
- Drawer: 8610 (Maps)
Repository Details
Part of the Western History Collections Repository
630 Parrington Oval
Room 300
Norman Oklahoma 73019 United States
westernhistorycollections@ou.edu