The Charles P. Berkey Collection contains materials relating to the personal and professional life of geologist and civil engineer Berkey who was affiliated with Columbia University throughout his career. It includes correspondence, family documents, Berkey's writings, awards, and photographs. Materials in the collection date from 1884 - 1955.
Charles P. Berkey was born in Goshen, Indiana in 1867. He moved with his family to a farm outside Minneapolis, Minnesota as a young adult, and enrolled in the University of Minnesota directly after graduation from Farmington High School. He continued his studies at Minnesota, earning a Ph.D. in Geology in 1894. After teaching and researching in Minnesota for several years, he transferred to Columbia University in 1903. He flourished under his mentor, James Furman Kemp, and rose through every rank of academia at Columbia until retiring in 1932 as the Newberry Professor of Geology. He lived in Palisades, N.J. with his wife Minnie (until her death in 1940), his daughter Virginia and his son Paul. He died in 1955 at the age of 88.
Professor Berkey was a celebrated instructor of geology but his skill and passion lay in fieldwork. He spent most of his career travelling the United States and select international locations surveying geological formations and advising engineering firms. He is credited with transforming the field of geology from pure science to applied science. His close work with engineers in dam construction earned him U.S. government accolades and honorary membership into the American Society of Civil Engineering. He worked consistently past retirement and could be found in the field right up until his death.
During his career he authored several books and articles and had an edited book dedicated as a fetschschrift (The Berkey Volume). He achieved international fame with his participation in the Central Asiatic Expedition of 1925, led by Roy Chapman Andrews. He was the recipient of many awards for outstanding contributions to the field of geology included Honorary Doctorates in Science from Columbia University and the University of Minnesota, and the first Kemp Medal in Geology to be award by Columbia University.
This collection includes both personal and professional materials assembled by Charles P. Berkey during his lifetime. It consists primarily of correspondence, but also contains writings, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The collection spans the entire adult life of Berkey, and therefore provides insight into both his family and the growth of his career.
The Correspondence series relates primarily to Berkey's family and their activities, while the Biography series is limited to writings about Berkey and his accomplishments. The Writings/Lectures, Professional Correspondence, and Projects series address his contributions to the fields of geology and engineering, while the Awards series docuemtns the recognition he received for this work. Finally, the Family, Genealogy, and Photographs series provides insight into his personal family history. This guide concludes with a selected bibliography of texts from his collection.
The collection is organized into twelve series, including Correspondence, Biographical materials, Writings/Lectures, Professional Correspondence, Projects, Awards, Miscellaneous Professional, Family, Genealogy, Photographs, Miscellaneous, and Bibliography.
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], Charles P. Berkey Papers, MC 00275, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Purchased from Bookworm and Silverfish, Booksellers in 2000.
Purchased from Bookworm and Silverfish, Booksellers, 2000.
The collection is organized into eleven principal series:
The largest series in the collection, it contains personal family letters and is housed in twelve archival boxes. Correspondence between Berkey and the authors, including his wife Minnie, his daughter Virginia, his son Paul, and his grandchildren is organized together chronologically, as are additional letters between several of these relations. The correspondence generally covers topics such as Berkey's travels, health, and other family matters. Paul Berkey described his experiences in the military to his father in some correspondence, while other letters bring their intended recipients up to date on such events as weddings and birthdays.
This series contains printed biographical information, autobiographical manuscripts, letters of personal commendation, and birthday correspondence. In 1937, on Berkey's 70th birthday, a surprise dinner was held in his honor. Over 300 guests attended it from several countries. This series contains a large number of letters from those who were unable to attend, as well as the invitation, program, and speech transcripts. This series also has the printed obituaries and official memorials dedicated to Berkey. His daughter, Virginia Berkey Hartigan, presumably collected this last part.
This series contains only a very small portion of Berkey's published works and unpublished manuscripts. There is a listing of his extensive publications in the first folder of the series. Berkey was invited to give a series of lectures for Columbia University in 1914 - 1915 called the Jessup Lectures. Drafts and completed copies of these lectures are contained in this series.
1 archival box
Berkey maintained a long-standing relationship with his mentor at Columbia University, James Furman Kemp. Their correspondence deals with both professional and personal matters but is kept in this one series for ease of organization. The large amount of miscellaneous correspondence contains letters and telegrams from Berkey's employers and colleagues. This series maintains Berkey's original classification order.
2 archival boxes
This series consists primarily of newspaper clippings from Berkey's many projects throughout the United States. Also contained in this series is the extensive record of Berkey's trip to Mongolia in 1925. The expedition was followed closely by the United States press and Berkey gave lectures and interviews on this event for many years.
.5 archival box
Berkey was the recipient of numerous awards, medals, and honorary degrees. This series contains newspaper announcements, congratulatory correspondence, and official invitations and programs of the ceremonies. It is organized according to the date of the award.
1 archival box
This series contains the mundane official documentation of Berkey's professional career. It contains his handwritten (and undated for the most part) itineraries that he left for his family, as well as legal documents. The contracts, licenses, and invoices necessary for a professional career are contained in this series. The last folder in this series contains two of Berkey's geological journals in which he kept notes of the projects for which he consulted from 1945 - 1948. They contain minutes of meetings, random observations, and topographical sketches.
1 archival box
This small series contains clippings and official letters that pertain to Berkey's wife, children, and grandchildren. Minnie Berkey, the wife of Charles, left a sizable donation to the New Jersey College for Women (now a part of Rutgers University) in her will. This series has the correspondence between the College and Charles on the disposition of the funds. The last two folders of this series are long manuscripts in the form of family letters. Charles and Minnie traveled through Europe in 1929 and maintained a running diary complete with photographs. One manuscript treats the journey as a whole, while the other focuses on a tour of World War I battlefields of northern France. Their son, Paul, fought in the war as an artillery officer and the parents traced the movements of his company through his wartime letters.
.5 archival box
Berkey toiled on the genealogy of the Berkey Family all his life. This series contains folders of various branches of the family and correspondence between Berkey and distant relatives. The largest amount of information describes the Studebaker-Stutsman line, of which Berkey's mother was a part. The Studebaker family maintained correspondence with Berkey's daughter, Virginia, after his death in 1955. This series maintains Berkey's original classification scheme.
1 archival box
This series is split into three sections: Berkey, professional, and family. All photos that depict Berket are in the first section, while those that only treat the projects on which he worked are in the second. The family section contains several photos of unknown personages assumed to be related to Berkey.
.5 archival boxes
This series contains only two items. The first is an original invitation to the coronation of Edward VII of England in 1903. It is unknown, and considered unlikely, that Berkey attended the coronation. The invitation is unaddressed. The second item is an unsigned engraving of an unknown building, possibly on Columbia's campus.
.5 archival boxes
These materials were acquired after the original materials were processed.
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], Charles P. Berkey Papers, MC 00275, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.