Skip to content
print page header

The University of Iowa Libraries

Guide to the George Frederick Kay Papers

Print this Collection Guide | Email this Collection Guide

Collection Overview
Date Span: 1903-1939
Creator: Kay, George Frederick (1873-1943)
Extent: 30.00 linear feet.
Collection Number: RG99.0086
Repository: University of Iowa Archives
Summary: University of Iowa professor of geology, 1907-1941. Served concurrently as head of geology, dean of College of Liberal Arts, and state geologist of Iowa during 1911-1934.

Access: This collection is open for research.

Use: Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Acquisition: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from the Iowa Geological Survey Bureau in 1998.

Preferred Citation: George Frederick Kay Papers, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository: University of Iowa Archives
Address: 100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-335-5921
Curator: David McCartney
Email: david-mccartney@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/archives

George Frederick Kay was born in Ontario, Canada, on September 14, 1873. Mr. Kay served as principal of public schools in Zephyr, Ontario from 1892-1894. He graduated from Owen Sound Collegiate Institute in 1896. He took his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto in 1900 and 1902. Kay married Bethea Hopper on December 26, 1902, and they had three children: George Marshall (1904), Marjorie (1907), and Calvin (1912).
While living in Ontario, Kay was a geologist for the Canadian government. He was assistant professor of geology at the University of Kansas, 1904-1907, before joining the faculty at the State University of Iowa as full professor of geology in 1907. Kay was promoted to head of the department in 1911 and served as geologist for the state of Iowa, 1911-1934. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1914. Dr. Kay was considered an authority on the glacial history of Iowa, and the Pleistocene Epoch in particular. In 1917 he was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts, a position he held until his retirement on September 1, 1941. George F. Kay died July 19, 1943.

This collection includes the professional correspondence and field notes of George F. Kay while serving as state geologist for Iowa, 1911-1934, and as professor and head of the University of Iowa Geology Department, beginning in 1907. Speeches and offprints of articles are also included.
Folder, "Kay, George Frederick. ," Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG01.0015.003)

Prior, Jean C. "The State Geological Survey of Iowa." In The State Geological Surveys: A History, edited by Arthur A. Socolow, pp. 134-145, illus., notes. n.p.: Association of American State Geologists, 1988.

Papers of Samuel Calvin (RG99.0083)

Browse by Series:
Series 1: GENERAL

  • Series 1: GENERAL
  • Box 1:
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence - 1908-1910
    Includes report of IGS expenses, 1906-1910
  • Personal correspondence - 1906-1911
  • General correspondence - 1919-1920
  • Box 2:
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence, E-Z - 1913
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence, A-R - 1915
  • Kay's personal checking account statements - 1927-1929
  • Box 3:
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence, A-O - 1912
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence, A-J - 1914
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence - 1914
  • Box 4:
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence - 1922-1923
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence, S-Z , A-H - 1915-1916
  • Correspondence, George Marshall Kay - 1923-1925
    Son of George Frederick Kay
  • Box 5:
  • Iowa Geological Survey, January-September - 1917
  • Iowa Geological Survey, July-March - 1920-1921
  • Iowa Geological Survey, March-November - 1921
  • Box 6:
  • Maps and field notes, Iowa Geological Survey. Folders 1-9
    See index, box 16
  • Box 7:
  • Iowa Geological Survey corrrespondence, B-L - 1918-1919
  • Iowa Geological Survey correspondence - 1919-1920
  • Iowa Geological Survey, SUI correspondence - 1907-1911
    Includes "Points to be Considered in a New Bill Governing Iowa Geological Survey."
  • Box 8:
  • Iowa Geological Survey corrrespondence, K-Z 1916
  • Iowa Geological Survey corrrespondence - 1922
  • Personal corrrespondence, George Marshall Kay - 1903, 1924-1926
    Son of George Frederick Kay
  • Box 9:
  • Correspondence, Iowa Geological Survey
    Folders 10-26
  • Box 10:
  • Correspondence A-M - 1930-1934
  • Box 11:
  • Correspondence, A-N - 1925-1930
    Through folder 24. Continues in box 16
  • Box 12:
  • Correspondence, A-Z - 1930-1934
  • Box 13:
  • Field notes, Folders 36-42
    See index, box 16
  • Box 14:
  • Field notes, Folders 43, 44, 51, 54, 58
    See index, box 16
  • Box 15:
  • Field notes, Folders A, B, C, 59, 60
    See index, box 16
  • Box 16:
  • Correspondence, O-Z - 1930-1934
    Folder 24
  • Field notes, Folders 25-43
  • Miscellaneous drafts, index to the field notes
  • Box 17:
  • Correspondence - 1911
  • Correspondence, P-Z - 1912
  • Correspondence, A-E - 1922-1925
  • Box 18:
  • Field notes, folders 10-15, 17-19
    See index, box 16
  • Box 19:
  • Field notes, Folders 27-35
    See index, box 16
  • Box 20:
  • Reprints
  • Speeches and radio addresses
  • Box 21:
  • Field notes, folders 55, 57
    See index, box 16

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.


Personal Names:
Calvin, S. (Samuel), 1840-1911
Kay, George F. (George Frederick), 1873-1943

Corporate Names:
Geological Survey (U.S.)
Iowa Academy of Science
Iowa Geological Survey
University of Iowa Department of Geology

Topics:
Geology

Occupations:
Geologists

Geographic Names:
United States -- Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Reprints

Browse:
University of Iowa Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Associates' Papers