George Frederick Beck was born on December 26, 1892, in Alvord, Iowa, to Lawrence Casper and Mary Moeller Beck. He attended public schools in Minnesota and in eastern Washington during his childhood and early adulthood years. He graduated from Marlin High School, in Marlin, Washington, in 1910. He began teaching history and music at Snoqualmie High School in 1914, but later that year attended the University of Washington. He was a student at the University of Washington from 1914 to 1916 but did not graduate. He returned to teaching in 1916 and taught at Moses Lake (1916-1917), Warden (1917-1919), Ephrata (1919-1920), Hartline (1920-1922), and Yakima High School (1922-1925). In the fall of 1925, Mr. Beck was hired by the Washington State Normal School (presently Central Washington University) as an instructor to teach music and introductory science. Soon afterwards he attended Washington State College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in botany in 1931. He returned to the University of Washington in 1934 and 1935 to study geology. From 1935 to 1937, he was the geologist for the Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Kittitas County. He briefly attended the University of California in 1940 but returned to Ellensburg the same year. In 1942, he became the head of the Science and Health Division of Central Washington College of Education (presently Central Washington University). He received his Master of Science degree in geology from the University of Washington in 1947. He retired from teaching in 1959. Professor Beck was the co-discoverer of the petrified forests of central Washington and largely responsible for the establishment of Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park in Vantage, Washington. He published numerous articles in scientific journals related to his many findings and was the editor of
The George Beck Papers contain graduation certificates (1916 and 1926), commencement announcements (1892-1916), concert and music recital programs (1894-1943) and other ephemera (1904-1926) printed by the Washington State Normal School from 1892 to 1943. Included in the collection are student essays from 1912 to 1937, publications by Professor Beck from 1944 to 1945, correspondence from M. W. Odell and school ephemera that once belonged to Gerrit and Maude d’Ablaing.
Central Washington University began as the Washington State Normal School in 1891. In 1937, the school was rechristened the Central Washington College of Education. In 1961, the school became Central Washington State College and, finally, in 1977, Central Washington University.
Organized alphabetically by subject heading or topic.
Open to the public for educational research
[Name of document or photograph number]. Central Washington University Faculty Papers, George Beck. Archives and Special Collections, Brooks Library, Central Washington University.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.