University of Wyoming
"©" 2006 University of Wyoming
Arthur Charles Bevan was born on a farm near Delaware, OH on August 8, 1888 to David Williard and Mary Evans Bevan. Graduating from high school in 1906, he worked on the family farm after his father died and attended Ohio Wesleyan University on a part-time basis. He and his brother Chester took a bicycle and train trip west in 1909, where he first saw the Rocky Mountains. While a geology student at Ohio Wesleyan, he attended a University of Missouri geology summer camp in the Wind River Mountains of western Wyoming. He graduated in 1912 with a B.S. in geology, and stayed at the university for two years as an assistant instructor and acting head of the Geology Department. In 1914, he married Mary Edna Arthur and started graduate school at the University of Chicago where he taught and received his Ph.D. in geology in 1921. His thesis work was on glacial growth and recession studies in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana north of Yellowstone National Park.
After his graduation from the University of Chicago, he worked as a professor of geology at the University of Illinois. In 1929, he became the Virginia State Geologist for the Virginia Geological Survey, a position he held until he resigned in 1947 to accept the position of Illinois Principal Geologist. In 1955, he retired and moved back to Virginia. During his career, he also taught geology at The Ohio State University, the University of Montana, University of Chicago, and University of Illinois in addition to Ohio Wesleyan University. His retirement plans included writing his autobiography, technical and non-technical magazine articles, and continuing geological field work on the geomorphology, stratigraphy, and structure of the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where he built his retirement cottage. Bevan died near Staunton, Virginia in 1968.
The Arthur Bevan Papers focus on Bevan’s life as an author after his retirement in 1955. He was best known as the State Geologist of Virginia (1929-1947), but his special interest was glacial studies in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, where he returned several times over four decades to continue his research. Series I (Manuscripts and Personal Correspondence) contains several unfinished manuscripts, research notes, presentations, and correspondence that span the range of his professional activities and interests. It includes four drafts of his autobiography, “The Trail of a Geologist.” Series II (Diaries, Notebooks and Maps) contains diaries of his personal and professional travels, including a bicycle and train trip with his brother in 1909, his Ph.D. thesis field notes, and annotated maps from his work in the Beartooth Mountains in the 1910s, 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s. Series III (Slides) includes several hundred 35mm color slides, segregated by geographical region of the country and organized for presentations. Series IV (Diplomas) contains Arthur Bevan’s B.S. and Ph.D. diplomas and Mary Edna Arthur’s (later Mrs. Arthur Bevan) B.A. diploma.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
The Resource Center of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Division of Mineral Resources contains documents relating to Arthur Bevan’s employment as State Geologist of Virginia (1929-1947), including his educational/professional background, correspondence, and meeting minutes about his resignation.
The collection was processed by Theodore C. Bartke in March 2005.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Arthur Bevan Papers, 1909-1968, Collection Number 03285, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.