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G. Ernest Untermann papers, 1893-1975

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Untermann, Gerhard Ernest, Sr., 1864-1956
Title
G. Ernest Untermann papers
Dates
1893-1975 (inclusive)
Quantity
10 linear feet, (19 boxes)
Collection Number
MS 0118
Summary
The G. Ernest Untermann papers (1893-1975) emphasize the scientific and public activities of Gerhard Ernest Untermann and his wife, Billie, both geologists and employees of the Utah Field House of Natural History in Vernal, Utah. Correspondence, reports, articles, news clippings, geological research, speeches, and other materials are included.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Gerhard Ernest Untermann was born on 6 August 1898, while his parents were in Berlin, Germany, on a visit. Nine months later the family returned to the United States. G. Ernest Untermann's first visit to the Vernal area was in 1919 when he assisted his father, Ernest Untermann, make a mining survey for a Chicago firm. During this visit he met Billie Ruple, a native of Vernal, then thirteen-years-old (she was born 29 July 1906). They remained in contact through the years and were married in San Francisco on 14 August 1925.

G. Ernest Untermann and Billie Ruple graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. G. Ernest received an M.A. from the School of Geology and, later, an honorary doctorate. Billie earned an A.B. in geology in 1929 and an M.A. in 1934. She was curator of the Geology Museum at University of California, Berkeley, between 1931 and 1936.

In the 1940s the Untermanns joined the National Park Service and returned to Vernal to work at Dinosaur National Monument in 1943. G. Ernest spent four years as a ranger-geologist, mapping the monument geology. Billie worked on the mapping with G. Ernest and between 1946 and 1948 was put on the payroll as a ranger-naturalist.

The Utah Field House of Natural History was completed in 1946. G. Ernest Untermann, who had been a strong supporter of the project from the beginning, was hired as director-curator. Billie joined him there in 1948 as staff scientist. They spent the following twenty-one years promoting and caring for the Field House. When they formally retired in 1969, Billie was rehired and G. Ernest continued to devote hours to the Field House without pay until 1974. Billie was voted "Outstanding State Employee" in 1972 for her work at the museum.

Billie died 30 January 1973 and G. Ernest died 12 November 1975. Both were honorary, lifetime members of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists and members of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. G. Ernest Untermann was briefly written up in Who's Who in the West (12th Edition, 1970-71), and Billie appeared in Who's Who of American Women (2nd Edition, 1961-62).

As coauthors they published Geology of Dinosaur National Monument, 1969; Dinosaur Land and the Unique Uinta Country, 1972, and other geological studies. They also wrote, separately and jointly, innumerable articles for the local newspaper, the Vernal Express, and articles for professional journals.

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Content Description

The G. Ernest Untermann papers (1893-1975) emphasize the scientific and public activities of Gerhard Ernest Untermann and his wife, Billie, both geologists and employees of the Utah Field House of Natural History in Vernal, Utah. Information regarding geological and paleontological contributions from Ernest Untermann Sr. are also included.

In the interest of chronology, the papers of Ernest Untermann Sr., comprise the first part of the collection. These two boxes include correspondence, reports, and clippings on the Washington Park Zoo, and published articles and scientific writings. Also included are biographical information and a brief autobiography.

The biographical information contained in the collection about G. Ernest and Billie Untermann has been placed in a section with their miscellaneous writings. These consist of articles written for the Utah State Parks employees newsletter, the Pow Wow; articles on their geological research; speeches and miscellaneous writings by G. Ernest; and maps.

A small section on Dinosaur National Monument contains brochures, publications, and maps about the monument area. There are also two geological guidebooks written by G. Ernest and Billie, as well as field naturalist reports written by Billie during the years the Untermanns worked for the United States Park Service.

The Utah Field House of Natural History in Vernal, Utah, was the setting for most of the Untermanns' professional life. The information on the Field House begins with its concept and follows through to the functioning of a successful museum. Reports, clippings, correspondence, and other writings about the growth of the Field House are contained in a large scrapbook kept by the Untermanns. Also included are correspondence and clippings about the Dulany Hunter Foundation and the controversy about the future of the Field House, which was brought on by conflicting opinions between Sam A. Dulany Hunter and G. Ernest Untermann.

General correspondence is arranged by subject, covering, first, letters concerned with the Field House and/or the Untermanns' roles there. This section has correspondence with Arthur G. Nord, the assistant regional forester, and the family of Earl Douglass, who discovered the dinosaur quarry. Letters from friends and visitors to the musuem expressing their appreciation to the Untermanns are filed chronologically. A bound volume of congratulatory letters given to G. Ernest and Billie on their retirement from the Field House is included.

The central portion of the collection is concerned with the controversy over the Upper Colorado River Basin Project and Echo Park Dam, to be built within the confines of Dinosaur National Monument. The Untermanns were in favor of the project and these papers include their geological reasonings as to why the dam should be constructed. Correspondence about the Upper Colorado River Basin is quite extensive. Writings, speeches, and resolutions favorable to the project, as well as papers about the federal hearings, round out the picture given by newsclippings, magazines, brochures, and other publications.

Newspaper clippings by and about the Untermanns and miscellaneous subjects are filed together in rough chronological order. Included are speech notes, speeches, and writings which are not identified. Publications on geology and paleontology not written by the Untermanns have been included in the collection.

The last and largest portion of the collection consists of notes, research, and writings by Billie Untermann, including field notes about Utah. This portion contains articles and condensations of articles by other authors.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

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Administrative Information

Processing Note

Processed by Marlene Lewis in 1977.

Addendum (box 19) was processed by Betsey Welland in 2018.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Separated Materials

See also the Gerhard Ernst Untermann photograph collection (P0118) in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Geological mapping--West (U.S.)
  • Geology--Utah--Archives
  • Paleontological excavations--Utah
  • Paleontologists--History--20th century--Archives
  • Paleontology--Utah--Archives
  • Women paleontologists--History--20th century--Archives

Personal Names

  • Nord, Arthur, 1892-1957--Correspondence
  • Untermann, Billie Ruple, 1906-1973--Archives
  • Untermann, Gerhard Ernest, 1898-1975--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Colorado River Basin Project (U.S.)--Archives
  • Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum--Archives
  • Washington Park Zoo (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Geographical Names

  • Dinosaur National Monument (Colo. and Utah)
  • Echo Park Dam (Utah)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Autobiographies
  • Biographies
  • Business correspondence
  • Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
  • Guidebooks
  • Interviews
  • Manuscripts
  • Maps
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Speeches
  • Technical reports

Finding aid prepared by Marlene Lewis.
1977 (last modified: 2018)

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