John Sewall Shelton was a geologist, pilot and photographer. He was born Sept. 2, 1913, in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was the oldest of three boys born to Henry Wood Shelton and Dorothy Camp Shelton. In 1923, the family moved to La Jolla, California. He was home-schooled until he entered the seventh grade at Francis Parker School. He graduated from La Jolla High School and went on to Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he majored in math and music. He was president of the Pomona College Men's Glee Club when it won a national competition in St. Louis. He graduated in 1935 and went on to earn a doctorate degree in geology from Yale. Returning to Pomona, he became the second faculty member in the college's geology department, and taught there from 1945 to 1960. He went on to serve as a scientific adviser to the American Geological Institute from 1962 to 1974, and was particularly active in the development of educational films about geology and geological concepts.
He learned to fly in the early 1940s and started taking aerial photographs of the earth's surface while piloting his own plane. His large collection of photographs taken throughout western North America are still used to teach geology nationwide. In the 1960s, he was a consultant for Encyclopedia Britannica Films and traveled around the world helping to make educational films. John Shelton died on July 24, 2008, at the age of 94.
Shelton's original aerial photographs of geological features and his use of them in the teaching of geology were important contributions to his field. His book, "Geology Illustrated" (1966), is the chief example of this use of photography. The importance of Shelton's work endures to the present, as declining air quality has made it impossible in many cases to take new photographs at the same level of clarity and detail.
In 1993, Shelton received the American Geological Institute's Legendary Geologist Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Public Understanding of Geology." Shelton's contributions to the Earth Science Curriculum Project also led to his receiving the Neil Miner Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers in 2002.
The collection consists of photographic prints of most of the images used in Shelton's textbook, "Geology Illustrated." The aerial photographs for this book are supplemented with airbrush drawings composed by John's brother, cartographer and artist Hal Shelton. Some photographs are attached to transparencies with printed identifications and/or diagrams.
Open to all users.
The creators' literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries. Some photographs in the collection are copyrighted to other photographers; restrictions may exist on these images.
This collection was at Pomona College before being transferred to University of Washington Special Collections in 2010.
Source: John Shelton family, 2010
Minimally processed.
The John Shelton Photographs (PH Coll 859) contains all of Shelton's photographs, slides, and negatives.
Figure 56 is missing.
Figure 64 is missing.
Figures 126A and 126B are missing.
Figure 174 is missing.
Figure 211 is missing.
Figure 269 is missing.
Figure 293 is missing.
Figures 370 and 377 are missing.