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Ellen J. Moore Papers, 1909-2003

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Moore, Ellen James.
Title
Ellen J. Moore Papers
Dates
1909-2003 (inclusive)
1950-2003 (bulk)
Quantity
2.3 cubic feet, including 217 photographs, (5 boxes, including 1 oversize box)
Collection Number
MSS MooreE
Summary
The Ellen J. Moore Papers document Moore’s professional career and personal life through her correspondence, publications, photographs, employment forms, and her childhood scrapbook. Ellen Moore was a Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey from 1950 through 1987, specializing in Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. She was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University in the late 1980s through the 1990s.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. One file in Series 1 (A.V. Zhirmunskiy correspondence) and two files in the Employment Records (Series 3) are restricted because they include documents with confidential personal information. Requests for researcher access to those documents will be reviewed by an archivist.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Ellen Moore was a Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey from 1950 through 1987, specializing in Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. She was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University in the late 1980s through the 1990s. Moore attended Oregon State College and completed her undergraduate degree in geology at Oregon State in the mid-1940s.

Ellen Louise James was born February 6th, 1925 in Portland, Oregon, where she spent her childhood. She graduated from Oregon State College in 1946 with a BA and major in Geology, earned a MS from the University of Oregon in 1950, and studied at Johns Hopkins University from 1953-1954. From 1950-1987 she was employed with the U. S. Geological Survey as a Geologist in Menlo, California. Most of her time at the USGS was spent with the Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy where she was assistant Branch Chief from 1979 to 1982; her main scientific area of interest was Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. Other jobs include working as a Curatorial Science Advisor for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Deep Sea Drilling Project from 1974 to 1975, and working as an Associate Curator for the San Diego Natural History Museum Department of Invertebrate Paleontology from 1966 to 1967.

She retired from the USGS in 1987, but became a Geologist Emeritus with them that same year. Ellen and her husband George W. Moore moved to Corvallis in 1987 and were involved with OSU and the Corvallis community. From 1990 through 2003 Ellen was an Oregon State University Thrift Store volunteer. Ellen was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University from 1987 through 2003. George Moore was courtesy Professor of Geology at Oregon State University. Ellen and George had two children: Geoff and Leslie.

Moore used several names in her correspondence: Ellen L. (Louise) James, Ellen J. Trumbull, and Ellen J. Moore.

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Content Description

The Ellen J. Moore Papers consist of materials created or assembled by Moore documenting her professional career and personal life. They include professional and personal typed and handwritten correspondence, reports, forms, employment records, publications and research documents, a scrapbook, two autograph books, and certificates. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence.

The main publication of Ellen’s is a copy of her book Fossil Shells from Western Oregon: A Guide to Identification, 2000. Other publications are primarily photocopies of her published work or the work of others, or manuscript drafts she reviewed or had reviewed for her.

There are 217 photographs in the collection, primarily documenting Moore's personal and professional lives. Most of the photographs are color or black-and-white prints; one film negative and one color slide are also included. The photographs depict family members, Ellen at various stages of life, colleagues, Ellen at a USGS open house, and retirement parties.

A scrapbook and two autograph journals document Ellen's childhood and youth in Oregon.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Ellen J. Moore Papers (MSS MooreE), Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Ellen J. Moore Papers are arranged in 5 series: 1. Correspondence, 1937-2003; 2. Publications and Research, 1977-2000; 3. Employment Records, 1942-1995; 4. Photographs, 1909-2000; and 5. Personal, 1918-2002.

Acquisition Information

The Papers were donated to the University Archives by Ellen Moore in 2003 and 2004.

Related Materials

The Special Collections & Archives Research Center's holdings include the papers of Ellen's husband, George W. Moore, as well as several other geologists affiliated with Oregon State University including Earl L. Packard, William H. Taubeneck, and Roger L. Nielsen.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Clare Sobotka and Elizabeth Nielsen.
2015

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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