Foshag, William F. (William Frederick), 1894-1956

William F. Foshag (1894-1956) joined the United States National Museum's Division of Mineralogy and Petrology as an Assistant Curator in 1919. From 1929 to 1941, he served as Curator of the Division of Physical and Chemical Geology (Systematic and Applied), and from 1929 to 1948 was also Curator of the Division of Mineralogy and Petrology. From 1948 to 1956, Foshag was Head Curator of the Department of Geology and Acting Curator of the Division of Mineralogy and Petrology Foshag's research was primarily devoted to the study of the geology and mineralogy of Mexico. Between 1926 and 1941, Foshag made several collecting trips to Mexico under the auspices of the Smithsonian's Roebling Fund. While serving as a representative of the United States Geological Survey in its cooperative work with the Mexican government, Foshag was able to study the eruption of the Paricutin Volcano in 1943. He made subsequent visits to Paricutin in 1944 and 1945 to observe the volcano. In 1946, he went to Japan to supervise the grading, classifying and appraising, for the United States government, of diamonds captured from the Japanese during World War II. In 1949, Foshag was commissioned by the Guatemalan government to survey ancient jade objects from Central America.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_60_pid_EACP59