Moseley, Edwin Lincoln, 1865-1948

One of the first faculty of what would become Bowling Green State University, then Bowling Green Normal College. He served as a science professor and head of the biology department, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1936. From 1936 until the close or his life, he served a curator of the University's natural history and science museum.

From the description of [Papers] / Edwin Lincoln Moseley. 1869-1951. (Bowling Green State University). WorldCat record id: 7869169

Edwin Lincoln Moseley was born on March 29, 1865, in Union City, Michigan. He graduated from high school at the age of 15 but was too young to apply for college at that time. He spent another year studying at the high school before attending the University of Michigan. Moseley graduated college in 1885 and was the youngest person in his class. Moseley began his life-long teaching career at Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he taught for two years. In 1887, he was chosen to join Joseph Beal Steere in a scientific expedition that included traveling to Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Japan, and the Pacific Ocean. After returning from the expedition, Moseley began teaching science at the Sandusky High School in Sandusky, Ohio. He held this position from 1889 to 1914. He was a pioneer in outdoor science teaching and would frequently take students on day-trips to neighboring communities and the Lake Erie Islands. His teaching philosophy was to inspire students to make original observations and to develop independent thinking. With the help of his students, Moseley surveyed underwater valleys of the Sandusky Bay. These natural river valleys were the result of pre-glacial streams. The discovery led to the valleys acting as exit channels for loaded ships leaving the ports of Sandusky. One of Moseley’s important achievements was the identification of the cause of milk sickness, a condition that killed many early settlers to Ohio and the surrounding states. Milk sickness affected livestock and appeared in people when they ate dairy products from afflicted cows. Through experiments with lab animals, Moseley identified the cause as white snakeroot, a plant that grew in heavily wooded areas. White snakeroot contained a poison that resulted in tremors and usually death in the lab animals. Moseley’s findings were published in 1909. While in Sandusky, Moseley opened a natural history museum in the high school. This museum was open to the public and held about 17,000 specimen that were collected or donated. It was considered one of the best high school museums in the country. In 1932, the demand for additional classrooms forced the museum collection into storage, and Moseley moved all the specimens to Bowling Green in 1938. Moseley finished his teaching career at Bowling Green State Normal College (now known as Bowling Green State University), where he taught from 1914 to 1936. At the college, he was one of the original faculty members and was the head of the science department. After retirement in 1936, Moseley conducted extensive research on his long-range weather forecasting. He theorized that the amount of rainfall cycles every 90.4 years. In 1943, he became the first faculty to receive Bowling Green State University’s Doctor of Humane Letters. Edwin L. Moseley died June 6, 1948, in Bowling Green. Two years later, the former Bowling Green science building was renamed Moseley Hall. Frequently described as eccentric and frugal, Moseley donated his sizable estate to Bowling Green State University to be used for students in need. Moseley made many contributions to the science field in his lifetime. During the years he lived in Ohio (1889-1948), he authored three general science text books and over 100 articles on a variety of topics, especially zoology, botany, geology, education, medical science, and astronomy. He cataloged vascular plants of the Lake Erie islands, Sandusky Bay region, and the Oak Opening (west of Toledo). He described the formation of Sandusky Bay and Cedar Point, which were used for engineering developments. Five species were named for him: a kingfisher bird, a herring-like fish, coral, a golden rod, and a meadow-rue.

From the guide to the Edwin L. Moseley Collection, 1888-1995, 1890-1950, (Sandusky Library)