Robert H. Richards papers

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Robert H. Richards papers

1871-1914

https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/669

Of interest in the collection are materials documenting instruction in mining and metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the beginning years of the Institute. Instruction in the mining course consisted of lectures, laboratory work, and a summer school. Diaries record information about the summer school mining trips taken under the direction of Robert Richards. Some of the diaries are written by Richards, other diaries were kept by students for the school. The diary that Richards kept in 1873 offers a more personal view of the trip. In his diary Richards recorded notes for courses he was teaching as well as his equipment packing list for the trip. One can also follow the progress of the trip via his notes about student assignments at mine sites and sketches of machinery. In these beginning years of MIT, there was still much discussion about methods of instruction. Undergraduates studying mining and economic geology were expected to spend a portion of their vacation investigating mining operations and submit a report on what they had learned. The summer excursion for mining students became a well-established part of the curriculum with trips to mining camps across the United States and Mexico an annual venture for many years.

2.0 cubic feet; (5 manuscript boxes, 1 legal manuscript box, 1 flat storage box)

eng, Latn

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6358256

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Richards, Robert H. (Robert Hallowell), 1844-1945

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tb1fvp (person)

Robert H. Richards was the son of Henry and Laura E. Richards, of Gardiner, Me. He was an American mining engineer, metallurgist, and educator, born at Gardiner, Me. In 1868 with the first class to leave the institution, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and there he taught for 46 years, becoming professor of mineralogy and assaying in 1871, head of the department of mining engineering in 1873, and in 1884 also professor of Metallurgy. Rosalind Richards, author and lit...