Mary Welleck Garretson



Mary Welleck Garretson (December 16, 1896 - May 8, 1971) was an American geologist. Garretson had a passion for teaching earlier in her career, obtaining her first job at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) (Behre, n.d., p. 72). From 1921 to 1923, she instructed an introductory geology course, which happened to be the first geology course conducted through this institution. Garretson was subsequently employed as a consultant within the fields of paleontology and stratigraphy (Behre, n.d., p. 72).

Personal life
Garretson was born on December 16, 1896, to father Ernest Welleck, a scientific editor and journalist, and mother Mary Noble. Garretson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio where she resided for the majority of her childhood. Her maternal grandfather was Thomas Satterwhite Noble, a famous nineteenth century American artist. Whilst studying at Columbia University, Mary met her future husband, William Melvin Garretson and got married on September 27, 1922. During World War II, she also undertook employment as personnel for airlines from 1943 to 1945 (Behre, n.d., p. 72). She had two children, Mary Louise Garretson, and William Welleck Garretson. On May 8, 1971, in White Plains, New York, Garretson passed away after a battle with a serious life-long illness (Behre, n.d., p. 72). According to professor Amadeus Grabau, Garretson was described as a "hard working student," and was "determined in her quest for a Ph. D degree" (Friedman, 2007, p. 87).

Education
From 1909 until 1914, Garretson studied at the Boston Girls Latin School, where her academic career got it's start (Behre, n.d., p. 72). Garretson made the switch to a higher education and enrolled at New York's Barnard College, where she graduated with an A.B. in 1918 (Behre, n.d., p. 72). Garretson pursued a broad curriculum in her academic endeavors, with a particular emphasis on scientific subjects (Behre, n.d.). She continued her education from 1918 to 1919 at Columbia University, where she obtained an M.A. with a focus on geology, sedimentation, and invertebrate biology (Behre, n.d.). Garretson had mentoring from eminent academics including Amadeus W. Grabau, C.P. Berkey, and F.K. Morris while attending Columbia (Behre, n.d., p. 72). In addition to developing and instructing what is regarded as one of the earliest geology correspondence courses for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) from 1921 to 1923, Mary was a pioneering graduate assistant at Columbia. During the second World War, she proved herself as adaptable by working as a personnel clerk for industrial and airline companies (Behre, n.d., p. 72). In 1946, she began working as a research assistant at Columbia University, demonstrating her continued dedication to academia (Behre, n.d.). Starting from this year to 1951, Garretson served the academic community at Hunter College in New York City as a student adviser and geology lecturer (Behre, n.d., p. 72). Her many interests were highlighted by her writing on popular science and by her series of essays for the New York Tribune in 1924 on the geology of New York City (Behre, n.d.). Mary Welleck Garretson's career and educational path are evidence of her passion for geology, science and her groundbreaking contributions to teaching approaches.

Work in geology and science
At the same time that Garretson was attending Columbia University and working for the YMCA, she became an assistant at the Brooklyn Children's Museum, making multiple contributions throughout the 1920s. Still employed as a teacher, Garretson branched into the field of geological consultations during World War Two (Behre, n.d., p.72). Post-war, she was hired by both airline and industrial companies from 1949 to 1951, in similar fields of work as her position, four years ago (Behre, n.d., p. 72). She studied and wrote about the geological characteristics of various areas for their benefit. One of the many articles was published in the New York Times, featuring her survey results about the geological characteristics of New York City.

Garretson became an active member of various groups including The Geological Society of America, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, the International society of Economic Geologists, the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of China and the New York Historical Society (Behre, n.d., p. 73). She was on the board of Directors of the Westchester County Conservation Association from 1933 to 1950, ultimately acknowledged as one of the founders. Furthermore, Garretson also published paper on the life processes of trilobites fossils in the Lower Ordovician period, through qualitative observations of the colors of said fossils. (Garretson, 1953, p. 17) Her findings included associating the colors of the fossils to passing of water or the age of trilobites molting (Garretson, 1953, p. 17). Once her work as a geological consultant was completed, she returned to various teaching jobs, eventually becoming the President of the Haitian-American Resource Company from 1956 until the time of her death in 1971 (Behre, n.d., p. 73). Garretson made tremendous contributions to the Haitian government via her consultation efforts and her advice on mineral economics. She made signfiicant developments in the geological studies and developments in Haiti (Behre, n.d., p. 73).

Research contributions with Amadeus Grabau
Professor Amadeus W. Grabau is regarded as the father of modern sedimentology and Garretson acted as the Professor's primary research assistant in many of his projects, including the theory of horizontal displacement, otherwise known as continental drift. This refers to the horizontal movement of continents over an extended period of time. She and Professor Grabau met during her studies at Columbia University. She had worked alongside him to create his book "North American Index Fossils". They were both supporters of Pangaea, which proposes that the earth was previously a supercontinent prior to continental drift. Professor Grabau and Garretson made significant contributions to what is currently understood about sedimentation. While Professor Grabau continued his studies on continental stratigraphy and index fossils in China in the 1930’s, Garretson was his primary research assistant back in the United States of America. During Professor Grabau's extended stay in China (Mazur, 2006, p. 73) notes, he wrote various research papers in which Garretson had assisted in writing and researching. She was a close correspondent and assistant to him until his death.