Abstract
The Franklin M. Murphy Geological Papers (1919-1956) contain surveys, lectures, reports, correspondence, newspaper clippings, bulletins, maps, and dam site investigations from six different states in the American west. Also included are mining projects, photographs, scrapbooks, albums, school papers, and Murphy's thesis.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Franklin M. Murphy Geological Papers (1919-1956) contain surveys, lectures, reports, correspondence, bulletins, newspaper clippings, maps, and dam site investigations. The material covers the states of California, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. Also included are mining projects, photographs, scrapbooks, albums, school papers, and Murphy's thesis.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
These records are organized into two series:
Series I. General geological papers;
Series II. Projects by State.
Biographical / Historical Note
Consulting geologist and surveyor Franklin Mac Murphy was born on December 27, 1898 in Wheaton, Minnesota. He studied at Columbia University, the University of Arizona, and the University of California, Los Angeles, completing his graduate studies in 1930 at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California.
After his graduation, Murphy worked for the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). From 1930 to 1933 he provided surveys and geological mapping of the Eldorado Range in southern Nevada for the Hoover Dam site and vicinity. From 1933 to 1937, he worked as a geologist on irrigation and flood control projects, including the Colorado River Indian Irrigation Project. After 1940, Murphy acted as an independent geologist on many other dam sites and mining projects until his sudden death in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 10, 1957.
Sources:
Genealogical research on "Franklin Mac Murphy." Accessed December 12, 2019 on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org
Alumni death notice, "Franklin Mac Murphy." California Institute of Technology Alumni Association Engineering and Science newsletter, 1957. Accessed November 26, 2019, http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/1849/1/personals.pdf
Preferred Citation
Franklin M. Murphy Geological Papers, 1919-1956. MS-00202. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
The material was donated in 1979 by the Las Vegas Public Library; accession number T-130.
Processing Note
Papers were processed in 2018 by Joyce Moore. In 2019, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Melise Leech revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.