Exactly a century ago, the university's Geology Library was relocated to the main floor of the historic Orton Hall – in a prime space that had previously been Ohio State’s main library and, surprisingly, was briefly used as a training spot for WWI pilots. The library has been there ever since, and houses one of the largest collections of geological literature in the country. It brims with books and serials, fossils and globes, hundreds of thousands of maps, and an impressive collection of original paintings.
Danny Dotson, head of the Geology Library, says commemorating its 100th anniversary honors its founders, the time-honored building, and its distinctive holdings and treasures. To help celebrate, Patti Dittoe, Geology Library Supervisor and Ohio State employee since 1997, created an extensive online story map with plenty of unique historical details and photographs.
The iconic building is one of the two oldest on campus. Orton Hall and Hayes Hall both were completed on the Oval in 1893 and are recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. The Romanesque-style structure – which holds the bell tower of beloved campus chimes – was originally named the Geology Building. It was renamed to honor Edward Orton, a prominent geologist and the university’s first president.
His son, Edward Orton Jr., was instrumental in the name change, as well as in the creation of the Geology Library and the move to its current home. He donated funds to redecorate and preserve the library as a memorial to his father. Orton Jr. was a geologist, too, and chaired the first ceramic engineering department at Ohio State. Both father and son served as the State Geologist of Ohio.
“There’s even a mountain named after him,” Dotson says of Mt. Orton, in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. After Edward Orton, Jr., led an expedition to the mountain’s summit, he had it named in his father’s honor.
The Orton Memorial Library’s treasures abound. Here are a few highlights of its notable holdings:
- The library’s extensive map collection contains geologic and topographic maps of the United States and the world.
- An impressive collection of artwork dons the library’s walls and includes 19 original paintings, many by prominent artists. The gallery includes portraits of significant geologists, including a formal portrait of Edward Orton, Sr., as well as Orton, Jr., William Mather, Wilber Stout, J. Ernest Carman, and more. Large landscapes in the collection include paintings of Arizona’s Petrified Forest, Bryce Canyon National Park, and a fiery 1771 painting of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
- An extensive collection of globes – including planetary and moon globes – are displayed throughout the reading area of the library.
- Just inside the library’s entrance is a set of fossilized footprints that Edward Orton Jr. discovered in a coal mine in New Straitsville, Perry County, Ohio.
The library offers various study options for students, including tables and carrels, soft seating, and group options. One of the most unique features, however, is an antique desk that students today use to leave messages of encouragement. The “secret desk” is a traditional oak roll-top with plenty of small drawers and cubbies, where students leave handwritten notes for others to find.
“Most of the messages are cute and encouraging, sometimes with a leaf or an acorn along with the note,” says Patti Dittoe, Geology Library supervisor. “It’s very sweet what students will do to brighten each others’ day.”
For more details on the 100th anniversary of the Orton Memorial Geologic Library, visit its website.