{"id":177,"date":"2019-10-10T15:26:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T19:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mineralogy.digital.brynmawr.edu\/blog\/?page_id=177"},"modified":"2023-06-07T11:39:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T15:39:33","slug":"online-tour","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mineralogy.digital.brynmawr.edu\/blog\/online-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"An Online Tour of the Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quick History: How did we get these specimens?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Florence Bascom founded our department in 1901<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bascom also collected and donated the earliest specimens in our collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In 1903, Theodore Rand donated >10,000 specimens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In 1958, the family of George Vaux Jr. donated more than 10,000 of his specimens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From 1958-1979, curator Harold Arndt expanded the collection with several thousand new specimens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From 1980-2010, curator Juliet Reed continued expanding the collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Large collections of local specimens have also also donated by local collectors, including Allen Heyl, Edwin Roedder, Arthur Hopkins, Herbert Albrecht, and James Quickel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Collection Today: Stats & Figures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The collection today holds more than 44,000 mineral specimens,<\/em>…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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…10s of thousands of rocks ….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… thousands of thin sections ….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… thousands of micromounts ….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… several hundred meteorites and impact-related materials ….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… and hundreds of fluorescent specimens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The mineral collection alone represents more than 90 countries, all 50 U.S. states, and more than 1,000 individual mineral species. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Collection features minerals from classic localities….<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Native Gold from the Sierra Nevadas of California<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Native Silver from the Spanish colonial mines of Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Diamonds from the Kimberley Mines of South Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Opal from Australia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Turquoise from the American Southwest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Calcites from the Joplin mines of Missouri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Malachites and Azurites from the Bisbee Mines of Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stibnite from Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

… and minerals from lesser-known mines with rich and interesting histories.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lazurite from the mine that provided the pigments for:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the blue scarf in Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (1665), and …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the blue inset stones in the Mask of Tutankhamun (1323 BCE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Native gold from the mines that the Romans used to finance their wars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Radioactive minerals from the mine where Marie Curie got her uranium…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… the sample tags for these are often burned by radioactivity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many of our specimens are legacies of mines that motivated colonial occupations and enormous social violence ….<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Hemimorphite from “Belgian Congo” (modern-day Zaire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cerussite from Broken Hill, Australia <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amethyst from Minas Gerais, Brazil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Silver ore from Potosi, Bolivia: “The Mountain That Eats Men”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hemimorphite from “Rhodesia” (modern-day Zambia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dioptase from “German South West Africa” (modern-day Namibia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many are poison or carcinogenic ….<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Native Arsenic in mineral form<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cinnabar, which can cause mercury poisoning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Orpiment, which can cause arsenic poisoning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stibnite, which can cause antimony poisoning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chrysotile asbestos, which can cause cancer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many more are truly bizarre ….<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Deliquescent
Half-melted salt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Trinitite:
The first atomic bomb created this mineral. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Here's
Close-up of the small spheres of liquid mercury that are seeping out of this rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Gastroliths:
These rocks were polished in the stomach of a dinosaur.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fulgerite:
Petrified Lightning!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And some are just beautiful…<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kyanite blades from the Swiss Alps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Crocoite from Tasmania<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Azurite on Smithsonite from Bisbee, Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wulfenite from Arizona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick History: How did we get these specimens? The Collection Today: Stats & Figures The Collection features minerals from classic localities…. … and minerals from lesser-known mines with rich and interesting histories. Many of our specimens are legacies of mines that motivated colonial occupations and enormous social violence …. Many are poison or carcinogenic …. … <\/p>\n

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