ELIAS HOWARD SELLARDS
(1875-1961)
Dr. Elias Howard Sellards, Professor, Director Emeritus of the Bureau of
Economic Geology, former Director of the Texas Memorial Museum, and
distinguished geologist, died at the age of 85 in Austin, Texas, February 4,
1961.
Dr. Sellards was born May 2, 1875, at Carter, Kentucky. The family moved to
Kansas by covered wagon when Dr. Sellards was a youth. He attended school both
at Carter, Kentucky, and Scranton, Kansas, completing his high school education
at Scranton in 1894. He was a student at Washburn Academy at Topeka, Kansas, and
then attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence and was graduated with the BA
degree in 1899; he received the MA degree from that University in 1900. He
continued graduate study from 1901 to 1903 at Yale University, holding both a
scholarship and fellowship, and received the PhD degree in 1903. At Yale his
work brought him under the influence of three famous teachers, Charles Schuchert,
Charles E. Beecher, and H.S. Williams. Charles Schuchert became a close personal
friend and visited Dr. Sellards many times in his home.
Dr. Sellards began his teaching career as Instructor in Geology and Mineralogy
at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, during the 1903-1904 school year.
He accepted the Chair of Professor of Geology and Zoology at the University of
Florida, at Gainesville, in 1904 and continued in this position until 1907, when
he became State Geologist of Florida and moved to Tallahassee. While he was
Florida State Geologist, he published 12 annual reports, two bulletins, and
numerous articles of enduring prominence. These publications related mainly to
basic geology and mineral resources of Florida. During this period he devoted
considerable attention to fossil vertebrates, especially early man, and was
constantly on the alert for evidence of early man. In 1913, human remains were
found in the undisturbed wall of a canal at Vero (now Vero Beach), Florida. This
discovery resulted in a conference of noted scientists at the site in 1916.
Dr. Sellards moved to Texas in 1918 to accept the position of Geologist on the
staff of the Bureau of Economic Geology offered by Dr. J. A. Udden, then
Director. He was appointed Associate Director of the Bureau in 1925 and
succeeded to the Directorship in 1932, which position he held until 1945 when he
was placed on modified service. He was appointed Professor of Geology and a
member of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Texas in 1926 and was
Director of the Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, from 1938 until retirement in
1957. He was the Director Emeritus of the Bureau of Economic Geology from 1945
until his death, maintaining an office in J Hall on The Little Campus and
entering into the activities of the Bureau as his physical condition permitted.
During his 39 years of service at UT-Austin, Dr. Sellards attacked geological
and paleontological problems with insatiable interest. One of his first
assignments, placed on him by the Attorney General of Texas, was to determine
the original boundary between Oklahoma and Texas along the Red River. He
presented his work so thoroughly that the Supreme Court of the United States
rendered an opinion favorable to Texas.
Between never-ending administrative duties, he found time to author and edit
extensive reports on the geology and mineral resources of Texas. Among the
important contributions are the two-volume compendium on the stratigraphy and
structure of Texas, with accompanying geologic and structural maps of the State,
and a book on "Early Man in America" including bibliography of literature on the
subject. He was engaged on extensive revision of this book at the time of his
death. During W.P.A. days, Dr. Sellards directed a paleontological project which
assembled an outstanding collection of Pleistocene fossils remains. He taught
stratigraphy in the Department of Geology and supervised 17 Master’s students
and one PhD student.
Dr. Sellards participated in University affairs by serving on the Sharp-Cullinan
Scholarship Committee. He was largely responsible for initiating the Petroleum
Engineering Department of the University.
The University of Kansas presented the Erasmus Haworth Award for a distinguished
alumnus in 1958 to him at an alumni luncheon in Los Angeles and the University
of Florida has established the Sellards’ Geology Student Award in his honor
because of his contributions to basic geology in that state.
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