Eugene Allen Smith Glass Negatives

Eugene Allen Smith was an Alabama State Geologist for fifty-four years, from 1873 through 1913. He surveyed and explored the assets of Alabama. He was a pioneer in discovering, mapping, and publicizing the rich mineral deposits in Alabama. Eugene Allen Smith was born in 1841 in Washington, Alabama. He received his degree in 1862 from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Smith was a professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at the University of Alabama, from 1871 through 1913. He became president of the American Geological Society in 1913. Dr. Smith was an author of over 100 publications, including a monumental study on the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations of the Gulf Coast. He was the first to realize the historical value of Moundville and focused public interest on the ancient Indian burial grounds, which now attract thousands of visitors annually. After federal troops burned the University of Alabama during the civil war, the original museum was destroyed, and the specimens were burned or scattered. With Dr. Smith's help new Museum of Natural History, as it stands today, was erected, and he brought back from his surveys hundreds of thousands of minerals and other specimens.