Scientist Emil O. Deere
(Deere & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Photography, 1906 - 1925)
(Deere & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Photography, 1906 - 1925)
Deere felt strongly about the use of field trips to educate one, so he incorporated that into his course work as a matter of routine.
....for Emil and Lydia the field trips would evolve to travel by road and rail....
....for Emil and Lydia the field trips would evolve to travel by road and rail....
Deere's Bethany College "Field Trips"
Lydia's great interest in her husband’s field of science at Bethany culminated after she received a Fine Arts Bachelor Degree in 1923 with further studies which earned her a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1925.
On many occasions, Lydia was by Deere's side taking photographs of the students on his many field trips of discovery. Deere felt strongly about the use of field trips to educate one, so he incorporated that into his course work as a matter of routine.
On many occasions, Lydia was by Deere's side taking photographs of the students on his many field trips of discovery. Deere felt strongly about the use of field trips to educate one, so he incorporated that into his course work as a matter of routine.
(Lydia's niece/model Nina can be found in most of these photographs. In the one below, she is standing directly behind Deere.)
- Note standing Deere on far right "pulling the string" from a camera for one of these photographs -
- Note standing student on far right "pulling the string" from the camera for this photograph -
- Deere with colleague and friend Swedish Bethany College Art Professor Birger Sandzén -
the way they were
- THE FIEILD TRIPS EVOLVED TO "TRAVEL" BY ROAD AND RAIL FOR EMIL AND LYDIA -
Photograph by Fran Cochran, 1963
Later on in life as husband and wife, for Emil and Lydia the field trips would evolve to travel by road and rail which would find them exploring states west of the Mississippi River, of which on one such trip at Mount Rushmore they met and visited with artist sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), son of Danish American immigrants.
Lydia types a letter to her family in Santa Monica from Lindsborg after this trip on September 10, 1937. She addresses it 'Dear Everybody' and ends it "Lovingly Lydia."
On the second page, last paragraph, she types: "The following morning we went up Rushmore mountain from the other side on a splendid oil highway which lead up to the studio, where all the sculptures first are made in smaller form. Here were hundreds of visitors. From this place one could see the whole side of the mountain top where the figures stand out boldly in relief. To give you an idea of the size of the work will say that Washington's head measures 60 feet from the chin to the top of his forehead. The nose is 21 feet long. Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were nearly completed when we were there. They were planning an unveiling of these three the middle of this month. As I understand T. Roosevelt will be completed next year (1938). It was our good fortune to meet the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and had a short visit with him. He was very friendly and cordial. It all was a thrill both to see the great work, the largest of its kind in the world, and to meet the creator of it. We saw them hoist men up and down the cable to the sculptures 500 feet above the studio."
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Lydia types a letter to her family in Santa Monica from Lindsborg after this trip on September 10, 1937. She addresses it 'Dear Everybody' and ends it "Lovingly Lydia."
On the second page, last paragraph, she types: "The following morning we went up Rushmore mountain from the other side on a splendid oil highway which lead up to the studio, where all the sculptures first are made in smaller form. Here were hundreds of visitors. From this place one could see the whole side of the mountain top where the figures stand out boldly in relief. To give you an idea of the size of the work will say that Washington's head measures 60 feet from the chin to the top of his forehead. The nose is 21 feet long. Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were nearly completed when we were there. They were planning an unveiling of these three the middle of this month. As I understand T. Roosevelt will be completed next year (1938). It was our good fortune to meet the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and had a short visit with him. He was very friendly and cordial. It all was a thrill both to see the great work, the largest of its kind in the world, and to meet the creator of it. We saw them hoist men up and down the cable to the sculptures 500 feet above the studio."
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- "The Find" -
Field trips in Kansas offered a variety of potential discoveries as not only had this State been covered by an inland sea, it was, and still is, a mecca for prehistoric finds such as the find shown below in the archeological dig of which Emil was part. "The Find" must have been shipped off eventually to some other museum in Kansas for it is not in the McPherson County Old Mil Museum where the Bethany College Museum Natural History Collection was headed in 1966.
A Fossil Tusk Found in the Equus Beds in McPherson County
Kansas Academy of Science Transaction (1903- ) by E. O. Deere Vol 21 (Dec., 1907) pp. 115-117
Courtesy of Mike Everhart, Editor of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, July 16, 2018
Kansas Academy of Science Transaction (1903- ) by E. O. Deere Vol 21 (Dec., 1907) pp. 115-117
Courtesy of Mike Everhart, Editor of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, July 16, 2018
| fossil_tusk_found_in_the_equus_beds_in_mcpherson_county_dec_1907.pdf |
These are "other finds" that were part of the Bethany College Museum Natural History Collection and are now at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum due to the 1966 move.
McPherson County Old Mill Museum's Bethany College Museum Natural History Collection photographed on
November 1, 1999.
Information source: Dr. Leon Lungstrom's 1990 book, History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas.
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