William John McGee
| William John McGee | |
|---|---|
 Washington, D.C. (1900) |
|
| Born | April 17, 1853 Farley, Dubuque, Iowa, United States |
| Died | September 4, 1912 (aged 59) |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Geology, anthropology, and ethnology |
| Known for | Creating the "Human Zoo" and racist beliefs. |
| Influenced | Nazis. |
| Spouse | Anita Newcomb McGee |
William John McGee, LL.D. (April 17, 1853 – September 4, 1912) was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa.[1]
Biography [edit]
He was self-educated.[2] He devoted his early years to reading law and to surveying. He invented and patented several improvements on agricultural implements.[2]
He subsequently turned his attention to geology.[2] In 1877–1881, he executed a topographic and geological survey of 17,000 square miles (44,030 km²) in northeastern Iowa.[3][4][5] In addition to these researches, part of an examination of the loess of the Mississippi Valley, he examined the great quaternary lakes of Nevada and California and studied a recent fault movement in the middle Atlantic slope.[2]
He was appointed geologist for the United States Geological Survey in 1881. In that capacity he visited the city of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886 for the purpose of studying the earthquake disturbances in its vicinity.
McGee was ethnologist in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1893 to 1903. In 1895, he explored the Isla del Tiburón, Gulf of California, home of the Seri Indians.[6] In 1904 he was chief of the department of anthropology at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 World's Fair, and in 1907 he was appointed a member of the Inland Waterways Commission by President Roosevelt.[7] His other prominent positions were: acting president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1897–1898); president of the American Anthropological Association (1902–1912); and president of the National Geographic Society (1904–1905).
Works [edit]
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: |
His publications include:
- The Pleistocene History of Northeastern Iowa (1889)
- The Geology of Chesapeake Bay (1888)
- The Siouan Indians (1895)
- Primitive Trephining (1897)
- The Seri Indians (1899)
- Primitive Numbers (1901)
- Soil Erosion (1911)
- Wells and Subsoil Water (1913)
Works by William John McGee at Project Gutenberg
References [edit]
- ^ "BIOGRAPHIES OF GEOLOGISTS". Ohio State University Libraries. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ a b c d
Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "McGee, W J". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. - ^ McGee, W.J. and Call, R.E. 1882. “On the löss and associated deposits of Des Moines, Iowa.” The American Journal of Science, 3rd Series, Whole no. 124, 24(141):202-223.
- ^ McGee, W.J. 1884. “The drainage system and the distribution of loess of Eastern Iowa.” Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington 6:93-97.
- ^ McGee, W.J. 1891. “The Pleistocene history of northeastern Iowa.” In: Powell, J.W. (ed), Eleventh Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Part 1: 1889-1890, pp. 199-577.
- ^ McGee, W.J. and Johnson, W.D. 1896. Seriland. The National Geographic Magazine 7(4):125-133.
- ^ Donald J. Pisani, Water Planning in the Progressive Era: The Inland Waterways Commission Reconsidered, Journal of Policy History 18.4 (2006) pp.389-418
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