Biographical Note
Dr. Earl Leroy Packard was known for his study of the fossil records of
the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods along the Pacific coast, as well as his
summer geology field camps in Eastern Oregon. He attended the University
of Washington from 1907 to 1912, receiving his BA and MA degrees in
geology; three years later, in 1915, he received his PhD in paleontology
from the University of California at Berkeley.
Packard taught geology at the University of Oregon from 1918 through
1932; it was there that he began to offer summer field camps in geology.
In 1932, the Oregon State System of Higher Education was reorganized; as a
consequence, the School of Science was established at Oregon State
College. With this reorganization, Packard began his tenure at OSC as Dean
of the new School of Science, Chairman of the Department of Geology, and
Director of the Research Council. He resigned as Dean in 1938, but
continued to head the research council until 1946. He retired in 1950 and
moved to Palo Alto, where he was named research associate at Stanford
University. Packard died January 20, 1983, in Palo Alto, California.
Content Description
This collection consists of materials generated and collected by Earl
L. Packard and includes notes, reference materials, maps, correspondence,
and a student paper. The handwritten and typed notes reflect
paleontological field work by Packard and others in the Mitchell, Suplee,
and Beavercreek areas of Oregon. Research notations can also be found on
hand-drawn and mass-produced maps, some of which document work at summer
field camps in Dayville and Beavercreek, Oregon; the maps date from 1915
through the late 1940s. Primarily consisting of studies on the fossil
remains of ammonites, mollusca, and pelecypods, the reference materials
also include articles on ancient Mesoamerican culture and Alaskan geology;
primarily, these materials date from the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s. The
student paper,
Fossiliferous Cretaceous Areas on the Northern
Flank of the Ochoco Range, Oregon State, was written by Jules
DuBar in 1950; it documents research from one of the college summer field
camps coordinated by Packard.