This is Throwback Thursday #12. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc ...), please sent them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks!
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June 13th, 1958 was George Langford Night. It celebrated the publication of "Fossil Flora and Fauna of the Pennsylvanian Period, Will County, Illinois", which was the first of three Langford books on Mazon Creek flora and fauna. The books can be found online on the georgesbasement.com website. There are also lecture and field notes. It's a great resource. The books were conceived as a field guide for collectors of Mazon Creek fossils. Here is how George Langford Jr. describes the conception on the georgesbasement site.
Many collectors had followed us at the strip mines and were acquiring fine specimens, but they didn't know what they were. Expensive scientific books had been published and were available at scientific libraries, but these books were both figuratively and financially out of reach of the average, local collector. A group of collectors belonging to the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) often visited Father's office at the Field Museum, and the idea of a "field guide to fossil plants," similar to Roger Tory Peterson's "Field Guide to the Birds" was born. ESCONI offered to bear the publishing expense, the museum was agreeable to the venture, and Father went to work.
In June, 1958, ESCONI published Father's first book on fossil plants, "The Wilmington Coal Flora from a Pennsylvanian Deposit in Will County, Illinois." This book was a success, filling the need for which it was designed, and so ESCONI increased their association with the Field Museum and with Father.Father continued to make collecting trips with Gene Richardson of the Field Museum and with his fellow collector, Dr. Whitfield. They kept finding new species and rare specimens, and the material for a second book was accumulating.
So, in June 1963, ESCONI, again with the approval of the museum, published Father's second fossil plant book, "The Wilmington Coal Fauna and Additions to the Wilmington Coal Flora from a Pennsylvanian Deposit in Will County, Illinois." This second book was also a financial success. Father continued to collect occasionally, ESCONI continued their association, and other collectors began to send their collections to the museum. Material built up for a third book, and again ESCONI offered to publish it.
The pictures below are a who's who of early Mazon Creek history. Of course there's George Langford, Sr., but also included are John McCluckie, Dr. Whitford, and Dr. Hoff. What a night that must have been!
Fred & Stella Barrick, O Fether, George Langford Night, June 13th, 1958
Dr, Whitford, George Langford, George Langford Night, June 13th, 1958
John McLuckie and George Gelakoskis, George Langford Night, June 13th, 1958
George Langford and Doc Hoff, June 13th, 1958
