This is Throwback Thursday #123. 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 [email protected] Thanks!
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In the past, we have highlighted historically important documents related to ESCONI and/or Mazon Creek. We posted about Langford book inscriptions in Mazon Monday #18, including books owned by John McLuckie, William Allaway, and Jim Konecny. All were influential people in ESCONI history. McLuckie and his wife had a significant fossil collection that made its way to the Smithsonian. Allaway was the founding Chairman of ESCONI, who did much to create the culture of our club - one of participation, education, sharing, and contribution. Jim Konecny, also a past president, was a prolific fossil collector that shared his collection to further science education in Illinois and later in Arizona. Much of his collection now resides in the Field Museum. In Mazon Monday #107, we posted photos of a copy of "Mazon Creek Fossils" by Matthew Nitecki that had an inscription by Gordon Baird to Frank Greene, the namesake of two Mazon Creek animals - a jawless fish Gipicthys greenei and a jellyfish Reticulomedusa greenei. Gordon Baird is the author of critical research that extended our understanding of Mazon Creek fossils, the environment back in the Pennsylvanian, and the formation of fossil concretions.
With those in mind, you can understand why we were excited when ESCONI member Jeremy Zimmerman reached out and told us about his recent purchase of a few ESCONI and Mazon Creek related documents. Thanks for sharing these amazing books, Jeremy!
The first is a book called "A Forest of the Coal Age" by B. E. Dahlgren, Chief Curator, Department of Botany at the Field Museum of National History. This book was published in 1933. A notable feature of this book is that it seems to have belonged to Eugene S. Richardson, Jr, who was the long time Curator of Fossil Invertebrates at the Field Museum of Natural History. Richardson was an ESCONI member with a deep interest in Mazon Creek, who encouraged amateur contributions to Paleontology. He named many species after collectors that provided significant specimens for scientific study.
The next one is a book called "A Guide to the Geology of the Morris Area" by David L. Reinertsen, which seems to have been owned by Andy Hay. Andy was the author of the ESCONI Creature Corner column that ran for many years in the ESCONI newsletter. His columns were later published as a book. He also contributed to the "Richardson's Guide to the Fossil Fauna of Mazon Creek"
The last two books reference Charles Shabica, who participated in quite a bit of groundbreaking research into Mazon Creek. He was instrumental in the original series of Mazon Creek Open House events and the Mazon Creek Project sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University. Both of these books are issues of Fieldiana, the Field Museum's journal. The former is about Chondrichthan fish and the later is about the Tully Monster, which is the State Fossil of Illinois.
