Orra White Hitchcock Classroom Drawings
Scope and Contents
Sixty-one drawings created by Orra White Hitchcock for use in Professor Edward Hitchcock's classes on geology and natural history. These teaching aids, created with pen and ink on oiled or unoiled linen, depict geological formations, strata, fossils, extinct mammals, and dinosaur footprints.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1828 - 1840
Creator
- Hitchcock, Orra White, 1796-1863 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There is no restriction on access to the collection for research use. Particularly large or fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
All requests for materials from this collection must be made in advance. Contact archives@amherst.edu to arrange access.
Conditions Governing Use
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection should be directed to the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.
Biographical / Historical
Orra White [Hitchcock] was born March 8, 1796 to Jarib and Ruth Sherman White in South Amherst. Orra became assistant principal of Deerfield Academy in 1813 and an instructor at Amherst Academy in 1818. In May 1821, Orra White married Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864). Together, they set out on many scientific expeditions. A talented artist, Orra sketched in the field and illustrated many of Edward Hitchcock’s printed works. When Edward became a professor of natural sciences at Amherst College in 1825, Orra illustrated instructional charts to accompany his classroom lectures.
Edward and Orra White Hitchcock had eight children. Orra White Hitchcock died in 1863.
Extent
61 items (9 mapcase drawers, 20 rolled storage tubes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Sixty-one drawings created by Orra White Hitchcock for use in Professor Edward Hitchcock's classes on geology and natural history.
Arrangement
The majority of the classroom charts in the collection have original chart numbers painted on the front. The original numbers fall into two series, the first running 1 to 50 and the second 23-31; in addition there are five unnumbered charts. During conservation work undertaken in 2012, a new numbering scheme was applied to the collection: charts in the first series were assigned the number painted on the textile (#1-50), charts in the second series and unnumbered charts were assigned sequential numbers (#51-63). There are no charts numbered 3 or 35 and so those numbers were left unassigned. These assigned numbers are used for the item number or tube number of each chart.
Existence and Location of Copies
This collection has been digitized and is available in the Amherst College Digital Collection: https://acdc.amherst.edu/browse/partOf/Orra+White+Hitchcock+Classroom+Drawings
Subject
- Hitchcock, Edward, 1793-1864 (Person)
- Author
- Chris Barber
- Date
- 2019
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299
archives@amherst.edu