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Louis A. Wolfanger collection

 Record Group
Identifier: UA-17.87

Scope and Contents

The Louis Wolfanger collection includes soil science and geography course material. Included are course outlines and exams from soil science classes and a geography class for the Army Air Corps at Michigan State University, blank doctorate exams for Wolfanger’s former students at MSU, and correspondence and information regarding meetings on zoning. There are also lectures on soil science from C. F. Marbut and H. H. Bennett, professors associated with the United States Department of Agriculture Graduate School. There is also a copy of Wolfanger’s book, The Major Soil Divisions of the United States. Other material includes lecture notes, exams, and newspaper and journal articles from Wolfanger’s geography courses at Columbia University and other universities. These courses include the Geography of Europe, the Geography of Latin America, and the Geography of Africa and Australia.

The collection also includes glass slides of scenes of other countries possibly Algeria, Austria, Spain as well as Finland, and Norway. The slides include scenes of people working, fields, houses, agriculture, mountains, street scenes, and rivers. The slides show ways of life of the people as well as scenes of the countries. One of the scenes in Norway is of a stave church.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1900-1964, undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biographical Note

Louis A. Wolfanger was born January 3, 1896 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He earned his A.B. in geography and soils (1918) and A.M. in conservation (1922) from the University of Nebraska. He received his Ph.D. in geography and geology (1930) from Columbia University.

Wolfanger taught geography at a number of universities, including University of Nebraska, Columbia University, and Northwestern University.

Wolfganger joined the faculty at Michigan State in the Soil Science Department in 1937 and specialized in land utilization, community planning, soil and economic geography, and conservation of natural and human resources. He was a professor, a research associate and an extension specialist in land use. He retired in 1966.

He held membership in the Association of American Geographers, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and the Soils Science Society of America.

Wolfanger lived in East Lansing with his wife, Henrietta Rodemann, until his death in 1971. They had two children, Karl and Curt.

Extent

2.5 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Gift of Henrietta A. Wolfanger.

Legal Status

Copyright: Michigan State University.

Property Rights: Michigan State University.

Title
Louis Wolfanger Collection
Status
4 Published And Cataloged
Author
Paige Wojcik
Date
April 2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University Archives and Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
Conrad Hall
943 Conrad Road, Room 101
East Lansing MI 48824 US
517-355-2330