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Noah Fields Drake Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS D789 349

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, notes, notebooks, printed material, photographs, maps and land plats, business and other records created, received, or collected by geologist Noah Fields Drake and members of his family.

Materials pertain to: Drake’s academic career as student at University of Arkansas and at Stanford University (1888-1897), as associate professor of economic geology at Stanford University (1911-1912) and as professor of geology and mining at Pei-yang University in Tientsin (1898-1900, 1905-1911) and at University of Arkansas (1912-1920); to his business interests in Tientsin Land & Development Co., Ltd. (1904-1911) and American Machinery and Export Co. (1910); to life and travel and to mining and mineral resources in China, especially as regards coal mining (1898-1910); to his professional services as consulting geologist for Arkansas, Texas, and U. S. Geological Surveys (1887-1897), for American China Development Co. (1902-1904), and for various persons, institutions, and business firms in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico, especially as regards oil and gas exploration; to his commercial and avocational interests and activities in the cultivation of nut orchards in northwest Arkansas; and to personal and familial affairs. Correspondents include John Clinton Futrall, Albert Homer Purdue, John Newton Tillman.

Additional materials processed as Series 8 pertain to Noah Felds Drake; his daughters, Doris Drake Wigglesworth and Vera Drake Wade; Vera's husband, George Clifton Wade; and Wade's father, H. Lynn Wade. Materials consist of correspondence, writings, class notes, certificates, maps, sermons, account books, and scrapbooks. They also include genealogical materials as well as legal papers including deeds. They include photographs, glass lantern slides, and glass negatives from Drake’s years in China. Other materials include political posters, lapel pins, bumper stickers, vinyl albums, and reel-to-reel audio tapes.

Dates

  • 1886-2013

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are primarily in English

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Noah Fields Drake Chronology

Birth

1864
b. Summers (Washington County), Ark., 1/30/64, son of Wesley Drake & Martha Kellam D.

Education

1888
C. E., U. of A.
1894
A. B., Stanford
1895
A. M., Stanford
1897
Ph. D., Stanford

Marriage

1904
m. Mary Elenor Shockley 7/30/04 (d. 12/25/26).
1932
m. 2. Lota West Fairchild 12/23/32.

Professional

1887
Ark. Geological Survey
1889-93
Tex. Geological Survey
1897
U.S. Geological Survey
1898-1900
Prof., geology & mining, Pei Yang Univ., Tientsin
1900-01
Engineer, Public Works Dept., Tientsin
1902-04
Consulting geologist, American China Development Co.
1904-11
Chairman of Bd., Tientsin Land & Development Co., Ltd.
1905-11
Prof., geology and mining, Pei Yang Univ., Tientsin
1910
Vice pres., American Machinery and Export Co., Tientsin
1911-12
Assoc, prof., economic geology, Stanford
1912-20
Prof., geology and mining, U. of A.
1920
Consulting geologist.

Death

1945
Fayetteville, Ark. 5/4/45.

Extent

40.7 Linear Feet (42 boxes and one oversize folder)

3.247 Gigabytes

Arrangement

Arranged and described in 8 series:

  1. Series 1. Records Pertaining to Personal, Familial, and Business Affairs, 1902...1972 (26 folders):
  2. Series 1, Subseries 1. Personal and Familial Records, 1902...1927, 1957…1972 (1 folder)
  3. Series 1, Subseries 2. Business Records, 1902...1972 (25 folders)
  4. Series 2. Records Pertaining to Academic Career, 1897...1925 (5 folders)
  5. Series 3. Records Pertaining to Professional Career, 1886...1937 (51 folders):
  6. Series 3, Subseries 1. Mining and Mineral Resources, Arkansas, 1911…1937 (21 folders)
  7. Series 3, Subseries 2. Mining and Mineral Resources Elsewhere in United States, 1886...1929 (8 folders)
  8. Series 3, Subseries 3. Mining and Mineral Resources in China, 1898...1920 (20 folders)
  9. Series 3, Subseries 4. Other Records, 1900...1922 (2 folders)
  10. Series 4. Miscellaneous Records, 1900, 1909, etc., undated (5 folders)
  11. Series 5. Letter-Press Book, 1899-1909 (1 volume)
  12. Series 6. Photographs, undated (88 items in 5 folders)
  13. Series 7. Maps, 1899...1925 (133 items)
  14. Series 8. 2021 Additions, 1866 . . . 2013 (Boxes 18-42)
  15. Series 8, Subseries 1. Noah Fields Drake Materials, 1885 . . . 2013
  16. Series 8, Subseries 2. Doris Drake Wigglesworth Materials, 1925 . . . 1984
  17. Series 8, Subseries 3. Vera Drake and George Clifton Wade Materials, 1924 . . . 2001
  18. Series 8, Subseries 4. Deeds and Other Legal Papers, 1866 . . . 1956
  19. Series 8, Subseries 5. Genealogical Materials, 1877 . . . 1990

Acquisition Information

The Noah Fields Drake Papers were donated to Special Collections by Vera (Mrs. George Clifton) Drake Wade of Fayetteville, Arkansas, in August 1979. Four additional items were donated by Wade in July 1982.

Series 8. materials were donated by Ted D. Colwell of Edina, Minnesota, Wade Colwell of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Linda M. Stewart of Winslow, Arkansas, in August 2021. The three are Noah Fields Drake's great grandchildren though Vera and George Clifton Wade's daughter, Mary Sue Colwell. One item (Digital Folder 2) was donated by Lynn Wade of Fayetteville, Arkansas in May 2023.

Related Materials

See also the following related collections:

MC 1480 Noah Fields Drake Letters

Processing Information

Processed by M.C. Woodward; completed in August 1980.

Boxes 18-42 (Series 8. 2021 Additions) were processed by Todd E. Lewis; completed in December 2022.

Updated by Katrina Windon in May 2023 to add newly-donated materials, Digital Folder 2; these were added to Series 8, Subseries 3.

Creator

Source

Title
Noah Fields Drake Papers
Status
Completed
Author
M.C. Woodward; Todd E. Lewis
Date
August 1980; December 2022
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Revision Statements

  • December 6, 2022: Series 8 materials processed and added to the collection in 2022.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Department Repository

Contact:
University of Arkansas Libraries
365 N. McIlroy Avenue
Fayetteville AR 72701 United States
(479) 575-8444