By Finding aid prepared by Clare Sobotka and Elizabeth Nielsen.
Title: Ellen J. Moore Papers, 1909-2003
Predominant Dates: 1950-2003
ID: MSS MooreE
Primary Creator: Moore, Ellen
Extent: 2.3 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Ellen J. Moore Papers are arranged in 5 series: 1. Correspondence, 1937-2003; 2. Publications and Research, 1977-2000; 3. Employment Records, 1942-1995; 4. Photographs, 1909-2000; and 5. Personal, 1918-2002.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Ellen J. Moore Papers document Moore’s professional career and personal life through her correspondence, publications, photographs, employment forms, and her childhood scrapbook. Ellen Moore was a Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey from 1950 through 1987, specializing in Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. She was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University in the late 1980s through the 1990s.
Access to the A.V. Zhirmunskiy correspondence in Series 1 and the Personnel Action and Travel Vouchers and Authorizations materials in Series 3 are restricted due to the presence of confidential information. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
The Ellen J. Moore Papers consist of materials created or assembled by Moore documenting her professional career and personal life. They include professional and personal typed and handwritten correspondence, reports, forms, employment records, publications and research documents, a scrapbook, two autograph books, and certificates. The bulk of the collection is comprised of correspondence.
The main publication of Ellen’s is a copy of her book Fossil Shells from Western Oregon: A Guide to Identification, 2000. Other publications are primarily photocopies of her published work or the work of others, or manuscript drafts she reviewed or had reviewed for her.
There are 217 photographs in the collection, primarily documenting Moore's personal and professional lives. Most of the photographs are color or black-and-white prints; one film negative and one color slide are also included. The photographs depict family members, Ellen at various stages of life, colleagues, Ellen at a USGS open house, and retirement parties.
A scrapbook and two autograph journals document Ellen's childhood and youth in Oregon.
Ellen Moore was a Geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey from 1950 through 1987, specializing in Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. She was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University in the late 1980s through the 1990s. Moore attended Oregon State College and completed her undergraduate degree in geology at Oregon State in the mid-1940s.
Ellen Louise James was born February 6th, 1925 in Portland, Oregon, where she spent her childhood. She graduated from Oregon State College in 1946 with a BA and major in Geology, earned a MS from the University of Oregon in 1950, and studied at Johns Hopkins University from 1953-1954. From 1950-1987 she was employed with the U. S. Geological Survey as a Geologist in Menlo, California. Most of her time at the USGS was spent with the Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy where she was assistant Branch Chief from 1979 to 1982; her main scientific area of interest was Tertiary Paleontology with a focus on mollusks. Other jobs include working as a Curatorial Science Advisor for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Deep Sea Drilling Project from 1974 to 1975, and working as an Associate Curator for the San Diego Natural History Museum Department of Invertebrate Paleontology from 1966 to 1967.
She retired from the USGS in 1987, but became a Geologist Emeritus with them that same year. Ellen and her husband George W. Moore moved to Corvallis in 1987 and were involved with OSU and the Corvallis community. From 1990 through 2003 Ellen was an Oregon State University Thrift Store volunteer. Ellen was a courtesy Research Associate at Oregon State University from 1987 through 2003. George Moore was courtesy Professor of Geology at Oregon State University. Ellen and George had two children: Geoff and Leslie.
Moore used several names in her correspondence: Ellen L. (Louise) James, Ellen J. Trumbull, and Ellen J. Moore.
More Extent Information: 217 photographs; 5 boxes, including 1 oversize box
Statement on Access: Access to the A.V. Zhirmunskiy correspondence in Series 1 and the Personnel Action and Travel Vouchers and Authorizations materials in Series 3 are restricted due to the presence of confidential information. All other materials in this collection are open for research. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
Acquisition Note: The Papers were donated to the University Archives by Ellen Moore in 2003 and 2004.
Related Materials: The Special Collections and Archives Research Center's holdings include the papers of Ellen's husband, the George W. Moore Papers (MSS MooreGW), as well as several other geologists affiliated with Oregon State University including the Earl L. Packard Papers (MSS Packard), William H. Taubeneck Papers (MSS Taubeneck), and Roger L. Nielsen Papers (MSS Nielsen).
Preferred Citation: Ellen J. Moore Papers (MSS MooreE), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Moore, Ellen
Calkins, Frank C.
Moore, George William (1928-)
Geological Survey (U.S.)
History of Science
Mollusks, Fossil--Oregon.
Moore, Ellen
Oregon State University. Department of Geosciences
Paleontology--Tertiary.
University History
Women paleontologists.
Film negatives.
Photographic prints.
Scrapbooks.
Slides (photographs).