The Archives of G. Vibert Douglas: A Guide
Collection Number: MS-2-20Fonds-level description created and electronic version prepared by Laurena Fredette, August 2006
Collection Level Description
Title: G. Vibert Douglas fonds
Dates: 1929-1956
Extent: 5 cm of textual records
George Vibert Douglas was a Canadian geologist and educator. Born in Montreal on 2 July 1892, he was educated in British private schools, graduated from McGill with a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in 1920 and 1921 respectively, and pursued doctoral studies at Harvard University. He married Olga Margaret Chrichton, with whom he had four children.
In World War I Douglas fought as a captain with the British Army, serving with the 17th Northumberland Fusiliers from 1915 to 1919 in Flanders and France; he received the Military Cross for his efforts. From 1921 to 1922 he worked as a geologist on a Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic expedition and then spent about a year at Cambridge working on the materials he collected. In 1923 he began a Ph.D. at Harvard where he also lectured in geology, but ended the program prematurely to become Chief Geologist at the Spanish company Rio Tinto Ltd. in 1926. From 1930 to 1931 he was a member of the exploration of the Rhodesia-Congo Border Concession.
Douglas came to Dalhousie in the early 1930s. He was the university’s first Carnegie Professor of Geology; served as Head of Geology from 1932 thru 1957; was an active member of the Dalhousie community helping to establish both the Dalhousie Art Gallery and a university student employment centre where he helped students find work in mining and related fields; led a Dalhousie expedition to Labrador in 1946 and 1947; and served as the Provincial Geologist. Douglas retired from Dalhousie in 1957 and died shortly after on 8 October 1958. The department established the Douglas Prize in Geology in his honour.
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“Douglas, George Vibert.”
The Canadian Who’s Who. 1955-1957 ed.
“Geology Program of Douglas 1932-1957.”
Department of Earth Sciences. 2004. Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University. 24 July 2006 <http://earthsciences.dal.ca/aboutus/otr/otr-ch06.html>.
“The G. V. Douglas Memorial Award.”
Department of Earth Sciences. 20 Jan. 2006. Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University. 24 July 2006 <http://earthsciences.dal.ca/aboutus/awards/gvdma/gvda.html>.
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Fonds was accessioned in 1970, custodial history is unknown.
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This fonds consists of two notebooks and a number of printed articles written by Douglas on geological topics which include findings from the Shackleton expedition and mineral deposits in Nova Scotia.
[Identification of item], G. Vibert Douglas fonds, MS-2-20, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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