Olof Olsson Nylander Collection
Scope and Content Note
A collection of material by and about a geologist and mineralogist whose discovery of the first fossil specimens unearthed in Aroostook County altered many theories about the geological history of northern Maine. Included are newspaper clippings by and about Olof O. Nylander in Maine newspapers from the period 1932 to 1943. The newspapers represented are the Bangor Daily News, Presque Isle Star-Herald, Houlton Pioneer Times, Aroostook Republican, and the Lewiston Journal Magazine Section. Included also are 2 copies of an autobiography written in 1941. Included also are correspondence, most of it to Prof. F. H. Steinmetz; a picture postcard of the Nylander Museum; and typescripts of his papers on his fossil discoveries and on some rare ferns found in Aroostook County and on volcanic activity in Aroostook County.
Dates
- 1895-1943
- Majority of material found in 1932-1943
Language of Materials
English
Access Restrictions
No restrictions on access.
Use Restrictions
Information on literary rights available in the repository.
Biographical Note
Olof Olsson Nylander was born in Nystad, Sweden in 1864. He came to the U.S. at the age of 16 and became a geologist and mineralogist whose research provided the basis for numerous scientific books and whose own writings were widely published in scientific journals. Nylander surveyed much of northern Maine and in a limestone deposit at New Sweden, near Caribou, he found the only fossil starfish ever unearthed in Maine. It was named in his honor, Osteolupus Nylanderi. He was also interested in botany and found several rare orchid types in Aroostook County, Maine. He built up an enormous collection of rock, fossil, and shell specimens. In 1938 through the cooperation of the Maine Development Commission, the town of Caribou built a museum to house the specimens Nylander had collected personally or obtained by exchange with other scientists. He died in Caribou, Maine in 1943.
Extent
1 folder (39 items)
1 folio folder (22 items)
Abstract
A collection of material by and about a geologist and mineralogist whose discovery of the first fossil specimens unearthed in Aroostook County altered many theories about the geological history of northern Maine. Included are newspaper clippings by and about Olof O. Nylander in Maine newspapers from the period 1932 to 1943. The newspapers represented are the Bangor Daily News, Presque Isle Star-Herald, Houlton Pioneer Times, Aroostook Republican, and the Lewiston Journal Magazine Section. Included also are 2 copies of an autobiography written in 1941. Included also are correspondence, most of it to Prof. F. H. Steinmetz; a picture postcard of the Nylander Museum; and typescripts of his papers on his fossil discoveries and on some rare ferns found in Aroostook County and on volcanic activity in Aroostook County.
Physical Description
22 folio items folio folder (22 items)
Physical Facet
folio folder (22 items)
- Aroostook County (Me.) -- Natural history Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Autobiographies Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Botany -- Maine -- Aroostook County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clippings Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Geology -- Maine -- Aroostook County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Mollusks -- Maine -- Aroostook County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Naturalists -- Maine -- Aroostook County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Nylander Museum (Caribou, Me.)
- Nylander, Olof Olsson, 1864-1943
- Paleontology -- Maine -- Aroostook County Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Picture postcards Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Steinmetz, Ferdinand H., 1886-1971
- Typescipts Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Guide to the Olof Olsson Nylander Collection
- Status
- No Additional Box Or Folder List For This Small Collection
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English.
Repository Details
Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686
