Mildred Adams Fenton (November 14, 1899 – December 7, 1995) trained in

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. She coauthored dozens of general science books with her husband, Carroll Lane Fenton, including ''Records of Evolution'' (1924), ''Land We Live On'' (1944), and ''Worlds in the Sky'' (1963).

Early life and education

Mildred Adams was born near

West Branch, Iowa West Branch is a city in Cedar and Johnson counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 2,509 as of the 2020 census. It is the birthplace of the only American president born in Iowa, Herbert Hoover. The Johnson County portion of West ...

, the daughter of Ollie M. Adams and Mary Ann Yetter Adams. She graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where she met her husband Carroll Lane Fenton while they were both undergraduates.

Selected publications

In addition to their scholarly contributions, the couple wrote fifty books on general science topics, and her photographs were often used as illustrations. Unless otherwise indicated, Fenton was co-author on the following articles and books, with her husband Carroll Lane Fenton.

Scholarly works

* "Some Black River Brachiopods from the Mississippi Valley" (1922) * "Nortonechinus, a Devonian Echinoid" (1923) * ''The Stratigraphy and Fauna of the Hackberry Stage of the Upper Devonian'' (1925) * "A New Species of Schizophoria from the Devonian of Iowa" (1928) * "Notes on Several forms of Lichenocrinus from Black River Formations" (1929, solo author) * "Some Snail Borings of Paleozoic Age" (1931) * "Boring Sponges in the Devonian of Iowa" (1932) * "Orientation and Injury in the Genus Atrypa" (1932) * "Hail Prints and Mud-Cracks of Proterozoic Age" (1933) * "Algal Reefs or Bioherms in the Belt Series of Montana" (1933) * "Atrypae described by Clement L. Webster and related forms (Devonian, Iowa)" (1935) * "Burrows and Trails from Pennsylvanian Rocks of Texas" (1937) * "Belt Series of the North: Stratigraphy, Sedimentation, Paleontology" (1937) * "Archaeonassa: Cambrian Snail Trails and Burrows" (1937) * "Pre-Cambrian and Paleozoic Algae" (1939)

General science books

* ''Records of Evolution'' (1924) * ''The World of Fossils'' (1933) * ''The Rock Book'' (1940) ; * ''Land We Live On'' (1944) ; * ''Rocks and Their Stories'' (1951) * ''Riches from the Earth'' (1953) * ''The Fossil Book: A Record of Prehistoric Life'' (1958) * ''Worlds in the Sky'' (1963) * ''Mountains'' (1969)

Personal life

Mildred Adams and Carroll Lane Fenton married in 1921. The couple established a scholarship fund for

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

students at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

. She was president of the New Jersey and Iowa chapters of the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. She traveled extensively in her later years, including several trips to Australia and a visit to Russia. Carroll died in 1969, and she died in 1995, at the age of 96, in

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

References

External links

Flickr entry (with discussion on birth date)
*S. George Pemberton and James A. MacEachern (1994). "Carroll Lane Fenton and Mildred Adams Fenton: Pioneers of North American Neoichnology," ''Ichnos: An International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces'' 3(2): 145–153. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Mildred 20th-century American geologists American paleontologists 1899 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American geographers American women paleontologists People from West Branch, Iowa 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American women scientists American women geographers American women geologists Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America