Walter Curran Mendenhall (February 20, 1871 – June 2, 1957) was the fifth director of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Life

Mendenhall was born in

Marlboro, Ohio Marlboro is a census-designated place in Stark County, Ohio, United States. History Marlboro was laid out in 1827, taking its name from Marlboro Township. The community was originally built up chiefly by Quakers. By 1833, Marlborough had about ...

to William King Mendenhall and Emma P. Garrigues. He graduated from Ohio Normal University. He married Alice May Boutelle (born 1876); the couple had two daughters, Margaret Boutelle Mendenhall (born 1916) and Alice Curran Mendenhall (born 1918). He was a distant relation of

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (October 4, 1841 – March 23, 1924) was an American autodidact physicist and meteorologist. He was the first professor hired at Ohio State University in 1873 and the superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodeti ...

, superintendent of the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...

USGS career

In December 1930, Hoover appointed

George Otis Smith George Otis Smith (February 22, 1871 – January 10, 1944) was an American geologist. Life and career Smith was born in Hodgdon, Maine. He graduated from Colby College in 1893 and earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1896. He ...

to the newly reorganized

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in ...

and then appointed Mendenhall to succeed Smith as director of the

, honoring not only a commitment to appoint the heads of scientific agencies from within the U.S. federal civil service but also a commitment to support

basic research Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenome ...

. Mendenhall and Smith were both 59 years old. Mendenhall had joined the Survey in 1894, fresh from Ohio Normal University, and had mapped in the

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

fields. In 1898, he had been one of the pioneer

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

s in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and was attached to expeditions crossing the Alaska Range. He was among the first non-native people to cross

Isabel Pass Isabel Pass (sometimes Delta River Pass) is a 40 mile long gap in the eastern section of the Alaska Range which serves as a corridor for the Richardson Highway about 11 miles from Paxson. It is named after Isabelle Barnette, the wife of E. T. ...

. In 1903 he had become one of the first ground-water specialists in the Water Resources Branch. An early member of the Land Classification Board, Mendenhall became its chairman in 1911, and in 1912 he became the first chief of the Land Classification Branch. For eight years before becoming director, he had been the chief geologist. Although more than half his surveying career had been in administrative work, he had made notable contributions to the study of the

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 ...

of Alaska, and his study of the principles in ground-water

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

had helped to establish it as a field of scientific endeavor. King, Powell, Walcott, and Mendenhall all were members of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. A year after Mendenhall became director, the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

cut its budget sharply as the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

began to feel the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The appropriations were not restored to earlier levels until the late 1930s, shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but the Survey subsisted, even grew, on funds transferred from agencies the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration formed to combat the Great Depression. The

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

, established in May 1933, turned to the Survey to meet its need for maps of the entire

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North C ...

and for a much-expanded program of

stream gauging A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation ("stage") and/or vol ...

throughout the basin. In 1943, as the U.S. Government began planning for the post-World War II era, Director Mendenhall, who had served two years beyond the mandatory retirement age by presidential exemption, was succeeded by William Embry Wrather.Walter Curran Mendenhall biography
U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior Mendenhall's directorate was pivotal in the history of the Geological Survey. In spite of the difficult times — the Great Depression years and the beginning of World War II — in which he held the position, he encouraged the Survey, as he had the Geologic Branch, to emphasize the necessity of basic research and created an environment in which, in the words of the '' Engineering and Mining Journal'', "

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...

, technical integrity, and practical skill could flourish." Mendenhall died in

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, in 1957.

Publications

* Mendenhall, Walter Curran, "Progress in physics in the nineteenth century" Sun Publishing, c1901. * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound Alaska
USGS Professional Paper No.10. (1902) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran, and Schrader, F.C.
The mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska
USGS Professional Paper No.15, (1903) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Development of underground waters in the eastern coastal plain region of southern California
USGS Water Supply Paper No.137. (1905) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Development of underground waters in the central coastal plain region of Southern California
USGS Water Supply Paper No.138. (1905) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Development of underground waters in the western coastal-plain region of southern California
USGS Water Supply Paper No.139. (1905) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Geology of the Central Copper River region, Alaska
USGS Professional Paper No.41, (1905) * Leighton, Morris Morgan, "Walter Curran Mendenhall (1871-1957)" AAPG Bulletin; March 1958; v. 42; no. 3; p. 682-690 * Deming, D. "Walter Curran Mendenhall: Quaker scientist" Ground Water. 2004 May-Jun;42(3):465-71. * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Some desert watering places in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada
USGS Water Supply Paper No.224. (1909) * Mendenhall, Walter Curran,
Ground waters of the Indio region, California, with a sketch of the Colorado desert
USGS Water Supply Paper No.225. (1909)

References

External links

*
Portrait of Walter Curran Mendenhall
via the

US Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

Photograph of Walter Curran Mendenhall
via the US Geological Survey {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendenhall, Walter Curran 1871 births 1957 deaths People from Stark County, Ohio Ohio Northern University alumni United States Geological Survey personnel American geologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Writers from Ohio Presidents of the Geological Society of America Scientists from Ohio