Eugene Allen Smith's Alabama: How a Geologist Shaped a State [Hardcover]

In 1871 when the University of Alabama reopened after its destruction by Federal troops, Eugene Allen Smith returned to his alma mater as professor of geology and mineralogy. After persuading the Legislature to appoint him State Geologist in 1873, he spent his summers enduring chills, fevers, and verbal abuse as he searched for industrial raw materials that could bring about better lives for destitute Alabamians. What he accomplished became the catalyst that transformed Alabama from an aimless and poverty-stricken agricultural state to an industrial giant to be reckoned with. The story of Little Doc, as told in Eugene Allen Smiths Alabama, is drawn from many sources: Smiths transcribed field notes, countless numbers of letters he received and the carbon copies of his replies, his published reports over a period of fifty years, wills, genealogical records, histories of the State and of the University of Alabama, and contemporary newspapers. Students and faculty at the University of Alabama all know Smith Hall. Now Aileen Hendersons commendable study, based mainly on Dr. Eugene Allen Smiths field notebooks and letters, as well as newspapers of the era, will tell readers the full story of Alabamas first state geologist. Don Noble, Tuscaloosa News
Like Eugene Allen Smith, Aileen Henderson has done her state a service. Eugene Allen Smith's Alabama reintroduces a preeminent Alabamian who in his own time had a positive influence in shaping his native state and who left an enduring legacy of science and service. Lewis Dean, Geological Survey of Alabama
Aileen Kilgore Henderson has done her research well and gives us a very engaging picture of one of Alabamas most remarkable men. The reader comes away from this book feeling that Smith knew everyone and was universally respected for his intellectual drive and curiosity and his many talents. In many ways he was a Renaissance man, devoting his long life to his native states progress. Hendersons book captl³+