William F. Foshag Collection, 1923-1965 and undated

Description

This collection includes diaries, field books, photographs and negatives, primarily documenting the life cycle of Paricutin Volcano in Mexico as well as work completed in the vicinity of (Mexico) Tepoztlán, Sierra Madres, Durango, Cusihuiráchic, Chihuahua; (United States) Shafter,Texas; and California. Materials were created 1926-1952.|While William Foshag served as a representative of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in its cooperative work with the Mexican government, he was able to study the eruption of the Paricutin Volcano in 1943 - 1945. His images and field books discuss not only aspects of the volcano's development, but also circumstances affecting surrounding communities, including the demise and relocation of San Juan. Materials documenting Paricutin Volcano include photographs taken from a variety of vantage points, locations, and by multiple photographers. Foshag included a numbers of photograph collections from local staff and colleagues. Some of these duplicate the subject matter and chronology of Foshag's images, and carry little if any descriptive text. In these cases, items have not been included in the registry. For information about these, consult the collection finding aid.

Date Range

1926-1952

Access Information

Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.

Topic

Place

• Texas
• Mexico
• Paricutín
• California

Form/Genre

Collection record

Accession #

SIA RU007281

Extent

35 items (Maps, photographs, negatives, photograph album, illustrations, and field books)

Physical Location

Smithsonian Institution Archives