New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, houses a small treasure that warrants the distinction of being in the "Who's Who" of micromineral collections. Located in a classroom in the Department of Economics and Geography in Fairchild Hall are the approximate 3,000 micromounts of the late Willet Raney Willis. The collection was donated to the Academy by his family after his death in 1968; also included are Willis' brass microscope and various black and white stereophotographs of microminerals taken by Willis. Closer inspection of this collection reveals an assemblage of minerals from some of the more historical figures in the mineralogical annals of the United States.

Willet Raney Willis was born in 1881 in La Veta, Colorado, and graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. A chemistry teacher by trade, he taught in public schools. His interests included photography, hummingbirds (in fact, one of his micromounts includes a hummingbird feather), concert music, and crystallized minerals. His interest in minerals was heightened when one of his students introduced him to another Colorado Springs resident, Lazard Cahn, who greatly broadened his knowledge of microscopic minerals. Willis met a couple of times a week with several other locals to study microminerals under Cahn's tutelage. This study group became the nucleus for the establishment of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society (CSMS) in 1936 with Lazard Cahn serving as its Honorary President and Willis as the society's first president. Willis was known for his mild manner and gentlemanly qualities.

The Willis mineral collection resides in an old wooden antique case that is only a few feet in height, depth, and width. All of his mineral specimens are mounted on cork pedestals in cardboard boxes with detachable lids (i.e., Rakestraw mounts). The information on the labels of each box is admirably documented with mineral name, location, date collected or acquired, name of donor where applicable, and in some cases, the chemical formula for the mineral (evidence of his chemistry background, no doubt) all noted on the lid of the box. The time frame when the majority of the collection was put together ranges from the 1930s through the 1950s The exact number of species of minerals has not been counted, but it is estimated to be between 200 and 250.

Willis' profession as a chemistry teacher is evident in his collection. There are a number of artificial (i.e., manmade) mounts provided by his high school chemistry students. These could have been part of their course of study or done as a hobby-related activity by these teenagers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Lazard Cahn's influence on Willis is evident throughout the collection. Quintin Wight (1996) says of Cahn: "In North America during this period, it is safe to say that the senior micromounter was Lazard Cahn."

Some 120 different individuals and institutions are represented in this collection (Wight, 1993). The institutions include the Colorado School of Mines, the American Museum of Natural History, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum. Willis was quite fastidious in documenting the ownership lineage of most of his mineral specimens. One example is a micromount with the following written on the label, along with the mineral's name, locality, and date collected: "Fiss-Palache-Keeley-Mrs. Thomas-Willis."

Some of the more notable mounts include specimens from Dr. Charles Palache, George W. Fiss, George C. Rakestraw, Clarence S. Bement, Louis Perloff, Neal Yedlin, Edwin Over, Richard Pearl, Arthur Montgomery, Arthur Roe, Frederick Pough, Winfield Scott Stratton, George L. English, Alice H. Thomas, L. C. Wills, Peter Zodac, Frank J. Keeley, and Paul Seel.

A small portion of this collection is continually on display in the hallway outside

References:

1. Oldach, D., 1995, Here lies Colorado Springs: City of Colorado Springs
2. Wight, Q, 1993, Complete book on micromounting: The Mineralogical Record, Tucson.
3. Wight, Q., 1996, Some significant micromineral collections???where are they now?: Rocks & Minerals, v. 71, pp. 402-407.