The Modern Threshold

By 1940 geology only offered three courses; Physical and Historical Geology, and Rocks and Minerals. With the retirement of Mark Jefferson in 1941, James Glasgow assumed the post of Chairman of the Geography Department. By 1945 he incorporated the geology offerings within Geography. He was followed by Albert Brown as Department Chair. However, no expansion occurred until 1964. John Lounsbury became department head in 1961 and brought geology to status equal with geography by 1965. Thus the integrated Department of Geography and Geology is completing its thirtieth year.

Epilogue

Geography at Eastern Michigan University has a long and distinguished history dating from the earliest years of the institution. It may well be, in fact, the oldest continuously functioning geography program in the country. The identity of instructors of geographic education in the original curricula is obscure; but there is no doubt that the featured role that geography has always played owed much to the excellence of the scholarship of McFarlane and especially Jefferson. With their contributions the Normal won the appellation "nursery of American Geography."

Along with Sherzer, dynamic teaching, solid professional careers, and the ability - through field excursions and extension teaching - to fire the imagination of teachers and the general public, enabled these scholars to establish geography and geology as a cornerstone of the "Normal." That role has continued into the modern era.

Another unusual feature of the evolution of geography at "Eastern" has been its relationship to geology. In countless American colleges and universities, geography has traditionally been the poor cousin of geology, only achieving independent status - if at all - comparatively recently (i.e. post World War 11 for many now-distinguished departments such as Georgia, Illinois and Syracuse ). At Eastern, geology languished after the death of Sherzer: as late as 1963 there was only one instructor and no formal program; also it was frequently not listed in the catalog index. It was geography that in essence "rescued" geology form obscurity in the Natural Sciences Department; today geology is a thriving program in a joint department.

As Eastern has evolved from a normal school to a multi-purpose regional university, geography has kept pace. Innovative leadership and an imaginative faculty that has recognized and seized opportunities have resulted in a modern department with numerous undergraduate programs. In addition the department offers two distinctive graduate curricula and in total enrollment ranks among the national leaders. Much of this success, and continuing strong position of the discipline within the university, can be traced to the excellent work of several scholars and the solid traditions established during the first century of the institution. Ironically, with recent concern regarding geographical education in the U.S. and a related emphasis on geographic education, its past role in training teachers to teach geography may very well be its most important future service.