Over the course of the next five months the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Victoria Museum located at Metcalfe and McLeod Streets in Ottawa, is hosting a special exhibition entitled “Courage and Passion: Canadian Women in Natural Sciences” celebrating women who broke barriers to pursue their passion for science. The exhibit started July 28, 2018 and is on display until March 31, 2019. One of the women featured in the exhibit is the paleontologist Dr. Alice E. Wilson (1881–1964), who was the first woman to be employed in a professional capacity by the Geological Survey of Canada. She worked for the Geological Survey of Canada from 1909 until her forced retirement at age 65 in 1946. Interesting, she maintained an office at the Survey, and kept publishing articles on paleontology, until shortly before her death in 1964.
Last Saturday (October 13) I attended the open house at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s research facility on Pink Road in Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa). While there I ran into Michelle Coyne, Curator, Organic Materials Collections, Geological Survey of Canada. Michelle was manning a display of fossils of the Ottawa area and trailblazing women in the Earth Sciences, featuring biographies of among others Alice E. Wilson and Ann P. Sabina, both of whom I am very familiar with as I have owned their field trip guides for over fifty years. Michelle mentioned that tomorrow, Thursday, October 18, at 7pm, at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, they will be dedicating a plaque to Alice E. Wilson. Admission to the museum is free starting at 5 pm and the event is open to the public.
Below I’ve provided a list of Alice E. Wilson’s scientific papers, the geological maps she authored, her field trip guide and her children’s book on geology. A very productive career. Intriguingly, at pages 21-22 of her children’s book that was published in 1947, Alice E. Wilson briefly discusses Wegener’s theory of continental drift!
Christopher Brett
Ottawa
ALICE E. WILSON’S SCIENTIFIC PAPERS - GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY
Wilson, A. E.
1913: A New Brachiopod from the Base of the Utica [Oxoplecia Calhouni Wilson]; Geol. Surv., Canada, Mus. Bull. 1, pp. 81-86. https://doi.org/10.4095/104945
1914: A Preliminary Study of the Variations of the Plications of Parastrophia hemiplicata,
Hall; Geol. Surv., Canada, Museum Bulletin no. 2, pt. 7, p. 131-140, https://doi.org/10.4095/104958
1915: A New Ordovician Pelecypod from the Ottawa District; Ottawa Nat. 29, pp. 85-86.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/28021#page/91/mode/1up
Plate 2 at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/28021#page/90/mode/1up
1921: The Range of Certain Lower Ordovician Faunas of the Ottawa Valley, with Descriptions
of Some New Species; Geol. Surv., Canada, Bull. 33, pp. 19-57.
https://doi.org/10.4095/104998
1924: A new genus and a new species of gastropod from the upper Ordovician of British Columbia: Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 150-151, 2 fig., 2 pls., October, 1924.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89061#page/230/mode/1up
1926a: An Upper Ordovician fauna from the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia; in, Contributions to Canadian palaeontology; Geological Survey Museum; Geological Survey of Canada, Museum Bulletin No. 44, p. 1-34, 100-115, 8 Plates, 2 Figures (index map and diagram of one species), https://doi.org/10.4095/105015
1926b: Determinations of fossils and remarks thereon; pages 32-34 in Geology and mineral deposits of Windermere map-area, British Columbia by J.F. Walker, Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 148, 78 pages (1 sheet), https://doi.org/10.4095/100848
1928: Fossils from Baffin Island, collected by J. Dewey Soper ; in, A faunal investigation of southern Baffin Island; Soper, J D; National Museum of Canada, Bulletin no. 53, p. 124-129, https://doi.org/10.4095/306004
1930: The geology of the Cornwall District, Ontario. PhD Thesis for University of Chicago, USA
1931: Notes on the Baffinland fossils collected by J. Dewey Soper during 1925 and 1929: Roy. Soc. Canada, Transactions, 3d ser., vol. 25, sec. 4, pp. 285–308, 5 pls., 1931.
1932a: Notes on the Pamelia Member of the Black River Formation of the Ottawa Valley;
Amer. Jour. Sci. 24, pp. 135-146. doi:10.2475/ajs.s5-24.140.135
1932b: Palaeontological Notes; Canadian Field-Naturalist. 46, pp. 133-140.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89295#page/163/mode/1up
1932c: Ordovician Fossils from the Region of Cornwall; Roy. Soc., Canada, Trans. 3rd
ser., sec. 4, vol. 26, pp. 373-404, 6 pis.
1936: , A Synopsis of the Ordovician of Ontario and western Quebec and the related succession in New York: in Contributions to the study of the Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec; Geol. Survey of Canada Memoir 202, Pub. 2427, pp. 1–20, 1936.
1937: Erosional Intervals Indicated by Contacts in the Vicinity of Ottawa, Ontario;
Roy. Soc., Canada, Proc. and Trans., 3rd ser. 31, sec. 4, pp. 45-60.
1938: Correlation of the Timiskaming outlier, with description of a new cephalopod; Canadian Field-Naturalist, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1–3, 1 pl., January 8, 1938.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89087#page/11/mode/1up
Plate 1 at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89087#page/9/mode/1up
1938: Gastropods from Akpatok Island, Hudson Strait: Royal Soc, Canada Trans. 3d ser., vol. 32, sec. 4, pp. 25–39, 3 plos., May 1938; correction, vol. 33. Sec. 4, p. 131, May 1939; abstract, Proc., p. 143, 1933.
1942: A buried channel of the St. Lawrence River: Am. Jour. Sci., v. 244, no. 8, p. 557-562, illus., Aug. 1946; abs., Royal Soc. Canada Proc, 3d ser., v. 36, p. 147, 1942.
1943: Synopsis of the geology of the Ottawa lowlands [abstract]: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 49, no. 12, pt. 2, p. 1943,
1944: Rafinesquina and its Homomorphs Opikina and Opikinella from the Ottawa Limestone
of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland; Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd ser. 38, sec, 4, pp. 145-203.
1945: Strophomena and its Homomorphs Trigrammaria and Microtrypa from the Ottawa
Limestone of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland; Roy. Soc., Canada, 3rd ser. 39, sec. 4, pp. 121-150.
1946a: Echinodermata of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland;
Geol. Surv., Canada, Bull. No. 4. 61 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101580
1946b: Brachiopoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St. Lawrence Lowland;
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 8, 149 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101577
1946c: Geology of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Lowland, Ontario and Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 241, 65 pages, four sheets https://doi.org/10.4095/101632
1946d: A buried channel of the St. Lawrence River. American J. of Sc., v 244, 557-563
1947: Trilobita of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 9, 85 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101578
1948: Miscellaneous classes of fossils, Ottawa Formation, Ottawa - St. Lawrence Valley
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 11, 123 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101512
1948-49: Life comes to a planet, Pt. 1: Canadian Min. Jour., v. 69, no. 7, p. 57-65, illus., July 1948; Pt. 2, no. 8, p. 80-84, illus. incl. index map, Aug. 1948; no. 9, p. 60-69, illus., Sept. 1948; Pt. 3, no. 11, p. 69-82, illus., Nov. 1948; Pt. 4, v. 70, no. 1, p. 77-88, illus., Jan. 1949; Pt. 5, no. 3, p. 79-88, illus., Mar. 1949.
1951: Gastropoda and Conularida of the Ottawa formation of the Ottawa-St Lawrence lowland
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin no. 17, 1951, 156 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101520
1951: Log of Diamond Drill Hole (pages 2-7), and List of Fossils from Piskoshi Point , James Bay (pages 8-9), in Preliminary report on drilling to determine stratigraphical succession at Piskoshi Point, James Bay: Ontario Department of Mines Preliminary Report. 1951-5, 9 p., 1951.
http://www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/PR1951-05/PR1951-05.pdf
1953: A report on fossil collections from the James Bay lowland, Appendix A of Martison, N. W., Petroleum possibilities of the James Bay lowland area: Ontario Dept. Mines Ann. Rept . 1952, v. 61, pt. 6, p. 59-81,1953.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV61//ARV61.pdf
1955: Memorial to Alfred W. G. Wilson (1873-1954): Geological Society of America Proceedings, 1954, p. 143-145, July 1955.
1956: Pelecypoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 28,, 102 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/101527
1957: Life in the Proterozoic, in Gill, J. E., ed., The Proterozoic in Canada: Royal Soc. Canada Special Pub., no. 2, p. 18-27, illus., 1957. University of Toronto Press, Pages: 204
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt1vgw7jv
1961: Cephalopoda of the Ottawa Formation of the Ottawa - St Lawrence Lowland
Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 67, 106 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/100585
1965; Geology of Canada, p. 71-80a in A collection of cartographic notes; Edwards, B; Geological Survey of Canada, Topical Report 108, 1965, https://doi.org/10.4095/299631
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CO-AUTHORED PAPERS
Burns, C. A.; Wilson, A. E.;
1949: Geological notes on localities in James Bay, Hudson Bay, and Foxe Basin visited during an exploration cruise, Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 52-25, 1952, 16 pages,
[Geological Notes by C. A. Burns including lists of collected fossils identified by Alice E. Wilson] https://doi.org/10.4095/101340
Cole, L. H., Keele, J. and Wilson, Alice E.
1922: Ordovician Fossils From St. Lawrence Canal System Localities, Ontario and Quebec; Appendix B in Keele, Joseph and Cole, L. Heber, Report on Structural Materials along the St. Lawrence River, between Prescott, Ont., and Lachine, Que., pages 109 -111;, Canada, Mines Branch, 119 pages, maps, plates https://archive.org/details/reportonstructur00cana/page/109
Hogg, Nelson, Satterly, Jack, and Wilson, Alice Evelyn,
1953: Drilling by the Ontario Department of Mines, Pt. 1 of Drilling in the James Bay lowland: Ontario Department of Mines Annual Report 1952, v. 61, pt. 6, p. 115-140, illus.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV61//ARV61.pdf
Wilson, A E; Caley, J F; Okulitch, V J; Sproule, J C;
1936: Contributions to the study of the Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 202, 1936, 133 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/100833
Wilson, A.E. and Mather, K.F.
1916: Synopsis of the common fossils of the Kingston area; in Baker, M.B., The Geology of Kingston and vicinity; Appendix II, Ontario Bureau of mines, 1916, v.XXV., part III, p.45-67.
http://www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/imaging/ARV25//ARV25.pdf
Wilson, A. E., Stewart, J . S., and Caley, J. F.,
1941: Sedimentary Basins of Ontario, possible Sources of Oil and Gas; Roy. Soc . Canada,
Proc. and Trans., 3rd ser. 35, sec. 4, pp. 167-185.
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GEOLOGICAL MAPS
Wilson, A. E.
1938: Ottawa Sheet, (East Half) , Carleton and Hull Counties, Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada, Map 413A, Scale 1 inch to 1 mile, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1935
https://doi.org/10.4095/107511
1938: Ottawa Sheet, (West Half) , Carleton and Hull Counties, Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada, Map 414A, Scale 1 inch to 1 mile, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1935
https://doi.org/10.4095/107545
1940: Casselman, Russell, Dundas, Stormont, Prescott, Carleton, and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 587A, 1940, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107369
1940: Nepean, Carleton, Lanark, Grenville, Dundas, Gatineau and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 588A, 1940, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107428
1941: Valleyfield, Québec and Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 660A, 1941, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107850
1941: L'Orignal, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 662A, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107972
1941: Maxville, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 661A, 1941, 1 sheet, 1 inch to 2 miles, https://doi.org/10.4095/107973
1942: Prescott, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 710A, 1942, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/107616
1946: Ottawa-Cornwall , Ontario and Quebec, Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 852A, Scale 1 inch to 4 Miles, Geology by A. E. Wilson, 1929 and 1935 to 1940
https://doi.org/10.4095/107544
1954: Ottawa, Carleton, Gatineau, and Papineau Counties, Ontario and Québec; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1038A, 1954, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/107547
CO-AUTHORED GEOLOGICAL MAPS
Livingstone, K. W. , Hill, P. A., Wilson, Alice E. and Kirwan, J. L., 1974,
Geology, Arnprior, Ontario;. Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1363A, 1 sheet, scale 1:50,000 [Precambrian geology by K. W. Livingstone, P. A. Hill and others 1963, 1964, 1965, compiled by K. W. Livingstone 1965. Paleozoic geology by Alice E. Wilson, compiled by J. L. Kirwan 1963. Revised by P. A. Hill, 1972.]
https://doi.org/10.4095/109148
Reinhardt, E W; Wilson, A E, 1964
Geology, Carleton Place, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, Preliminary Map 7-1964, 1964, 1 sheet,
[Precambrian
geology by E. W. Reinhardt, 1963. Paleozoic geology by A. E. Wilson,
1946, compiled by B. A. Liberty, 1963]
https://doi.org/10.4095/108709
Reinhardt, E W; Wilson, A E; Liberty, B A, 1973
Geology, Carleton Place, Ontario; Geological Survey of Canada, "A" Series Map 1362A, 1973, 1 sheet,
[Precambrian geology and compilation by E. W. Reinhardt, 1963, 1969, 1972. Paleozoic geology by A. E. Wilson, 1946. Paleozoic compilation by B. A. Liberty, 1963, with minor changes and additions by E. W. Reinhardt, 1972.] htps://doi.org/10.4095/109147
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FIELD TRIP GUIDE
Alice E. Wilson, 1956
A Guide to the Geology of the Ottawa District, Volume 70, 1, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, 73 pages, including five plates, and 1 map sheet
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90128#page/9/mode/1up
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CHILDREN’S BOOK ABOUT GEOLOGY
Alice E. Wilson, 1947
The Earth Beneath Our Feet. Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada Limited, 294 pages
https://archive.org/details/earthbeneathourf033553mbp/page/n3
