028 PHOTOGRAPHS V ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Geology and Fossils

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 22: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Series: 028 PHOTOGRAPHS V
Geology and Fossils

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TAGS: Environmental Education, photographs, fossils, geology, Willard Rouse Jillson, rocks, earth science, coal, students, geological education, Pine Mountain, Kentucky

028 PHOTOGRAPHS V ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Geology and Fossils

One of the most interesting field trips for early students was to nearby areas of disturbed earth that revealed some of the geological and fossilized rocks that hint at the ancient geological history of the land in Eastern Kentucky,

Katherine Pettit, the School’s founder, had a great interest in the geology of the region and her personal library contains much literature on the geological history and the agricultural potential of the region. She was particularly interested in the publications of the early geologist, Willard Rouse Jillson who taught at the University of Kentucky.

Willard Rouse Jillson (May 28, 1890 – October 4, 1975) was a politician as well as a geologist. His small book, Agricultural Perspective of Kentucky Geology provides a succinct overview of the geology of the State. Katherine Pettit stayed closely attuned to the politics of Jillson as well as his geology. Jillson was well known in Frankfort and authored numerous books on Kentucky politicians as well as geology matters. Katherine Pettit followed politics as closely as she followed geology and showed a particular interest in coal mining activity in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky. The two fields of study, politics and geology, went hand in hand.