Abstract

Wooster was appointed in 1898 Professor of Biology and Geology at the Kansas Normal School, Emporia, where he remained for the rest of his life. His primary interest was collecting fossils, which he pursued throughout the United States. He conducted local field studies, concentrating mainly on glaciation in northeastern Kansas and ancient drainage in east-central Kansas. He published many scientific articles and wrote books for use in his biology and geology classes. Wooster joined the Kansas Academy of Science in 1897 and became a life-long supporter of the Academy. Twice, in 1905 and 1928-29, he was elected President of the Academy. He is remembered today in place names on the ESU campus--Wooster Lake, Wooster Drive.

In 1881 Chamberlin went to the U.S. Geological Survey as chief of the Pleistocene division. His main task was mapping of glacial moraines from the Atlantic to the Dakotas. Wooster was one of Chamberlin's principal coworkers during the first two field seasons. At this time, Wooster was a professor (where is uncertain) in charge of mapping Michigan. He worked summers of 1881 and '82 tracing moraines across Michigan. He furnished much information to Chamberlin that was published by the U.S. Geological Survey. Michigan has outstanding glacial geology, and Wooster developed a lifelong interest in the subject.

	Wooster memorial on the campus of Emporia State University. A large granite boulder is embedded in the base of the monument (see next image).
	Inscription from the Wooster momument. The erratic granite boulder was found far south of the limit of glaciation in Kansas; however, a plausible explanation for its geological origin is not known.

In 1897, Wooster joined the faculty at Kansas Normal School, which was the largest institution of higher education in Kansas at that time. The term "normal school" was widely used in the 19th century to describe colleges for the education of public school teachers. The Kansas Normal School later became Kansas State Teachers College (in 1923) and eventually Emporia State University (in 1977). Wooster became chair of the Department of Biology and Geology. He was responsible for training elementary and secondary teachers in the natural sciences, and he remained chair of the department until 1928. His career in Emporia lasted more than 40 years; thus, he had great influence on a generation of teachers. He wrote two books intended mainly for teaching purposes.

Wooster's geological contributions

Your speaker's [Wooster's] own craze for collecting has led him to load his cabinets with fossils; he is very proud of the fact that he has collected fossil invertebrates and vertebrates from Massachusetts to California, and in every rock group from the Potsdam sandstone [basal Cambrian, NY] to the Tertiary--in all 700 or 800 species of fossils and 200 or 300 species of rocks and minerals. (Kansas Academy of Science 1905)

	Photograph presumably shows Wooster holding one of his prize fossils. The fossil is a giant eurypterid (scorpion-like invertebrate) that Wooster collected from near Buffalo, NY. The age of the picture is unknown, but it probably dates from early 1900s. The house in the background was Wooster's home at 1017 Union Street in Emporia, KS.
	Photograph depicts some of Wooster's fossil collection during his time in Eureka, KS. This picture probably dates from the late 1800s.

Wooster's geological field work in Kansas fell in two areas.

• Glaciation of northeastern Kansas -- Wooster (1888, 1913) described striations, moraines, buried forest beds, erratic boulders, etc. He noted pronounced effects of weathering in constrast to fresh glacial deposits of Michigan.

• Chert gravel of east-central Kansas -- He described gravel capping hill tops east of the Flint Hills source cherty limestones. His early interpretation was a "residual peneplain" in which gravel deposits were left as the Flint Hills eroded and retreated westward (Wooster 1914).

Other contributions of Wooster

Wooster became professor emeritus (retired) from Kansas State Teachers College in 1935, and he still remained active through the late 1930s. He was then living at 1017 Union Street in Emporia. He died in Emporia in 1947 having lived nearly 100 years. He is remembered today in several place names on the ESU campus--Wooster Lake, Wooster Drive.

Kansas State Teachers College
Late 1940s

	Winter view over the "sunken garden" toward Plumb Hall at the entrance to Kansas State Teachers College. The sunken garden occupies the site of the original building of Kansas Normal School.
	View of Plumb Hall, the main administrative and academic building for Kansas State Teachers College, now Emporia State University.
	Science MCMV (1905) on the campus of Kansas State Teachers College. This is the building that Wooster taught geology and biology in for three decades, but the building was later demolished. Car in foreground is a 1947 Desoto.

Emporia State University
July 2008

	Summer view over the "sunken garden" toward Plumb Hall at the entrance to Emporia State University. Compare with picture above.
	Plumb Hall remains the main administrative and academic building on the Emporia State University campus. Compare with picture above.
	Emblem on the crest of Plumb Hall displays the letters KNS for Kansas Normal School, the original name of the institution.