Two men, a horse-drawn buggy, a handful of 19th-century tools and an incomplete map were all former state geologist Eugene Allen Smith needed to save Alabama from economic collapse.
Smith, a University of Alabama graduate and geological pioneer, saw opportunity in Alabama’s diverse geography that superseded its failing post-Civil War agricultural market. His solution: a map that would single-handedly rebuild the state using its own natural resources.
After securing the state geologist position in 1873, Smtih began constructing his comprehensive survey of Alabama’s rocky foundation in order to produce a geological map of the state’s raw materials – a map that would open the door for the rapid industrialization of Alabama.
“In using this map, a lot of men and women were able to find and utilize the state’s natural resources,” naturalist Todd Hester said. “Iron ore, coal and limestone are the three main components of iron production, and after that, steel production. In using that geologic map, we were able to export those natural resources to become one of the leading steel-producing states in the U.S.”
Hester works for the Alabama Museum of Natural History, the on-campus museum Smith founded to house the relics he collected on his summer-long expeditions. The museum resides with the department of geological sciences inside the appropriately named Smith Hall.
“His research also led to the big oil and gas booms that we’ve seen in the late 19th or early 20th centuries,” Hester said. “He is one of the main reasons why Alabama is so successful, geologically speaking.”
Hester said about 70 percent of the Alabama Museum of Natural History’s collection is from Smith’s survey.
“From an academic perspective, for anyone studying the geologic sciences, our collection has unparalleled opportunity for research for students,” Hester said. “We have researchers from all over the world come study the mosasaurs we have in our collection, for example, or the invertebrates, like shells.”
Smith, who taught at the University before and after it was burned down during the Civil War, always had an affinity for educating others, Hester said. He said he enjoyed taking students out for field research and showing visitors around the museum.
In that spirit, the museum leads several educational programs that allow middle school and high school students the opportunity to learn about the geological sciences through in-class workshops, field trips and expeditions.
“All of what we collect in the field goes back to our museum for curation,” Hester said. “A researcher may come in 30 years from now, and the student who found that one bone, his name will always be associated with that artifact. I think that outreach is really vital to the University community.”
Geology professor Fred Andrus said Smith embodied what is now expected of top UA professors.
“He was a beloved teacher influencing many student lives,” Andrus said. “He was also an active research scientist who assembled the most coherent and complete understanding of the geology of this region in his day. Teaching, research and service are the fundamental expectations of faculty now and Smith performed them all in exemplary fashion.”
Although more than 80 years have passed since Smith’s death, his influence is still apparent throughout the University, as well as Alabama as a whole.
“He really did a lot from a historical standpoint, from a natural science standpoint and from an economic standpoint,” Hester said. “I think it’s a shame that more people don’t know about who he is and what he did. We are here because of him, really.”
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