Ruth Schmidt
American geologist and paleontologist (1916-2014) · United States · On the map · Scientists · Died at 97
Ruth Anna Marie Schmidt was an American geologist and paleontologist who was a pioneer for women scientists.
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Photos 7
The Yorktown Formation, well known for its fossils, which Schmidt studied in graduate school at Columbia University.
Women USGS geologists working with maps during WWII; Ruth A. M. Schmidt is in the center
The UAA/APU Consortium Library on the campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage now houses the Ruth A. M. Schmidt papers collection.
Fourth Avenue, a street in Anchorage, showing the damage caused by the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964. Photo by the U.S. Geological Survey.
First page of Executive Order 9835, signed by President Harry S. Truman on March 21, 1947
Cover page of the 1954 transcript of the US Department of the Interior Security Hearing Board against Ruth A. M. SchmidtAwards
About this person
She spent most of her career in Alaska, where she established a United States Geological Survey (USGS) field office and established the first Department of Geology at the Anchorage Community College, now part of the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 1964, Schmidt directed the initial assessment of the damage done to the city of Anchorage by the Great Alaska Earthquake, the largest earthquake in North American history, and the second largest earthquake ever to be recorded. She worked for the USGS in Washington, DC during the era of McCarthyism and was investigated twice for disloyalty because of her membership in the interracial Washington Cooperative Bookshop. She was cleared both times. She earned a number of awards, honors, and letters of commendation and appreciation. After her death in 2014, she was recognized as a philanthropist.
