8. Collier Cobb, Sr., 1862-1934

Collier Cobb was born in Wayne County, North Carolina in 1862. He worked as a schoolteacher in his home state, then traveled north to obtain his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from Harvard University.

From there, Cobb went on to teach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University, before returning to North Carolina in 1892 to become a Geology Professor at UNC. One year later he became chairman of the new Geology Department, a post he filled until his death in 1934.

UNC’s photo archives house the Collier Cobb Collection, 470 photographs documenting his extensive travel and interest in geology and the sciences. Subjects in the collection include Eskimo life, logging, buildings in Chapel Hill and at the University, and North Carolina schools. Furthermore, Cobb’s many writings on geology and teaching can be found in the University’s manuscript collection and geological sciences library.

Source: Continue to Harriet Morehead Berry

Finding Aid for the Collier Cobb Collection, North Carolina Collection Photo Archives #P013, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Image of Cobb: Frontispiece, History of the University of North Carolina, Volume II: From 1868 to 1912, by Kemp P. Battle, originally published by Edwards & Broughton Printing Company in Raleigh, 1912. Electronic Edition found at Documenting the American South.