Finding Aid for Edward Bartow Papers, 1870-1959 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: Edward Bartow Papers, 1870-1959

ID: 15/5/35

Primary Creator: Bartow, Edward (1870-1958)

Extent: 3.5 cubic feet

Arrangement: By type of material and chronological thereunder.

Subjects: American Chemical Society, Autobiography, Columbian Exposition, Crystallography, Faculty Papers, France - History and Geography, France - Science and Technology, Gottingen, University of, History of Chemistry, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Kansas, Mineralogy, Music -- Mexico - Agriculture and Natural Resources, Organic Chemistry, Sanitary Engineering, Sanitation, Sewage Treatment, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of London, Water Quality, Water Supply, Water Survey, Illinois, Williams College, World War I - Agricultural and Industrial Production and Construction, World War I - Hospitals, Medicine and Mortality, World War I - Supply, Support and Transportation

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

Papers of Edward Bartow (1870-1958), professor of chemistry (1905-20) and director and chief of the State Water Survey (1905-20), including correspondence (1888-1957) relating to teaching and research at the Universities of Kansas (1897-1905) and Iowa (1920-40) and World War I service in the American Expeditionary Forces' Sanitary Corps in charge of Water Analysis Laboratories and water supplies and sewage treatment in France (1917-19); Williams College notes (1890-92) and scrapbooks (1888-93); crystallography, mineralogy and organic chemistry course notes from Professors Otto Wallach and Theodor Liebisch at the University of Gottingen (1894-95); 320 page autobiography (1947-49); Kansas mine explosions investigation (1903-05); correspondence with Gilbert J. Fowler about sewage purification and the activated sludge process (1914-20); financial records of Charles E. Bartow (1888-1911); manuscripts on water supplies and sanitation chemistry (1920-48); newspaper clippings during Bartow's presidency of the American Chemical Society (1935-37); photographs of water and sewage treatment facilities, family, travel, study and meetings in Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Scandinavia and the United States; publications (1898, 1900-43); reports of scientific meetings (1906-38); speech notes (1920-53); students' theses (1915-37); troopship newspaper (1919); University of London Centenary material (1936); and obituaries (1958-59).

Edward Bartow (1870-1958) was associate professor of chemistry (1905-06) and professor of chemistry (1905-20) at the University of Illinois (UI). He was a leading educator and expert in the field of sanitary chemistry, developing new methodologies in drinking water purification and wastewater treatment.

Bartow was born in Glenham, New York, on January 12, 1970, to parents Sarah Jane (nee Scofield) and Charles Edward Bartow. He graduated from Williams College in 1892 with a B.A. in science and mathematics. After working as an assistant in chemistry at Williams College following his studies, he entered Gottingen University in Germany as a graduate student. Studying under future Nobel Prize-winner Otto Wallach, he explored a variety of derivatives of meta-isocymene and earned his PhD in 1895. He returned to Williams College as an instructor of chemistry in 1896 and later worked at the University of Kansas as assistant professor of chemistry (1899-1905). He moved to UI in 1905 as associate professor of chemistry (1905-06) and director of the Illinois State Water Survey (1905-17), and he was later promoted to professor of sanitary chemistry at UI (1906-20); and chief of the Illinois Water Survey Department (1917-20). While at UI, he developed standards in water purification treatments and methodologies, leading the effort to eradicate typhoid. Beginning in 1914, he investigated activated sludge sewage treatment, ultimately conducting the "first successful large-scale activated sludge experiments in the United States" (Kirkpatrick, 5842/5843). And he also led the way in treating "industrial wastes for the prevention of stream pollution" (Kirkpatrick, 5843). He left UI for the University of Iowa in 1920, where he served as head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and professor of chemistry (1920-40), retiring as professor emeritus in 1940.

During WWI, Bartow served as a Major and Lieutenant Colonel in the Sanitary Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces (1917-18). He helped devise a superchlorination process to create safe drinking water from the Seine River and organized mobile water analysis laboratories for US troops. He was recognized by the French Government for his military service with the Medaille d'Honneur des Epidemies d'Argent; he also received an honorary doctorate in science from Williams College in 1923. Active in his field throughout his professional career, he served as Vice President of the International Chemical Association (1934-38) and President of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1936. In 1946, he was given life membership to the American Society of Civil Engineering.

Bartow was married to Alice Abbott, on September 3, 1895, and together they had one daughter, Virginia (1896-1980) who was a chemistry professor at UI. He died on April 12, 1958.

Sources:

Sidney D. Kirkpatrick, "Edward Bartow, 1970â??1958," Journal of the American Chemical Society 81, no. 22 (December 1959): 5841â??45. Accessed May 13, 2020, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01531a001.

Wikipedia, s.v. "Edward Bartow," accessed May 13, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bartow.

Wikipedia, s.v. "Edward Bartow," accessed December 18, 2020, https://fr.qaz.wiki/wiki/Edward_Bartow.

American Chemical Society
Autobiography
Columbian Exposition
Crystallography
Faculty Papers
France - History and Geography
France - Science and Technology
Gottingen, University of
History of Chemistry
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
Kansas
Mineralogy
Music -- Mexico - Agriculture and Natural Resources
Organic Chemistry
Sanitary Engineering
Sanitation
Sewage Treatment
University of Iowa
University of Kansas
University of London
Water Quality
Water Supply
Water Survey, Illinois
Williams College
World War I - Agricultural and Industrial Production and Construction
World War I - Hospitals, Medicine and Mortality
World War I - Supply, Support and Transportation

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Accruals: 5/19/1975; 8/20/78; 11/29/78; 7/28/80; 9/23/80; 10/80

Other Note: 14 Pages

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1505035.pdf

PDF finding aid for Edward Bartow Papers (15/5/35)