Call Number:

SC MS 0097

Repository:

Lehigh University Special Collections

Extent:

0.5 linear feet (1 volume in box, 0.5 linear feet)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item], Joseph W. Richards collection, SC MS 0097, Special Collections, Linderman Library, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

Date:

1890s - 1901 (inclusive)

Creator:

Richards, Joseph W.

Form:

Cerificates

Abstract:

This collection contains material related to Joseph W. Richards, Lehigh professor and the college's first PhD recipient, including certificates, awards, property titles, and photographs of the Richards family.

Joseph W. Richards born in 1864 in Oldbury, Worcestershire, England to Joseph and Bridget Harvey Richards who had four children: Joseph William (1864-1921), Annie (1867-1879), Mary Ellen (1874-1945), Florence Harvey (1878-1944). Joseph Richards was a chemist and was an apprentice of Stevenson, who built the first locomotive. The Richards Family parents, daughter Annie and son Joseph William, came to Philadelphia when Joseph W. was around seven years old in 1871. Subsequently two more children were born in Philadelphia (Ellen and Florence). Joseph William's sisters were also prominent: Ellen became a social worker in Philadelphia and Florence got a medical doctor's degree from University of Pennsylvania medical school). Senior Joseph Richards built the first zinc factory in Philadelphia. He was given a patent regarding the soldering of aluminum. His son, Joseph William graduated from the Philadelphia school system in 1882 and enrolled at Lehigh University to study chemistry. His senior thesis was titled "Aluminium." He graduated from Lehigh in chemistry in 1886. Upon graduation he went to work in industry in his father's metal refinery in Philadelphia for a year but was brought back to Lehigh as an instructor by Professor William Chandler. In 1891 he earned his M.S. and in 1893 earned Lehigh's first Ph.D. but his dissertation was about copper not aluminum. He married Arna Marie Gadd (d. 1920). They had three children: Evelyn Packer (1888-?), Winifred [Rudolf Hommel] (1893-?), William [Will] (1890-1977). The academic year 1897-1898 Joseph W. spent at Heidelberg and Freiburg, Germany. Upon his return from Germany, he became a professor of metallurgy, mineralogy, and blow-piping at Lehigh until his death in 1921. During his career he and his family traveled extensively. He was one of the founders of the American Electrochemical Society and its first president 1902-3 and secretary 1907-21. He was a member of the American Inst. of Mining & Metallurgical Engineers (chairman of Iron & Steel Committee); Naval Consulting Board; President of Franklin Institute's Chemical Section; Engineering Division of National Research Council; American Engineering Standards Commission; U.S. Assay Commission; Chairman of Metallurgy for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition; National Geographic Society; Bach Choir; Faraday Society; Deutsche Bunsen Gesellschaft; American Chemical Society; American Iron & Steel Institute and Iron & Steel Institute of Great Britain. Joseph W. Richards received the awards: 1895 John Scott Legacy Premium and Medal for "Solder for Aluminium," 1901 John Scott Legacy Medal for "Balance for Testing White Metal Alloys" by the Franklin Institute. His most important book is "Treatise on Aluminum," 1887. He had an unselfish devotion to encouraging the interests of engineers and chemists.

This collection contains material related to Joseph W. Richards, Lehigh professor and the college's first PhD recipient, including certificates, awards, property titles, and photographs of the Richards family.

This collection is arranged topically.