The Walker Mineralogical Club and The University of Toronto

I was an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto (U. of T.) from 1927 to 1931. At that time, the geological sciences were divided into two main sections, the Department of Mineralogy and the Department of Geology. They operated as separate departments and, needless to say, there was some competition between the two department heads – in Geology, Prof. A. P. Coleman and later, Prof. W. A. Parks, and in Mineralogy, Prof. T. L. Walker and his chief assistant, Prof. D. Parsons. Students were split between the two departments in courses stressing historical and economic geology in one and mineral identification and crystallography in the other. Dr. Coleman retired during this period but continued to lecture and maintain an office in the Royal Ontario Museum where his paintings of the places he had been were stored. Dr. Parks succeeded Dr. Coleman and brought an interest in paleontology to his department along with his expertise in economic and historical geology.

In the Mineralogy Department, Dr. Walker was in charge. He had studied in Germany, receiving his doctorate there. He was well versed in the latest aspects and developments in mineral studies and insisted that the German language be learned by seniors and graduate students so that they could read articles in the German scientific literature. Dr. Walker frequently smoked a pipe but often ran short of matches. Part of Prof. Parson’s job seemed to be to provide Walker with a match when he needed to light his pipe.

Much of the undergraduate program, particularly in the second and third years, was devoted to basic sciences including physics, chemistry and biology. The aim was not only to encourage students to develop the basic knowledge required in the mineralogy honour courses but also to prepare them to continue in graduate studies. Both senior and graduate students in the honour courses were required to write papers and give discourses to the rest of the class. The purpose of this was to determine which students might be singled out for graduate work, who might have a natural inclination for speaking and lecturing, or who might possibly join the staff at a later date. These presentations were carried out informally although some faculty would attend. Most students enjoyed the lectures, and, possibly, this could be considered the beginning of activities from which the Walker Mineralogical Club developed.

Compared to today, there was much more formality in respect to the behaviour of, and clothing worn by, undergraduates. On one occasion in a Dr. Parks lecture, I fell asleep. He walked down from the podium to the front seat where I was sitting and tapped me on the knee. He said, “Young man, I ask you to leave my class, and come to my office and personally apologize for this behaviour.” Needless to say, I thought I would never graduate after such an incident! However, he was quite understanding when I came to his office the next day and, subsequently, we became good friends.

After working for five years, I returned to the University of Toronto to finish my Ph.D. By this time, Prof. E. S. Moore was head of the Geology Department, and he was an economic geologist. Prof. Alec McLean was the structural geologist and Prof. Madeleine Fritz taught paleontology or anything to do with historical geology. I decided to specialize in mineralogy. Prof. Martin Peacock had just moved to Toronto from his studies at Cambridge and Harvard, and he came with the latest developments in x-ray diffraction techniques. During that year, I helped him construct the first x-ray equipment in the Department of Mineralogy. This worked out well as my Ph.D. thesis was based on the mineralogy of ores of the Sudbury type, especially in regard to the mineralogy of the precious metals and minerals of the platinum group.

In the 1938-39 academic year, I worked directly under Peacock who was a thorough, very fine scientist, albeit very heavy smoker. His background with Harry Berman and Frondel of Harvard equipped him to bring modern methods of research into the U. of T. Martin Peacock was a bright person who had no patience with people who took courses in crystallography as fillers. For example, the mining engineering class at that time was required to take a short course in crystallography. Some mining engineers in one of Peacock’s lectures appeared to look upon crystallography as a kind of joke, an amusing theoretical subject without much substance. I remember Peacock returning to his office after the lecture and fuming that he would fail the whole class of mining engineers unless they did better and paid more attention!

In 1947, by invitation of Prof. Peacock, I came to the Walker Mineralogical Club and gave a talk on the subject of my doctorate. I recall it was well received. The Club, which was only a few years old at the time, was mainly composed of undergraduate and graduate students, rather than the lay public. I remember that, after the lecture, my wife and I went up to Peacock's home. He and his wife entertained us with piano music as he was also an accomplished musician.

In 1967, the renovation and modernization of the mineralogy gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum was completed. This came about largely through the efforts of Dr. V. Ben Meen and myself who prevailed upon INCO to put up the money to do it. Originally estimated at $80,000, the final cost ended up at $250,000, which included the purchase of the Frohberg mineral collection.

I am pleased to have been associated with the Walker Mineralogical Club over the years. More recently, I was delighted to be elected an Honourary Member.

- Dr. C. E. Michener