About
About the Mineral Display Cases
Where are the display cases?
Hundreds of minerals are on display in the Sabin-Reed and Burton academic buildings. There are 20 cases
Here is a map of the different cases by numbers:
How did the minerals come to Smith College?
They were donated to Smith College Department of Geosciences. The Minerals in cases 8 through 20 in Sabin-Reed are all part of the Shaub Collection. They were donated in 1983 by alumna Mary Church Shaub (‘34 AM ‘35) and Benjamin Shaub, her husband and a retired Smith College Geosciences professor.
Who were Mary and Ben Shaub?
Mary graduated from Smith College in 1934 with a major in geoscience and then continued on to earn her master’s degree in 1935. She returned to be a teaching assistant in the department and married professor Benjamin Shaub who taught mineralogy and petrology. The Shaubs were interested in geology, art, and photography and had a collection of minerals from all over the world.
Are there more specimens than those on display?
There are many more (more than 60,000) that were purchased or collected by professors and students in the field for research. They are stored in classrooms or halls of Sabin-Reed and Burton on multiple floors. You can learn more about how can you contribute to the documentation of the collection here.