Arnold Guyot
A Swiss geologist, Guyot’s contributions to science and Princeton meant he left a great mark on the campus. From a museum to a boulder memorial to a hall that were all created over a century ago, Guyot’s legacy has remained fairly stable since then. In recent years, however, Guyot’s legacy is facing relocation and rethinking.
Guyot’s Life, Briefly
Arnold Guyot was a Swiss-American geologist and geographer born on September 28th, 1807. Throughout his lifetime he dedicated his time and talents to the study of geology and the pursuit of education. First a professor at the Neuchâtel Academy, he then settled in Massachusetts where he served on the Massachusetts Board of Education. His final professional move relocated him to Princeton where he became a professor and ultimately developed topological maps of regions such as the Appalachian and Catskill Mountains. He died on February 8, 1884, in Princeton, NJ and was remembered by his colleagues for the impact of his work and as a religious man. His life’s work led to the founding of the U.S. Weather Bureau, and he is honored by the term guyot in textbooks (a volcanic peak rising from the ocean shore), by Guyot Hall located on Princeton’s campus, as well as through the influence on the students he inspired.
Letters to Fellow Nature Lovers
During his lifetime, Guyot corresponded with a multitude of other scientists and geologists alike such as Asa Gray — a botanist at Harvard — and Louis Agassiz — a renowned Swiss naturalist. This letter showcases Guyot’s own handwritten note to Dr. Asa Gray and is found in Harvard University’s Botany Library, the botany library that Gray founded and Guyot often visited in Cambridge. An additional piece of writing that is more legible (in type) is this remark where Guyot comments on his close friend Agassiz. Guyot called him “a unique figure in the history of the scientific progress of our day” and even attributed his move to the United States to Agassiz. Both personal pieces of documentation add an additional dimension to Guyot and his personal relationships that bled into his professional work life even among fellow Ivy Leaguers.
The Daily Princetonian Obituary
Soon after his early February death in 1884, Guyot was honored with a February 15th obituary in The Daily Princetonian. Just about a week had passed since his death, and the writer of this obituary was already describing Guyot as a man with a large, lasting legacy at Princeton. Starting with his inspiring an “interest and enthusiasm for the study of natural science” with his teaching, the obituary writer went on to laud Guyot’s efforts in building up the university’s Geological Museum. This included his organizing of expeditions out west to Colorado and Wyoming that brought back items for the museum. Unsurprisingly for a university professor, Guyot was also remembered for his instruction and student mentorship. The obituary also notably concludes with a brief paragraph claiming that it would take a future biography to fully account for all of Guyot’s contributions — that this obituary did not fully encompass his entire legacy as a Princeton professor or scientist.
Guyot’s Name On A Hall And A Boulder (Sort Of)
The aforementioned future biographer appeared with a 1909 article in The Daily Princetonian that reported a new hall would be built for the Departments of Biology and Geology and then be named in Guyot’s honor. While the article’s headlines don’t particularly emphasize the naming of the hall for Guyot over the construction of the hall or anything else, most of the article is devoted to cataloging many of Guyot’s contributions to the university and science in general. One of his contributions — the museum he helped create — would in fact find a home in this new building. However, this article’s focus on the new hall and Guyot’s legacy also happens to somewhat bury the mention of an earlier memorial on the Princeton campus: a boulder, sort of. The article describes alumni who in 1890 placed a memorial plaque in Marquand Chapel. This plaque was apparently placed on a piece cut from a “huge, erratic boulder” that had been transported all the way from near Guyot’s earlier home in Neuchâtel. Then, the remaining part of the boulder was left by Nassau Hall.
A Legacy’s Future
Only 25 years had passed since Guyot’s death when this article mentioned just above was published and thus also when Guyot’s legacy was solidified on campus in the form of a hall that still stands to this day. However, new construction on campus will see this part of Guyot’s legacy shift. The current Guyot Hall (the one marked on this project’s Story Map and pictured above), will soon bear the names of Eric and Wendy Schmidt and house the Department of Computer Science. With this change, Guyot’s name will move to a new building for environmental sciences.
Guyot’s legacy of course also continues through his contributions to science and in the form of a scientific term, but as anti-racism efforts have been unveiled and implemented at Princeton in recent years, a previously overlooked part of Guyot’s legacy is now being reexamined: his promotion of racist theories. As recently recounted in the the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Guyot linked “continent locations, topography, and climate to the superiority of certain races” and taught this at the university. Despite this, the university has indicated that it plans to keep the Guyot name on the new home of environmental sciences that is to be built in the next few years.
Further Resources
Princeton Alumni Weekly. “Arnold Henri Guyot,” June 8, 2018. Link.
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Arnold Henry Guyot - American Geologist.” Link.
“Daily Princetonian 1 May 1909 — Princeton Periodicals.” Link.
Michaels, Marissa. “Gift from Wendy and Eric Schmidt ’76 Will Consolidate Computer Science Department by 2026,” May 30, 2019. Link.
Princeton Alumni Weekly. “Geoscientists Explore Scientific Racism in the Teachings of a Princeton Pioneer,” January 1, 2021. Link.
Harvard University., and Harvard University. Asa Gray Correspondence Files of the Gray Herbarium, 1839. Link.
“Princetonian 15 February 1884 — Princeton Periodicals.” Link.
Volume, National Academy of Sciences (US) Committee on the Preparation of the Semi-Centennial. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE INCORPORATORS. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863–1913. National Academies Press (US), 1913. Link.