Finding aid created by: Steffi Chappell and Zachary Burnham
Date: 2014
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| August 2021 | One item added, stylistic changes (EMB) |
Summary |
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| Creator: | Church, Earl, 1890- |
| Title: | Earl Church Papers |
| Dates: | 1930-1948 |
| Size: | 0.5 linear foot |
| Abstract: | Texts on aerial photogrammetry written at least partially by Earl Church and published by Syracuse University |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 |
Earl Church (1890-1956) was an American surveyor, engineer, and professor. He established the country's first aerial photogrammetry program at Syracuse University.
Church was born in Parish, New York. From an early age he exhibited an aptitude for both mathematics and music, the violin in particular, and these interests shaped his undergraduate education. Church entered Syracuse University in 1907 as a student in the College of Applied Science and Civil Engineering. He also enrolled in many music classes in the College of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1911 as an academically distinguished student, a member of the Engineering Honorary Fraternity Tau Beta Pi, the Mathematics Fraternity Pi Mu Epsilon, and the Scientific Research Society Sigma Xi. His dual interests in music and mathematics extended beyond his time spent at Syracuse University. In the years after his graduation, Church worked as a Field Officer for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, a mathematician for the United States Boundary Commission, and a geodetic computer for the Coast Survey in Washington, and he played the violin in the Meyer Davis Orchestra.
In 1916, Church traveled with Dr. Alexander Hamilton Rice to the Amazon and Negro Rivers in Brazil. On this year-long trip, they mapped and surveyed over two thousand miles of waterways. Shortly after returning from South America, in September 1917, Church joined the United States Army as a First Lieutenant. Stationed in France for the entirety of his two-year military career, he was in charge of all military operations relating to geodetics, the science of measuring and representing the earth's terrain. For these services, Church received a commendation.
In 1919, Church began his career in academics. He taught at the Pennsylvania Military College until 1921, and in 1924 he was hired as an assistant professor in applied mathematics at Syracuse University. In 1927, he moved to the College of Applied Science, today the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Shortly after this move, Church developed a program which taught students the process of aerial photogrammetry, or the combination of many two-dimensional aerial photographs to create three-dimensional models and topographic maps. Formed in 1929, due in large part to a $60,000 grant from the Guggenheim Fund for Aeronautics, this was the country's first aerial photogrammetry program. Church's program grew quickly and led to the establishment of the Department of Photogrammetry, which attracted students from all over the world. The classes Church taught required students to have previous knowledge of both calculus and the practice of surveying land, and the coursework was strongly rooted in mathematics. As a professor, Church had a large impact on his students, who virtually flooded the field of photogrammetry upon their graduation. He was a beloved teacher, known as "Prof" by many of his students, who found his lectures extremely engaging and would highly recommend them to others.
Between 1930 and 1950, Church published nineteen "bulletins" through Syracuse University. These bulletins describe the fundamental principles of photogrammetry and provide a detailed account of the development of the science. At this time Church was the only scholar publishing textbooks on photogrammetry in the United States, and as such, these volumes were extremely important to the field. The texts were so popular that they very quickly went out of print. The volumes helped to catapult Church to the forefront of his field. Throughout his career, Church also published many articles in Photogrammetric Engineering.
In 1933, Church became a founding member of the American Society of Photogrammetry. In 1947, the Society presented him with the Fairchild Photogrammetric Award, and in 1948 he received the highest honor the Society could bestow, the Honorary Member Award. He retired from teaching on June 30, 1950, and in 1951 Syracuse University awarded Church a Doctor of Engineering degree, acknowledging that he had "brought honor to Syracuse University by [his] distinguished career and devoted teaching."
Throughout his life, Church was very connected to his hometown of Parish. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1911, he worked there at his family's hardware store. Church continued to live in Parish for the entirety of his teaching career at Syracuse University, commuting the thirty miles from Parish to Syracuse every day.
The Earl Church Papers contains a series of texts, referred to as bulletins, on aerial photogrammetry written by Church and published by Syracuse University, dating from 1930 to 1948. There is also a bulletin written by Arthur H. Faulds with a preface by Church in the collection.
Access Restrictions:
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions:
Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
In addition to these papers, the Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file for Earl Church.
Names
Church, Earl, 1890-
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.
Subjects
Aerial photogrammetry.
Civil engineering.
College teachers.
Higher education.
Types of Material
Bulletins.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Earl Church Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Gift of the estate of V. Ralph Sobieralski in 2008 and Arnold Lanckton in 2021.
Processing Information
Materials were placed in acid-free folders and box.
The items are arranged in chronological order.
Printed materials
| Printed materials | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Analytical solution of the problem of topographic mapping from comparator measurements on aerial photographs, number 1 in a series 1930 March | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Analytical solution of the problem of topographic mapping from comparator measurements on aerial photographs, numbers 1-6 in a series 1930 March-1933 November | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Topographic mapping from aerial photographs by measurements with the stereocomparator, number 2 in a series 1930 June | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Topographic mapping from aerial photographs: adaptation of the principle of parallax to comparator and photogoniometer measurements, number 4 in a series 1931 March | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Supplemental topics in aerial photogrammetry concerning computations based upon comparator measurements, number 6 in a series 1933 November | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | The spacial orientation of aerial photographs, number 7 In a series 1936 February | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Orientation of aerial photographs in the multiplex-projector from computed data, number 8 in a series 1937 June | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Property surveys by means of aerial photographs, number 9 in a series 1938 June | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Photogrammetric methods for planimetric and property surveys, number 10 in a series 1939 April | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Analytical method for the extension of a photogrammetric survey with no ground control except for initial photograph, number 11 in a series 1940 January | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Two new analytical methods of space resection in aerial photogrammetry, number 12 in a series 1941 April | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Analytical computations in aerial photogrammetry 1941 October-December | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Determination of the scale data for two aerial photographs from one control line and three additional elevations, number 13 in a series 1942 December | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | An application of precise barometric altimetry to aerial photogrammetry by Arthur H. Faulds with a preface by Earl Church 1945 January | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Revised geometry of the aerial photograph, number 15 in a series 1945 June | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Discussion of a photogrammetric method for constructing topographic maps from aerial photographs, number 16 in a series 1945 December | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Application of the direction-cosine system of analysis to scale-data problems in aerial photogrammetry, number 18 in a series 1947 September | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Theory of photogrammetry, number 19 in a series 1948 November | ||||||||||