{"id":53639,"date":"2026-04-03T13:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=53639"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:09:15","slug":"cephalopods-eurypterids-and-porifera-oh-my-the-kenneth-e-caster-papers-at-arb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2026\/04\/cephalopods-eurypterids-and-porifera-oh-my-the-kenneth-e-caster-papers-at-arb\/","title":{"rendered":"Cephalopods, eurypterids,\u00a0and porifera,\u00a0oh\u00a0my!:\u00a0The Kenneth E. Caster papers\u00a0at ARB\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Archives and Rare Books Library\u00a0has completed processing the papers of\u00a0University of Cincinnati\u00a0professor\u202femeritus\u00a0Dr. Kenneth E. Caster.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photograph
Dr. Caster presenting a fossil to group of onlookers at unknown excursion trip, circa 1930s-1940s. Source: Kenneth E. Caster papers at ARB Library<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Kenneth Edward Caster\u00a0(1908-1992)\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Photograph
Dr. Caster and his wife Anneliese while visiting Prague, circa 1964. Source: Kenneth E. Caster papers at ARB Library<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Dr. Caster\u00a0began\u00a0his career\u00a0at the\u00a0University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio,\u00a0as a museum curator and assistant professor within the Geology Department\u00a0in 1936.\u00a0Dr. Caster became a full professor in 1952 and taught until his retirement in 1978.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\u00a0his career he taught\u00a0courses in\u00a0paleontology,\u00a0geology,\u00a0and stratigraphy.\u00a0He supervised over 30 doctoral dissertations and published\u00a0numerous\u00a0articles and books throughout his career. Topics covered in his publications included,\u00a0but\u00a0are\u00a0not limited to,\u00a0cephalopods, eurypterids, sponges, jellyfish,\u00a0brachiopods, ichnology, and plate tectonics. Dr. Caster co-authored many works with paleontologists O.D. von\u00a0Engeln, Rousseau H. Flower, and Erik N.\u00a0Kjellesvig-Waering.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is credited with discovering an extinct sponge species, Titusvillia drakei, in 1939. His research often led him to various countries as a visiting professor. Most notably, he served as visiting professor in Brazil from 1945-1947, Colombia in 1948, South Africa in 1954, New Zealand and Australia in 1955, and Germany in 1964. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Caster was awarded three Guggenheim Fellowships in 1943, 1954, and 1955; two Fulbright Fellowships in 1955 and 1964; the Gondwana Medal in 1956; and the Paleontological Society Medal in 1976.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of academia, Dr. Caster and his wife Anneliese,\u00a0established\u00a0an amateur paleontology group in Cincinnati called\u00a0The Dry Dredgers<\/a>\u00a0in 1942,\u00a0aided in the development of local arts institution Playhouse in the Park,\u00a0and contributed to various charities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glimpse into the collection\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Caster\u2019s\u00a0papers are\u00a0comprised\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0research on jellyfish,\u00a0arthropods, plate tectonics, echinoderms, sponges, and sea scorpions; and his extensive career as a professor at the University of Cincinnati for over 40 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photograph
Pages of one of Dr. Caster’s field notebooks he kept while visiting South America, 1947. Source: Kenneth E. Caster papers at ARB Library<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The collection consists of seven series covering the years 1874-1993 with\u00a0the\u00a0majority of\u00a0the material\u00a0pertaining to\u00a01930-1986. These series\u00a0include:\u00a0subject files and correspondence, academic courses, maps, personal files, publications, research materials, and oversize materials. There are\u00a0numerous\u00a0photographs, scientific plates, and film negatives of specific species and fossils.\u00a0A large portion\u00a0of his papers include the research of fellow paleontologist Dr. Erik N.\u00a0Kjellesvig-Waering,\u00a0who co-authored\u00a0numerous\u00a0publications with Dr. Caster. After\u00a0Dr. Kjellesvig-Waering’s\u00a0death, Dr. Caster and his wife edited and published his work on eurypterids.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hand
Illustration of carpoid fossil within Dr. Caster’s notes, undated. Source: Kenneth E. Caster papers at ARB Library.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Caster’s papers\u00a0provide\u00a0a look\u00a0into the University of Cincinnati throughout the decades, the local history of Cincinnati, the geology of the Ohio River Valley, the innerworkings of numerous professional scientific organizations Dr. Caster held prominent roles in, the 1936-1937 Ohio River floods, and political conflicts within Brazil, Colombia, and the Czech Republic during his travels and visiting professorships.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\u00a0learn more about his collection and to\u00a0view the online finding aid please visit\u00a0Kenneth E. Caster papers finding aid<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Cincinnati Libraries Archives and Rare Books Library\u00a0has completed processing the papers of\u00a0University of Cincinnati\u00a0professor\u202femeritus\u00a0Dr. Kenneth E. Caster.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,600,31,13],"tags":[2512,2358,2884,2883,2882,36,66],"class_list":["post-53639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-special-collections-2","category-uc","category-uclibraries","tag-arb","tag-archives-and-rare-books","tag-fossils","tag-geology","tag-paleontology","tag-uc-libraries","tag-university-archives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53639"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53649,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53639\/revisions\/53649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}