Alexandra Tillson Filer Explained

Alexandra Tillson Filer
Birth Name:Alexandra Tillson
Birth Date:1 July 1916
Birth Place:Franklin, New Jersey, U.S.
Other Names:Alexandra Tillson Taylor (after first marriage)
Occupation:Metallurgist, mineral collector, bookseller
Known For:Co-founder, Mineral of the Month Club

Alexandra Tillson Filer (July 1, 1916 – January 4, 2015) was an American metallurgist and collector. She was among the first women to earn a degree in metallurgy, in 1938.

Early life and education

Alexandra Tillson was born in July 1916 in Franklin, near Franklin Furnace, New Jersey.[1] Her father Benjamin Franklin Tillson,[2] a Yale alumnus, was assistant superintendent of the New Jersey Zinc Company.[3] [4] Her mother, Florence Rutherford Smith Tillson, was an alumna of Smith College.[5]

Tillson was a Girl Scout.[6] She attended Pennsylvania State College, enrolled in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as a metallurgy major. She was the first woman to complete that course at Penn State,[7] when her degree was granted in 1938.[8]

Career

After college, with her husband Russell Filer, she founded the Mineral of the Month Club, sending mineralogical samples to schools and libraries, with concise information sheets to help educators, students, and collectors learn more about minerals.[9] They also ran a mineral shop in Redlands, California,[10] and specialty bookshop in Yucaipa, California, Geoscience Books & Prints.[11] In 1984, Filer was elected first president of the Geo-Literary Society at a Tucson meeting; the society was intended to gather those interested in "books, maps, drawings and related printed matter" about minerals, gems, and fossils.[12]

Filer amassed a comprehensive collection of over three thousand Western stock certificates over thirty years; images of the certificates have been published for research purposes in recent years.[13]

Personal life

Alexandra Tillson married twice. In 1938 she married a fellow Penn State student, James Alonzo Taylor.[14] She met geologist Russell Filer in California; they married in 1956.[15] As of 2014, they were retired and living in Yucaipa, California. Tillson Filer died on January 4, 2015, at the age of 98.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alexandra T. Filer . U.S., Public Records Index, 1950–1993, Volume 1 . 3 December 2021.
  2. News: B. F. Tillson Dies Suddenly. December 6, 1951. The Montclair Times. October 28, 2019. 6. Newspapers.com.
  3. Book: Yale University Sheffield Scientific School Class of 1905. Five Year Record: Class of Nineteen Hundred and Five Sheffield Scientific School. 1910. Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Press. 130. en . Compiled by William McKinley Barber. 262630382. 2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t9j39bj6w.
  4. Book: Tillson, Benjamin F.. https://books.google.com/books?id=QpA_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Tillson+%22Franklin+Furnace%22&pg=PA505. Bulletin of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 1915. The Institute. 505. en. The Testing and Application of Hammer Drills. 97–100.
  5. Book: Smith College Alumnae Association. Annual Register of the Alumnae Association of Smith College ... with Report. 1917. 203. en.
  6. News: Golden Eaglets Won by Scouts. February 20, 1934. The Montclair Times. October 28, 2019. 1. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: First Girl in Penn State's Mineral Industry Course. October 20, 1934. The Evening News. October 28, 2019. 13. Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: EMS' oldest living alumna looks back on making history at Penn State. Craig. Patricia L.. May 6, 2014. Penn State News. en. 2019-10-28.
  9. Web site: Russell Filer (1921-). Wilson. Wendell E.. Mineralogical Record, Biographical Archive. 2019-10-28.
  10. News: Filers Hobby Develops into Brisk Business. February 13, 1957. Redlands Daily Facts. October 28, 2019. 4. Newspapers.com.
  11. Book: Sheppard's Book Dealers in North America. 1996. Europa. 120. en.
  12. Announcements . Gems & Gemology . XX . SUMMER 1984. 0016-626X . 122 .
  13. Book: Holabird, Fred. The Alexandra Tillson Filer collection: Alaska, Dakota, Idaho and other western states, including the William D. Miles Nevada collection, and the southern and eastern states : stocks, bonds, documents and photographs. 2000. Fred Holabird Americana. en.
  14. News: Former Davenport Man Weds in East. January 25, 1938. The Daily Times. October 28, 2019. 8. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Filer-Tillson (marriage announcement). September 1, 1956. The San Bernardino County Sun. October 28, 2019. 21. Newspapers.com.
  16. Web site: Alexandra Tillson LifeStory . Ancestry . 27 June 2022.

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