Program on Thomas Condon offered

Pioneering Oregon geologist Thomas Condon, as portrayed by re-enactor Bob Hart, will appear at the Klamath County Museum (Submitted photo)

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – A man who came to Oregon as a missionary and ended up serving as the University of Oregon’s first professor of geology will be portrayed in a living history program Thursday, Sept. 26, sponsored by the Klamath County Historical Society.

The free program will be presented at 7 p.m. in the back meeting room of the Klamath County Museum, at the corner of Spring and Wall streets.

Bob Hart, executive director of the Lane County Historical Society in Eugene, will present a guest lecture in the persona of Professor Thomas Condon.

Condon arrived in Oregon in 1852, intending to do missionary work for the Congregational Church. Self-taught as a geologist, he soon became sought after as a speaker. He was regarded as a natural teacher, and noted for explaining the ancient mysteries of Oregon flora and fauna as they were revealed in the John Day fossil beds.

A beloved professor on the university campus for nearly 30 years, Condon was a contemporary of Charles Darwin. He was an advocate for temperance and women’s suffrage.

Condon Hall on the university campus is named for the geologist, as is the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Condon died in 1907.

Hart, director of the Lane County Historical Museum since 2003, appears in period dress and sporting a beard as impressive as that worn by Condon. Fossil samples and “magic lantern” slides are part of the presentation, along with time for questions.

The program is free and open to anyone interested.

For more information, call the Klamath County Museum at (541) 882-1000.