Finding Aid of the Harry E. LeGrand Papers, 1949-2010, PC.2004

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Finding Aid of the Harry E. LeGrand Papers, 1949-2010, PC.2004

Abstract

Harry E. LeGrand (1917-2013) was born near Mebane, NC and was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1939 with a B.S. Following service in WWII, he embarked on a career as a hydrogeologist that continued well past 2000. His earliest work was with the U.S. Geological Survey in Georgia, but he returned to North Carolina, based in Raleigh, where his focus was on studying the geology and ground water in the Southeast's Piedmont and Mountain Regions underlain by igneous and metamorphic rocks. The papers, 1949-2004, document a significant portion of LeGrand's career as a hydrogeologist, first with the U.S. Geological Survey and then as an independent hydrogeologist located in Raleigh, N.C.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Harry E. LeGrand Papers
Call Number
PC.2004
Creator
LeGrand, H.E. (Harry Elwood), 1917-
Date
1949-2010
Extent
6.00 boxes, 2.00 cubic feet
Language
English
Repository
State Archives of North Carolina

Series Quick Links

Restrictions on Access & Use

Access Restrictions

Available for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], PC.2004. Harry E. LeGrand Papers, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Collection Overview

The papers, 1949-2010, document a significant portion of LeGrand's career as a hydrogeologist, first with the U.S. Geological Survey and then as an independent hydrogeologist located in Raleigh, N.C. The collection is organized into six series: biographical material; unpublished writings in verse and essay, and a collection of memoranda, 1987-1992, written to raise serious issues about ground water, the aquifers that contain and transmit water, and the importance of geological considerations in locating safe radioactive disposal sites, addressed to the North Carolina Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority; published scientific articles, reports, etc. on hydrogeology and related areas, particularly in North Carolina, covering the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Mountain Region, but also the Southern States; miscellaneous materials related to hydrogeology; and illustrations of hydrogeological concepts: paper copy, transparencies, and lantern slides; and samples of data regarding various N.C. river basins and associated streams. The materials are primarily articles; addresses; reports; poems and essays; memoranda; abstracts; surveys; abd illustrations of geological and hydrogeological phenomenas, utilizing diagrams, maps, charts, steps, etc. and employed in transparencies and lantern slides. The bulk of the collection consists of LeGrand's professional writings selected by a variety of professional journals and published proceedings.

Arrangement Note

When received, the collection had no discernible original order. Within each series the collection has been arranged chronologically, with small exceptions and the existence of numerous undated items in Series 5: Illustrations of Hydrogeological Concepts: Paper Copy, Transparencies, and Lantern Slides.

Biographical Note

Harry E. LeGrand was born in Alamance County to Nannie White (1882-1959) and William Pleasant LeGrande (1874-1954) on May 19, 1917. One of several siblings, he spent his childhood on the family farm near Mebane, Alamance County. In 1938 he was graduated from the University of North Carolina with a B.S. in Geology, after which he worked for a few years as a geologic aide in economic geology. With the advent of World War II LeGrand entered the U.S. Army as a private and completed service as a captain with the First Army in the European Theatre of Operation, extending from the Normandy invasion through the Battle of the Bulge. Following the war he married Undine Nye (1922-2019), a native of Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, N.C., and a graduate of the Women's College at Greensboro, N.C.In 1946 LeGrande accepted a job with the Ground Water Branch of the United States Geological Service (USGS) as an assistant to the staff geologist in Georgia, and began working in the area ground water geology. That was the genesis of his study of the geology and ground water in the Georgia and Carolina Piedmont and the Mountain Region underlain by igneous and metamorphic rocks. No formal university training in ground water was available then and LeGrande like most others of that era learned on the job. In Georgia and most other states including North Carolina, the state agency that worked in conjunction with the USGS was the state's geological survey, and states depended almost solely on the USGS for ground water studies, funded coopreratively.LeGrande left Georgia in 1949 and came to North Carolina as the state's only ground water specialist, continuing in that position until 1957. After two years service as a consulting geologist, he served two years of chief of the Radioactive Waste Section, U.S. Geological Survey. He worked as a research hydrogeologist with the Water Resources Division of the U.S. GS from 1962-1974. After 1974 he has served as a consulting hydrogeologist with several agencies, conducting studies in North Carolina (consulting for N.C. Dept. of Natural and Environmental Resources) and various parts of the United States and also in Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean area. Many of his studies and writings also included the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas and other southern Atlantic coastal states. In later years he found in hydrogeology a source of artful inspiration and expression, adding to his scientific writing a group of poems and essays. In touring the Piedmont and Mountains regions, in particular, he has continued to scientifically interpret the landscape above ground while visualizing the underlying ground water landscape.LeGrande has written or co-authored around 100 reports and papers. Consonant with his professional work his writing has been chiefly in the fields of fractured-rock hydrology, the geology of groundwater, and ground-water contamination. His study and writing has also been in related areas, including groundwater movement in crystalline rocks, radon in surface and groundwater, and conceptual hydrological modeling. Many of LeGrand's poems and essays were published on his website in 2009, and a few of these are included in his papers.Among LeGrande's numerous awards and recognitions are listings in Men in American Science, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, and receipt in 1986 of the Distinguished Service Award, Hydrogeology Division, Geological Society of America.During most of his professional career LeGrand's home was in Raleigh, N.C. where he and his wife reared two sons. By 2009 or before, LeGrand was living, researching, and writing in Crossville, Tennessee, a town situated atop the Cumberland Plateau in the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. He died in Crossville on March 21, 2013, at the age of 95 and is was buried at Raleigh Memorial Park, Wake County, N.C.Note: Biographical information obtained from various papers within this collection, the U.S. Census Records, N.C. Death Certificates, and a blogger profile on the Internet under the name, Harry E. LeGrand, Sr.

Contents of the Collection

1. Series 1. Biographical Material

scopecontent:

This series includes an undated bibliography of LeGrand's publications that was attached to his resume. The latter seems to be current through 1993.

Resume of Harry E. LeGrand, , ca., 1993
Box Folder PC.1825.1 1

2. Series 2. Unpublished Writings on Hydrogeology: Verse and Essay, Collection of Memoranda, and undated, 1987-2010

scopecontent:

This series includes a one poem and two other writings that LeGrand described as a versed essay. All were written in large part to raise significant issues regarding ground water and aquifers that contain and transmit water. The series also includes a spiral-bound collection of memoranda. The set consists of memos issued by LeGrand from 1987-1992 and discusses technical issues and views of LeGrand as a private citizen, a scientist, and as a former member of the N.C. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority. His hope was that the state would establish an economical, safe low-level radioactive waste facility, and that the authority would come to understand that geology and hydrogeology, rather than being inactive states, were dynamic subjects that control the behavior of radioactive wastes in the ground and constituted predominant considerations for safety.

Includes three poems, Listen To The Aquifers, The Quandary of Hydraulic Conductivity,Poetic Expression of the Carolina Bays,2004-2010
Folder 1
Collection of Memoranda: To Members of the N.C. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority,1987-1992
Folder 2

3. Series 3. Published Writings, and Abstracts and Reports on Hydrogeology and Related Areas, and undated, 2004

scopecontent:

Prior to becoming an independent hydrologist, LeGrand was with the U.S. Geological Survey between 1948 and 1974. During that time many of his articles and reports were published, including various ground-water studies he made in each of the state's counties of the Piedmont and Mountain region. Additionaly he authored and co-authored a variety of other papers during and after the period of 1948-1974. Examples of journals in which his writing appears include the ; the U.S. Geological Survey ; ;; the ; the ; ; and [Journal of]. Various other writings were presented and published as part of the proceedings of a number of conferences and symposiums. The organizations presented include but are not limited to the National Water Well Association; the Triangle Conference on Environmental Technology; Geological Society of America; Southeastern Conference, Water Resources Institute; Southern Water Resources and Pollution Control Conference; Conference on Ground Water in the Piedmont of the Eastern United States; and International Seminar of Hydrology Professors. This series includes many of LeGrand's published writings, organized by year, and also includes a bibliography and a list of LeGrand's abstracts and reports, 1949-1981, in bibliographic form. Also of interest is a manuel LeGrand prepared for the North Carolina Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, Groundwater Section under the following title:

Undated
Folder 1
1949, 1949
Folder 2
1955, 1955
Folder 3
1958, 1958
Folder 4
1959, 1959
Folder 5
(a), 1960
Folder 6
(b), 1960
Folder 7
(a), 1961
Folder 8
(b), 1961
Folder 9
1962, 1962
Box Folder PC.1825.2 10
1964, 1964
Folder 11
(a), 1965
Folder 12
(b), 1965
Folder 13
1966, 1966
Folder 14
1967, 1967
Folder 15
1968, 1968
Folder 16
1969, 1969
Folder 17
1970, 1970
Folder 18
1971 , 1971
Folder 19
1972, 1972
Folder 20
1973, 1973
Box Folder PC.1825.3 21
1974, 1974
Folder 22
1973, 1973
Folder 23
1975, 1975
Folder 24
1976, 1976
Folder 25
1977, 1977
Folder 26
1978, 1978
Folder 27
1979, 1979
Folder 28
1981, 1981
Folder 29
or after, 1981
Folder 30
1982, 1982
Folder 31
1983, 1983
Folder 32
1984, 1984
Folder 33
1985, 1985
Folder 34
1987, 1987
Box Folder PC.1825.4 35
1988, 1988
Folder 36
1989, 1989
Folder 37
1990, 1990
Folder 38
1992, 1992
Folder 39
1996, 1996
Folder 40
1997, 1997
Folder 41
1998, 1998
Folder 42
2000, 2000
Folder 43
2001, 2001
Folder 44
2004, 2004
Folder 45
Undated (a)
Folder 46
Undated (b)
Folder 47
Undated (c)
Folder 48

4. Series 4. Miscellaneous Materials Related to Hydrogeology, and undated, 2004

scopecontent:

Most (possibly all) of these items including addresses, notes, description of models, were apparently not authored by LeGrand. However, the material was with the collection and probably was used by LeGrand or influenced by his scholarship.

Address to N.C. Section of American Society of Agricultural Engineers. By Beverly C. Snow, Chief Engineer, Div. of Water Resources, Inlets and Coastal Waterways, N.C. Dept. of Conservation and Development, ca. 1950s or 1960s
Box Folder PC.1825.x 1
Aldridge Renn Materials,2001
Folder 2
Miscellaneous Notes, undated
Folder 3
Notes on Medina Models, undated
Folder 4

5. Series 5. Illustrations of Hydrogeological Concepts: Paper Copy, Transparencies, and Lantern Slides, and undated, 1962-1966

scopecontent:

Includes various paper illustrations of hydrogeological concepts possibly used for the creation of some of the transparencies and lantern slides also in this series. Indications are that these materials were used by LeGrand in lectures and presentations. The illustrations are chiefly diagrams, maps, charts, tables, and procedural steps. The slides consist of two glass plates and measure 3 1/4 by 4 inches. These are housed in an archival box measuring 5 3/4 inches wide, 4 3/4 inches high, and 12 inches long. Individually sleeved slides and groups of slides are housed in the order listed below.

Paper Copy (Diagrams, Maps, Charts, Etc.) for Transparencies and Glass Slides, undated
Folder 1
Transparencies, undated
Folder 2
Lantern Slides Illustrating Hydrogeological Concepts, undated
Box PC.1825.5
1. Coastal Plain: Thickness of Cenozoic Deposits [two fused together: not intentional apparently], undated
2. Coastal Plain, Generalized: Geologic Map, undated
3. Diagram: Wilson-Washington-Cape Hatteras: Metamorphic and Igneous Rocks, etc. Section to 10,000 ft, undated
4. #1. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
5. #2. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
5. #3. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
5. #4. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
6. #3. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
7. #4. Section: Land Surface/Water Table: 300 ft., undated
8.#6. Table 3. Gems and Species, etc. North Carolina Coastal Plain, undated
9. #5. Figure 3. Subsurface Relationships of Yorktown and Castle Hayne Formations, undated
10. Map: Is the Water Table Falling?. N.C. Coastal Plain, undated
11. Map. N.C. Coastal Plain. Lower Cretaceous Generalized Thickness and Facies, undated
12. Map. N.C. Coastal Plain. Tertiary Deposits, Etc., undated
13. Table. Analysis: Parts per Million. Water Quality Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, undated
14. Table and Map. Average Water Analysis from Crystalline Rocks. Rowan and Cabarrus County, undated
15. Map. Rowan County. Showing Enclosed Depressions, undated
16. Fig. 2. Oblique Photograph of Streamline Bay, 6 mi. North of Millen, Jenkins Co. Ga., undated
17. Map. N.C. Coastal Plain Showing Salt Marsh Area, etc., undated
18. Map. Geologic. N.C. Coastal Plain. Cenozoic Formations. From Berry, 1947. undated
19. Figure 1. Map, Index. N.C. Coastal Plain, undated
20. Map. N.C. Cities of Piedmont, Coastal Plain, etc., undated
21. Map. N.C. Coastal Plain Highlighted, undated
22. Table of Selected N.C. Genus and Species, undated
23. Table of Miscene Species. (Fig. 3. Trent), undated
24. Section: Fractured and Permeable Zone (Fig. 3.), undated
25. Section, Idealized. Cone of Depression in a Permeable Rock, undated
I. Group of Slides: Perspective on Hydrology,GSA, Houston,1962
II. Group of Slides: Coastal Plain Hydrogeology,Baton Rouge, GSA Meeting,1963
III. Group of Slides: Limestone Hydrology,Miami GSA Meeting,1964
IV. Group of Slides: Limestone SymposiumYugoslavia,1965
V. Group of Slides: Ground Water ClassificationAGU Meeting,1965
VI. Group of Slides: Hydrology - PiedmontGSA Athens Meeting,1966
VII. Group of Slides: Coastal Plain GeologyAAPG Meeting, undated

6. Series 6. Samples of Data Regarding Various N.C. River Basins and Associated Streams,1953-1984

scopecontent:

This series includes miscellaneous samples of data, surveys, and lists reflecting data collected on water courses in North Carolina including: Pasquotank River Basin; Cape Fear River Basin; Lumber River Basin; White Oak River Basin; Chowan Basin; Roanoke River. There is also an Index to Streams. These printouts have been placed in a large manuscript box.

Index: Downstream Order, 1982
Box PC.1825.6[Lg.MssBox]
Folder with Portions of Indexes for Cape Fear River Basin; Lumber River Basin; White Oak River Basin; and Pasquotank River Basin, 1981-1985
Roanoke River Survey, Aug 7, 1953
Cape Fear River Basin and Streams, 1952-1953
Chowan River Basin, Spring 1953
Chowan River, 1983

Subject Headings

  • Geological Survey (U.S.)
  • North Carolina. Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.
  • North Carolina. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority.
  • Aquifers--Southern States.
  • Bays
  • Geology--Southern States.
  • Groundwater
  • Groundwater--Southern States.
  • Hydrogeology--Appalachian Region.
  • Hydrogeology
  • Hydrology
  • Hydrogeology--South Carolina.
  • Hydrogeology--Georgia.
  • Hydrogeology--Florida.
  • Hydrogeology--Atlantic Coast(U.S.).
  • Low level radioactive waste disposal facilities
  • Natural resources
  • Water-supply
  • Hydrologists
  • Geology
  • Raleigh (N.C.)
  • LeGrand, H.E. (Harry Elwood), 1917-

    • Acquisitions Information

    Received as transfer on August 5, 2010 via Lisa Tolley, former librarian of the now defunct library of the N.C. Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources. A versed essay, Poetic Expression of the Carolina Bays, received via email on 12 September 2010 from Harry E. LeGrand.

    Processing Information

  • Processed by Fran Tracy-Walls, September 2010. Finding aid updated June 2019
  • Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, September 2010 and revised in AXAEM June 2019, and April 2020