Cleophas C. O'Harra Biography


	This biography appears on pages 612-615 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CLEOPHAS C. O'HARRA. 

	Cleophas C. O'Harra, president of the South Dakota State School 
of Mines at Rapid City, was born in Bentley, Hancock county, Illinois, 
November 4, 1866. In his earlier years he studied and taught in the 
public schools of his native county and at length entered Carthage 
(Ill.) College, from which he was graduated in 1891 with the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. Following his graduation he was for one year 
instructor of Latin and physics in the preparatory department of 
Carthage College and through the three succeeding years was professor 
of the natural and physical sciences there. During the latter two years 
he was also vice president, but resigned in 1895 in order to enter upon 
a post-graduate course in the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore. He 
received from that institution in 1898 the degree of Doctor of 
Philosophy, having completed courses in geology, mineralogy and 
biology. 

	In 1898 he came to Rapid City and was professor of mineralogy and 
geology in the South Dakota State School of Mines until 1911. In June 
of that year he was chosen president of the school and assumed his new 
duties on the 1st of July, at the same time retaining the chair of 
geology. He was for two full seasons an assistant of the Maryland 
Geological Survey and subsequently for several seasons field assistant 
on the United States Geological Survey for the Black Hills region. He 
has had charge also of all of the school of mines field work in geology 
beginning with 1898. He has published numerous papers, chief of which 
are "The Geology of Allegany County, Maryland," one hundred and six 
pages; "A History of Geological Investigations in the Black Hills 
Region" and "A Bibliography of Contributions to the Geology and 
Geography of the Black Hills Region," eighty-eight pages; "The Mineral 
Wealth of the Black Hills," eighty-eight pages; and "The Badland 
Formations of the Black Hills Region," one hundred and fifty-two pages; 
and is joint author of United States Geological Survey folios covering 
the Belle Fourche, Devils Tower and Aladdin quadrangles in South Dakota 
and Wyoming. He recently published a general description of the Black 
Hills region under the title, "O'Harra's Handbook of the Black Hills." 

	He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the 
American Institute of Mining Engineers, of the Seismological Society of 
America and a member of the Alpha chapter of Maryland of Phi Beta 
Kappa. He is also a corresponding member of the Geological Society of 
Washington and an honorary member of the South Dakota Engineering 
Society. 

	In June, 1893, Mr. O'Harra was married to Miss Mary Marvel, of 
Bowen, Illinois, who was graduated from Carthage College in May of that 
year. They have four children, three sons and a daughter. Their 
religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and they are 
interested in many movements and plans that are being put forth to 
promote progress along intellectual and moral lines. Professor O'Harra 
has gained distinction as one of the eminent educators of the northwest 
and is raising the South Dakota State School of Mines to a high 
standard.