%xmlchars; ]> ms0253 Charles Munroe Papers Prepared by: University Archives. University Archives, Special Collections Research Center, The Gelman Library, The George Washington University September 2001

University Archives, Special Collections Research Center The Melvin Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington, DC 20052

EAD version encoded by Washington Research Library Consortium June 15, 2003 Guide to the Charles Munroe Papers, 1874-1938 MS0253 University Archives, Special Collections Research Center, The Gelman Library, The George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

Processed by: Special Collections Staff, 1980 Encoded by: Lyle Slovick, 2006

Descriptive Summary Munroe, Charles Charles Munroe Papers, 1874 - 1938 MS0253 l linear foot /dl/collection/hdr?munroe Dr. Charles E. Munroe (1849-1938), the inventor of smokeless powder, had a distinguished career, both nationally and internationally. After graduating summa cum laude from Harvard in 1871, he continued on as an assistant professor of chemistry until 1874. In 1874 he left Harvard to become professor of chemistry at the United States Naval Academy, where he remained for twelve years. From 1886-92 he was chemist at the United States Naval Torpedo Station and war College. Between 1892 and 1898, Dr. Munroe was head of the Department of Chemistry and the Dean of the Corcoran Scientific School at Columbian University (which became George Washington University in 1904.) The George Washington University, The Gelman Library, University Archives, Special Collections Research Center English Information for Users Preferred citation

Charles Munroe Papers, University Archives, Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University.

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Biographical Sketch

Dr. Charles E. Munroe (1849-1938), the inventor of smokeless powder, had a distinguished career, both nationally and internationally. After graduating summa cum laude from Harvard in 1871, he continued on as an assistant professor of chemistry until 1874. In 1874 he left Harvard to become professor of chemistry at the United States Naval Academy, where he remained for twelve years. From 1886-92 he was chemist at the United States Naval Torpedo Station and war College. Between 1892 and 1898, Dr. Munroe was head of the Department of Chemistry and the Dean of the Corcoran Scientific School at Columbian University (which became George Washington University in 1904.) He held a concurrent appointment as the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at GW, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1894 and LL.D in 1912, and remained at the school until 1919. He was Dean Emeritus of the School of Graduate Studies and Professor Emeritus of Chemistry from 1919-1938.

Dr. Munroe was considered one of the world's authorities on explosives, and authored more than 100 books on that subject, as well as chemistry. He was the recipient of numerous honors from governments and scientific societies, including an appointment in 1900 by the Swedish Academy of Science to nominate the candidate for the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Dr. Munroe served as president of the American Chemical Society and fellow of the Chemical Society of London. Domestically, he was a consultant to the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Subject Terms Individuals Munroe, Charles E. (Charles Edward), 1849-1938 Corporate Entities George Washington University -- Faculty Topics Anarchists Bombings Chemists Chemistry Dynamite Explosions--19th century Explosives Hydrocyanic acid Geographic Terms Cuba England -- London France -- Paris Italy -- Rome United States United States -- Maryland Related Material Content List 1 1 Outgoing correspondence 1903-1936 1 2 Incoming correspondence 1895-1925 1 3 Incoming correspondence, fragments. Original and photocopies. 1 4 Outgoing Correspondence (1823) 1 5 Speeches, articles, biographical information, hand-written notes, summaries of journal articles, reports, etc. 1 6 Class Lectures, 1882-1918 1 7 Collected articles, non-Munroe 1 8 Newspaper clippings relating to dynamite and explosives (photocopies), 1894-97 1 9 Notebook, hand-written: pp. 3-57, "Explosive"; pp. 61-81, "Gun Cotton"; pp. 83-113, Nitro-Glycerine; pp. 114-119, "Fulminate"; pp. 120-131, "Other Explosive Mixtures and Substitutes for Gun-Powder" 1 10 "Record of Preliminary Experiments with High Explosives, with Appendix Relating to and Illustrating Mechanical Burglary," bound notebook with typed text and 33 black and white illustrative photographs 2 1 Photographs - Hibbard and Rodman burglar proof safe (20) 2 2 Photographs - experiments with explosives on safes (12) 2 3 Photographs - Mining in Bingham Canon, Utah and cylindrical dynamite heater (6) 2 4 Photographs - American Gasol Company - welding (8)