Few contributions to the understanding of the rare earths could overshadow the achievements accomplished in the chemistry laboratories at UNH. Chemistry has been a part of the university from its beginning. UNH traces its origins to the acceptance of the Morrill Act by the New Hampshire Legislature in June 1866, which led to the establishment of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Hanover, in association with Dartmouth College. The first faculty member of the college in 1868 was Ezekiel W. Dimond, who was appointed professor of general and applied chemistry. An 1865 graduate of Middlebury College, Dimond was synonymous with the institution in its early days. Not only was he professor of chemistry, he was also the president, business manager, architect, supervisor of construction and lobbyist in the state legislature. His efforts led to the construction of Culver Hall, which contained a chemistry laboratory, described in 1874 as the only one in the state. Thus the Department of Chemistry is the only department that has existed for the entire history of the University. Dimond served as professor of chemistry until his untimely death, at the age of 40, in 1876.
Succeeding Dimond as head of chemistry were Benjamin T. Blanpied (1877-1889), Fred W. Morse (1889-1909) and Charles L. Parsons (1909-1911). When Parsons resigned in 1911 to become chief chemist of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Charles James succeeded him and served as professor and head of the Department of Chemistry from 1912 until his death in 1928. For the most part, the department focused on the inorganic and analytical disciplines under his leadership.
While the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was still located on the campus of Dartmouth College at Hanover, the State of New Hampshire was bequeathed the entire fortune of a Durham farmer, Benjamin Thompson. He specified that an agricultural college be founded on his property in Durham. In 1891, preparations began for the college to move to Durham. Charles Parsons designed the new chemistry laboratories in Conant Hall, which was constructed during 1892-1893 at a cost of $40,000 to house the Department of Chemistry and other science departments. From 1906 to 1928, Conant Hall also housed the offices and laboratories of James.
By the late 1920s, Conant Hall was no longer adequate to accommodate chemistry; James designed a new building for chemistry and agricultural chemistry. Completed after James's death, the Charles James Hall was dedicated at the 1929 fall meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Conant Hall is now one of the three surviving original buildings of UNH at Durham. The interior has been completely altered since its use by the Department of Chemistry, and today it serves as a classroom and office building. The exterior, however, is remarkably unchanged from its appearance in 1893, when the Department of Chemistry first occupied Conant Hall and when, in subsequent years, James and his students conducted the thousands of manipulations needed to complete rare earth separations. Conant Hall and Durham became known worldwide among chemists as a center of rare earth research.
Biography of the Chemist Charles JamesCharles James was born in Earls Barton, near Northampton, England, on April 27, 1880. He received his primary and secondary education in the nearby town of Wellingborough. At the age of 15, his interest in chemistry was kindled by the discovery of several of his father's old chemistry books, and he set up a laboratory in the family home.
In 1899, he entered the Institute of Chemistry, University College, London, where he studied under Sir William Ramsay and John Norman Collie. In 1900, he was awarded the Ramsay Silver Medal for his work. Ramsay wrote, "James is certainly able to take his place with any of the [American chemists], allowing for his age, in originality and power for work. He was always original ever since he came as a youngster to my laboratory; he did not tire of his work in our college, but carried out work at his home in Kettering, about 50 miles from London, where he had a small laboratory of his own." He passed the examinations for associate in 1904 and for fellow in 1907 at the Institute of Chemistry. He also supplemented his study of chemistry with industrial experience at the New Carnsley Iron and Steel Co. in Kettering, England.
In 1906, he accepted a position at the National Refining Company in Westchester, New York, and in February of that year, he was called to the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts by Charles Parsons to become assistant professor of chemistry.
While in Durham, James conducted his extensive investigations of the chemistry of the rare earths. The results were described in more than 60 papers published primarily in the Journal of the American Chemical Society between 1907 and 1931. He separated and characterized large quantities of pure rare earths, frequently at the kilogram level. He discovered new compounds of neodymium, samarium and europium and determined the atomic weights of samarium, thulium and yttrium. More than 200 specimens of his rare earth compounds still remain in the James Collection at UNH.
His students and contemporaries knew James as a dedicated and meticulous chemist and a sympathetic mentor. Much of his rare earth work was carried out with the help of undergraduates whom he patiently developed into accomplished researchers. He was known by all as "King" James, a tribute to his English heritage.
The New York Section of ACS awarded James the Nichols Medal in 1911 for his research in the chemistry of the rare earth elements. In 1927, James received an honorary doctor of science degree from UNH.
In 1915, he married Marion E. Templeton, a member of the faculty of the Department of Botany. Their common interest in floriculture made their residence with its wide variety of flowers a showplace of Durham. He was especially interested in the propagation of rare plants, which he collected, along with rare minerals, during summer vacations. James died on Dec. 10, 1928.
Landmark Designation and Acknowledgments Landmark DesignationThe American Chemical Society designated the separation of rare earth elements by Charles James as a National Historic Chemical Landmark at the University of New Hampshire on October 29, 1999. The plaque commemorating the event reads:
Beginning in 1906, in a laboratory in Conant Hall, Charles James (1880-1928) devised novel fractional crystallization techniques for separating rare earth elements, which were widely adopted by other chemists. James used his method to separate large amounts of ytterbium, hitherto considered to be a single element, into two elements now known as ytterbium and lutetium. When the simultaneous isolation of lutetium was published in 1907 by Georges Urbain, James made no public claim for his own pioneering work. Despite his retiring nature, James was internationally recognized as an expert in rare earth chemistry. His highly purified rare earth specimens were in demand by research laboratories throughout the world.
AcknowledgmentsAdapted for the internet from “Separation of Rare Earth Elements,” produced by the National Historic Chemical Landmarks program of the American Chemical Society in 1999.
Cite this PageAmerican Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmarks. Separation of Rare Earth Elements. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/earthelements.html (accessed Month Day, Year).
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