In the first-floor lobby of Walter E. Blessey Hall, home of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, is a display case filled with a rock collection donated by Vertrees Young. Young willed his collection to Tulane, Sewanee (one of his alma maters) and the University of New Orleans. The collection was divided in 1981 by faculty from each institution. Tulane houses around 180 pieces. The ones on display in the lobby are not particularly rare, but the quality of crystal development and size makes them among the best samples in the world. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
