Oberlin ceremony recognizes Charles M. Hall

The halls were alive with the sound of aluminum Wednesday, as the Cleveland Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) met to celebrate Oberlin becoming a recognized national historical chemical landmark due to the work of Charles Martin Hall. Hall was an Oberlin graduate and chemist who discovered an economical way to refine aluminum 111 years ago.

The ceremony honored Hall and his discovery of the electrochemical process for refining aluminum metal from its ore. About 300 people gathered, including members of the Cleveland Section of the ACS, faculty, students and family members of Hall and Paul Hˇroult, Hall's French counterpart, to listen to historical accounts of both men's discovery.

Before the event, President of the College Nancy Dye said, "There are going to be more chemists here than you can imagine. We're going to be inundated with chemists."

"It's just something that happens to you. You wake up one day and you're a landmark," Dye said.

Actually, Professor of Chemistry Norman Craig and an Oberlin alumnus drafted a nomination over a year ago and submitted it to the Cleveland section of the ACS. They, along with Alcoa and two historians of science, made adjustments to the nomination, and it was then submitted to the national society and chosen.

The festivities began with a viewing of "Unfinished Rainbows," a technicolor documentary made by Alcoa in 1941 that told the story of Hall's discovery. The short movie was followed by reflections by people with connections to Hall's work, either through industry or bloodlines.

Chair of the Cleveland Section of the ACS James Burrington said the objective of the historical chemical landmark program was to raise public awareness of "the key role chemistry has played in our national and global history." Landmark preservation and awareness are tantamount goals of the recognition.

Charles Hall Acton, Jr., the great-grandson of Hall's sister, also spoke at the program. He reflected on the numerous uses of alumninum in daily life and the importance of aluminum in the high-tech industry of aero-space design. Acton, who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboriatory at Cal Tech, said, "Hall's discovery is as applicable to us approaching the 21st Century as it was to him approaching the 20th Century."

"Aluminum has improved the quality of life for much of the world's population," he said.With a five to seven percent aluminum compostion on Mars, Acton alerted the students in the audience of the opportunities that await.

Alcoa's Vice President for Technology Frank Lederman said, "Charles Martin Hall is a model of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship." He spoke of the aluminum industry's direction for the future.

"Some say it all starts with dirt. Of couse the dirt we refer to is bauxite ore," Lederman said. He acclaimed Alcoa for its research and development that has made aluminum smelting less environmentally damaging and said aluminum is the most commonly recycled metal in the world. It takes only five percent of the energy to recycle the alumninum than to extract it from ore.

"It is an indispensible material that benefits us each and every day in countless ways," Lederman said.

As Hall experimented on refining aluminum, another man of the same age was also racing for the process secret. At approximately the same time as Hall, Paul He«roult made a similar discovery to Hall's in France. The two knew nothing of one another, however, and it was not until patent issues arose that Hall learned of Hˇroult. Hall was granted the American rights and Heroult the European rights.

Bernard Guest, Heroult's grandson, shared thoughts with Wednesday's audience about the story of aluminum on the other side of the sea. Guest quoted a letter Heroult had written to his mother a number of years before he made the discovery. He sought her counsel, saying he dreamt of solving the refining puzzle but he thought his father would laugh at him.

Guest thanked Oberlin for recognizing Heroult even though the focus was understandably on Hall.

The President of the ACS was also in attendance. Paul Anderson thanked "Oberlin's longstanding tradition of producing great chemists."

"Aluminum is really a shining example of how chemists and chemistry have had an impact on environmental technology," Anderson said. He spoke of the importance of chemistry and chemical progress.

"Ours is an innovative science, helping to make this a cleaner and safer world," he said.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of the ACS plaque. The normally bronze plaque was plated in aluminum for Oberlin, the only chemical landmark on a college or university campus.

"I am deeply honored to accept this aluminum plaque in honor of the ground-breaking work of Charles Martin Hall," Dye said. She spoke to students saying, "I look forward to the invention and innovation of many more Charles Martin Halls."

The event was accompanied by a walking tour of Hall's Oberlin and an exhibit at the Root Room detailing the new Science Center plans.

In 1886, Professor of Chemistry Frank Jewett worked with Hall on the aluminum refining problem. The partnership "is really the prototype for what we call student faculty research," Dye said.

Jewett told his chemistry class that if someone could discuver an inexpensive means of extracting aluminum from its ore, he would make a mint. According to the story, Hall turned to his classmate and said, "I'm going for that metal."

His discovery and the subsequent industry yielded a fortune that Hall largely donated to the College. His donations made much of what Oberlin is today and makes up a bulk of the endowment.