The Woolery Mineral Collection By Ray Grant

     Loris and Colleen Woolery of Bisbee lived at the right time in the right place. About 1954 a friend of the Woolery's sold them his mineral and artifact collection when he moved out of state, and this was the beginning of their collection. From 1954 until 1962 the Woolerys were very active buyers of minerals and accumulated a large mineral collection.
     There are many stories about their purchases. Here are a few about some of the better specimens in the Foundation Gallery.
      The specimen with large cubic cuprite crystals was part of the collection of a Bisbee hardware merchant and the specimen was owned by one of the man's sons living in California. When the Woolerys found out where it was they "went down there, ran the boy down, and made a deal."
     One time they were in a small grocery store where the owner had some specimens. In the back was the large Japan twin quartz from Washington Camp. The owner did not want to sell it, but after a $50 offer; the Woolerys quickly owned it.
     A miner from the Dos Cabezas Mountains sold them the lot of scheelite he had mined. They had to buy all the ore, but also got the best Arizona scheelites ever seen. For more information about the Woolery Collection see Arizona Highways May 1965.

Scheelite bought by the Woolerys directly from the miner in a shipment of ore from the Dos Cabezas Mountains.

        In 1962 there was an effort by several collectors in Europe and South Africa to buy the Woolery Collection. The story was it would be part of a travelling exhibit that would eventually be shown at the United Nations and in Switzerland. At that time a Carl Stentz of California (We need to learn more about Mr. Stentz!) said, "This collection belongs in Arizona, and I am going to do everything I can to keep it here." So he started a campaign to keep the Woolery Collection in Arizona.
     In 1961 Arthur Flagg had passed away and a memorial fund was established in lieu of flowers. As a result the directors of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona held five hundred dollars in trust. The suggestion was made that the Woolery collection be purchased as a memorial to Arthur Flagg. In July of 1962 several meetings were held and the result was the formation of the corporation - the A.L. Flagg Foundation for the Advancement of Earth Sciences. The Foundation's first goal was to raise ten thousand dollars to buy the Woolery collection. A down payment was made and over two thousand specimens were moved to Phoenix. Part of the collection was exhibited at the State Fairgrounds where it was seen by Charles E. Goetz (Another person we need to learn more about. It is reported he was the owner of the 79 mine at that time.). He donated $12,000 to complete the purchase and to build display cases.
      Today the best of the Woolery Collection plus many other outstanding specimens are exhibited in the Foundation Gallery as a Memorial to A. L. Flagg.

Washington Camp Japanese Law Quartz Twin from the Woolery Collection

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