Francis Doan Hole (25 August 1913 – 15 January 2002), was an American pedologist, educator, and musician, best known for his contributions to mapping the extent of soils and their properties in the Wisconsin region and using inventive lectures and musical performances to communicate and popularize the field of soil science. His work and reputation earned him various titles of endearment in his community and among soil scientists worldwide, notably “Ambassador of Soils" and "Poet Laureate of Soil Science".
Biography
Early life and education
Francis D. Hole was born on August 25, 1913, in Muncie, Indiana, to Quaker parents. His mother was Mary (Doan), his father was Allen David Hole, and Hole had one brother, Allen David Hole Jr. Hole grew up in Richmond, Indiana, in a house on the edge of the Earlham College campus, where his father was a professor of geology from 1900 until 1940. His mother had been a professor of English literature at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio. Hole was the student librarian for the Morton High School symphony orchestra, and he played the violin under the baton of Joseph Maddy, who later founded the National Music Camp at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Hole also learned to play the piano.
Hole received a bachelor's degree in geology and biology from Earlham College in 1933 and a master's degree in French at Haverford College by the end of 1934. During the summers of this time of his life, he taught at preparatory schools in Philadelphia and independently studied languages and literature that interested him. In 1937, owing in part to exposure to the geological research and specimens at his undergraduate college and his father's place of work, Hole began to doubt the usefulness to him of "the neuroses of poets" and directed more energy to geology and soil science. He completed a doctorate in these subjects in 1943 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and attained a brief position as professor of geology at Earlham College, where he was also curator of the Joseph Moore Museum.
Scientific career
The advent of World War II interrupted Hole's early scientific career. Hole was drafted in 1944 but instead became a conscientious objector, which carried a dual burden as "it wasn't popular at all," Hole explained, and the government required that conscienscious objectors to fulfill other civic duties. For two years, Hole worked on a trail-clearing crew in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and in a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory in Coshocton, Ohio. In 1946, Hole was invited to join the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a split appointment between soil science and the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, but his appointment split further to include participation in the department of geography.
From 1943 to , Francis Hole published over 50 articles and books, ranging from technical cartographic data analyses of soils to causal connections of glaciation with resulting soil properties, and later the pedagogy of soil science.List of Publications by Francis D. Hole. Hole created Soil Survey Horizons in 1960,Soil Survey Horizona, WorldCat. a periodical that was continued by the Soil Science Society of America until 2011, and he co-created the "Soils of Wisconsin Map", published by the Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey in 1968.Map: Soils of Wisconsin (Free Download), Wisconsins Geological and Natural History Survey.
Hole co-authored the first edition (1973)Soil Genesis and Classification (1st ed.), Stanford Libraries SearchWorks Catalog. and several subsequent editions (1980–2011)Soil genesis and classification / S.W. Buol, F.D. Hole, R.J. McCracken, National Library of Australia. of a seminal work in the field of soil science, Soil Genesis and Classification with Stanley W. Buol, and Ralph J. McCracken. This textbook is used in undergraduate and graduate soil science courses worldwide.
In 1976, Hole published Soils of Wisconsin,Soils of Wisconsin (full text) by Francis D. Hole, 1976, University of Wisconsin Press. which compiled the most authoritative knowledge up to that date about the subject. He introduced the definition and significance of soils and their development, or pedogenesis, following the theory of factors of soil formation, or the CLORPT equation by Hans Jenny (pedologist).Factors of Soil Formation: A System of Quantitative Pedology by Hans Jenny (pedologist), 1941, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. The diversity of Wisconsin's soils are somewhat greater than that of most states, so Hole organized Wisconsin into geographical regions (A through J) and provided detailed descriptions, diagrammatic drawings, and the history of investigation of these soils. This publication contributed to a larger and more technologically rigorous book in 2017 by Jim Bockheim and Alfred Hartemink similarly titled The Soils of Wisconsin, which was dedicated to Hole.
Later life Hole retired from his professorship in 1983, traveling with his wife and performing further educational outreach. Francis D. Hole received a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 1996, to which he responded it was "a love letter from the Divine, and I turn to the Divine and I say, 'It's about time I paid attention to you.'".Hole taught students to love soil and to love life, Wisconsin State Journal, January 22, 2002. Hole died on January 15, 2002, at the age of 88.Francis Hole, champion of soil, dies at 88, 2002-01-16, UW-Madison News. Prof. Hole appeared on Michael Feldman's radio program, "Whad'ya Know" on August 10, 1985; his entertaining discussion of granite can be heard online (starting at the 1:08 mark).
Teaching and outreach
Pedagogy
In an essay written in 1989, Francis D. Hole described his pedagogical approach and motivation as diverging from traditional ("boring", in his words) definitions of soil.Popularizing the Subject of Soil by Francis D. Hole, 1989. He wrote, “My aesthetic (i.e. "interesting") definition of soil is: Soil is the hidden, secret friend, which is the root domain of lively darkness and silence. My goal in promoting popularization of the soil resource is not so much to attract young people to careers in soil science as to give all children and their parents and grandparents a chance to enjoy the soils of their native landscape.” He emphasized that the findings of soil science must not collect dust in libraries but instead reach the people for whom a knowledge and appreciation of soil would mutually benefit. In particular, Hole encouraged taking students and researchers into the field to investigate the soilscape (a portmanteau of "soil" and "landscape")Some Noteworthy Soil Science in Wisconsin by Alfred E. Hartemink & J.G. Bockheim, 2012, Soil Horizons, Soil Science Society of America. so as to better inform their interpretation of their observations and data when evaluating hypotheses as to the formation and function of soils. Traditional soil observations with an auger or soil pit offer more engaging and kinesthetic interaction with the subject matter.The Pleasures of Soil Watching by Francis D. Hole, Orion Nature Quarterly, Spring 1988. Expeditions and field trips by professors and students of soil science for the collection and research of Wisconsin's soil continue, following Hole's pedagogy.F. D. Hole Wisconsin Soils Study and Expedition Fund . This fund will be used to offer hands-on learning experiences for students participating in soil expeditions, and awarded in the spirit of Professor Hole’s philosophy to “read each landscape for practical purposes or simply for the pleasure of it”. Such experiences are essential to connect students to the land and to teach them deeper appreciation of the soils and its overall benefits for humans. The Endowment is under the patronage and support of Ms. Sarah Hole and Mr. Ben Hole.
Classically trained in performance with the violin, Hole would perform melodies and thematic jigs to accompany and compliment his lectures and lessons, involving the audience whenever possible. For example, he performed his "Soil Fantasy", a sequence of melodic riffs using the violin to enact the physical nature and properties of different soil textures (sand, silt, and clay). “There are various tricks you can use to associate violin sounds with what you want to talk about,” Hole explained. “You can make a harsh, gritty sound for sand. People are very amused that I can make such a disagreeable sound, but that’s what sand is-gritty and scratchy. Clay is always a trill and silt a smooth sound. The point, though, is to get people to think about these various components of soil.”Down to Earth by Terry Devitt, Orion Nature Quarterly, Spring 1988.
In addition to music, Hole would use a suitcase of his puppets to demonstrate relationships between anthropomorphized animals, plants, and naturally occurring bodies. These characters included Bucky Badger, Terra Loam, and the oft-misunderstood Erosion., and together they performed persistent themes of humans' responsibility for stewardship for the soil.Terra Loam Encounters Erosion: A Puppet Play, c. 1989. Emphasis and great effort was made by Hole to distinguish physically tangible organisms and soils from abstract processes, such as erosion, while giving equal agency and a memorable form to all relevant factors where soils mutually impacted people's agricultural, industrial, or recreational activities.
Hole earned the University of Wisconsin's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1974Distinguished Teaching Awards Recipients, University of Wisconsin-Madison. for his engaging teaching, decades of success educating students of soil science, and efforts to encourage the wider public to understand and appreciate soils and soil resource.
Musical works
F. D. Hole wrote and widely performed the Antigo Silt Loam Song, whose melody and lyrics illustrated and celebrated the features, geography, and natural history of Wisconsin soils, entertaining audiences and appealing to students of all ages.
"More Soil Songs", 1985, Madison Monthly Meeting 8 February 2001 Intergenerational Forum.
Antigo, a soil to know, Wisconsin’s crops and livestock grow; and forests too, on Antigo; and forests, too, on Antigo. Great Lakes region, fertile land; glaciers spread both clay and sand; Winds blew silt, then forests grew, giving soils their brownish hue. Great Lakes region, fertile land, you strengthen us in heart and hand; Each slope, each flower, each wild bird call proclaims a unity in all. Plant a seed and pull a weed; the soil will give us all we need, and plenty more, so birds may feed: and plenty more, so birds may feed. Of all the crops, true peace is tops; its soil is love that never stops; It blesses sand and water drops: it blesses sand and water drops.
The Antigo Silt Loam song has been covered by students and researchers of soil scienceerika sings the antigo silt loam song, helveticaukes, 2009-11-24, YouTube. and is often performed at soil-related outreach events.Grandparents University, UW-Madison. Hole's other musical works are a mix of songs with original melodies and lyrics as well as traditional songs whose lyrics have been replaced with soil-related topics and imagery. Examples include Oh Give Me a Home on a Deep Mellow Loam and Old McDonald Had a Pit.Soil Songs , Illinois Extension, USDA NRCS. To the theme of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," Hole wrote in 1989,
Darkle, darkle, little grain, I wonder how you entertain A thousand creatures microscopic. Grains like you from pole to tropic Support land life upon this planet I marvel at you, crumb of granite!