Alexandra Tillson Filer

Alexandra Tillson Filer
Born	(1916-07-01) 1 July 1916 Franklin, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	4 January 2015(2015-01-04) (aged 98)
Occupation(s)	Metallurgist, bookseller, mineral collector
Known for	One of the earliest women to graduate in metallurgy; founder of the Mineral of the Month Club; inaugural president of the Geo-Literary Society

Alexandra Tillson Filer (July 1, 1916 – January 4, 2015) was a pioneering American metallurgist and avid collector, recognized as one of the earliest women to graduate with a degree in metallurgy in 1938.

Early life and education

Filer was born in July 1916 in Franklin, New Jersey, close to Franklin Furnace. She was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Tillson, who graduated from Yale and served as assistant superintendent at the New Jersey Zinc Company, and Florence Rutherford Smith Tillson, an alumna of Smith College.

She pursued her studies at Pennsylvania State College’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, focusing on metallurgy. Notably, Filer was the first female to complete this program at Penn State, receiving her degree in 1938.

Career

Following her graduation, Alexandra Tillson and her husband Russell Filer established the Mineral of the Month Club, which provided mineral specimens accompanied by educational content to schools and libraries. Additionally, they managed a mineral retail store in Redlands, California as well as a specialized bookstore named Geoscience Books & Prints located in Yucaipa, California. In 1984, Filer was appointed the inaugural president of the Geo-Literary Society, an organization dedicated to literature concerning minerals, gems, and fossils.

Throughout more than three decades, she amassed an extensive collection exceeding three thousand Western stock certificates that has been made available for scholarly research.

Personal life

Alexandra Tillson entered into marriage twice: initially with James Alonzo Taylor in 1938 and subsequently with geologist Russell Filer in 1956. By 2014, the couple had retired to Yucaipa, California. Tillson Filer died on January 4, 2015, aged 98.