MiM 002 - Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum

Made in Museums - Travels to Curious Museums

Ben E. Clement Museum – Marion, Kentucky

Welcome to Made in Museums! I’m your guide, Sandy DeWald, and on every episode we’ll explore a museum that will challenge, tease, and intrigue us. If you’ve ever wondered, “Now, why would there be museum about that?” then this is the podcast for you.

If you enjoy learning the backstory behind some very curious collections, then keep listening and find out the answer to this episode's question, “Now, why would there be a museum about the mineral fluorite?”

I was so excited to visit the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum. This museum is remarkable for its singular focus – it’s all about the mineral fluorite (also known as fluorspar). How interesting can a museum be that’s focused around just a single mineral? Very interesting, as it turns out.

Driving to Marion, Kentucky, I sat down with Ed Clement -- son of the founder of the museum. Fluorite is probably one of the most commercially important minerals that you’ve never heard of. Ed and I discuss the history of fluorite and the stories behind mining this mineral in Western Kentucky. Ed is a natural storyteller and the stories he shares about his family, how the museum got started (in the backyard of his father’s house), and the backstory behind some of the objects in the collection are fascinating and really highlight his family’s personal connection to this museum.

Originally this area of Western Kentucky focused on mining the mineral galena for the lead and silver content. Fluorspar was originally a waste product of the mining process. Then in 1873 it was discovered that fluorspar lowered the melting temperature of iron to remove impurities (flux) during smelting. After that discovery, additional uses for fluorite in steel, aluminum, chemicals, glass, and nuclear processes lead to a mining boom in this area of Western Kentucky from 1900 – 1950 due to the unique geological forces that created a fluorspar pocket.

Ben E. Clement leased mines in this area and recognized the beauty in the unique, cubic structure and variety of colors found in fluorspar when it was still thought of as a by-product to be thrown away during the mining process. His expertise and connections allowed him to collect truly unique and stunning examples of this mineral. Some weigh hundreds of pounds while others fit into the palm of your hand, some may be damaged or broken on the outside but reveal inner beauty. Each object in the collection is a rare specimen in the mineral world, but also carries a unique acquisition or personal family backstory.

Check out the show notes at www.madeinmuseums.com for additional details of some of the specimens in the collection along with pictures I took during my visit.

Some of the key specimen in this impressive collection include:

George Wild Carved Collection – one of two carved collections at the museum, this group includes animal and facet carvings in fluorspar by a world-renowned, family of carvers, led by George Wild from Idar-Obserstein, Germany. Fluorite is so soft that it can be carved, but too soft to be worn as jewelry. Listen to Ed tell the story of what happened when his Mom was holding one of these carved pieces.

Octahedron Collection – unique to its natural cubic shape, if you chip off all the corners of the cube you get an octahedron. Of course, you’ve got to perfectly chip off the corners at the right angles to get a perfect octahedron. This collection is also a good example of the variety of colors found in fluorite. Natural fluorite is clear, but various impurities create the nine different colors found.

“Bird In Flight” – gorgeous, black fluorite specimen unique for two reasons: its shape looks like a black bird in flight, and the fact that it’s known as a “floater”. If you visit, look underneath the “bird” – you’ll see the same cubic shapes all over the bottom as you find on the top. That means the fluorite cubes formed on a softer surface, which then wore away without damaging the cubic shapes. Very rare and very unusual to find such a specimen whole and undamaged – and just wait until you hear the story of how it was found.

First Specimen Collected – a delicate shade of mauve in color, this is the first specimen Ben Clement collected and kept at his house before there was a museum.

“Knife-Edge Fluorite” – natural, high-polished finish, this specimen is slick, beautiful and dangerous. Razor sharp edges finished to an extreme perfection. As Ed puts it, “we’ve never seen its equal in edge sharpness in a specimen this size.”

Crystal Cathedral – a quartz crystal spire sitting on a “rooftop” of purple fluorite cubes – Ed’s Mom’s favorite specimen.

“Slab” Specimen Room – stepping into this darkened room filled with “slab” or cross-sections of fluorite lit from below highlights the beautiful internal patterns showing how the cube structure forms. Similar to tree rings, you can actually see the cube rings in the cross-sections showing how the crystal grew.

Squire Riley Carving Collection – Squire Riley was a night watchman that was a master woodcarver. Picking up files and rasps instead of chisels, he turned to carving fluorite due to its softness (sitting at 4 on the Mohs Hardness Scale).

Glow-in-the-Dark Rocks – all I can say is “Wow!”. Totally unique and rare collection. With the room lights on, it just looks like a normal wall of ignoble rocks. But turn off the fluorescent lights and magic happens – a wall full of glow-in-the-dark rocks!

After talking about some of the specimens in this collection, we moved on to the photography collection. Photography is one of my hobbies, so it was a real treat to see photographs depicting the mining industry in the early 1900’s. Listening to Ed tell the story of Hudson Mine collapse really brought home the dedication of the miners and the dangers they faced every day they went underground.

Get out there and visit!

It may look unremarkable from the outside, but the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum is a truly spectacular museum. No fancy signage, no fancy building, old-fashioned typed labels – this is exactly the type of museum I want to showcase on my podcast. Highlighting these hidden treasures built from a focused passion with more stories housed in one building than you could cover in a single visit. If you’re a museum nerd like me, then you have got to add this museum to your “must-see” list and tell them, “I heard about you on the Made in Museums podcast.”