Peggy-Kay Hamilton

Hamilton was born in Illinois, in 1922. Throughout her childhood, Peggy lived in Eastchester, New York with her father Fred, E, Hamilton and mother, Jessie. L. Hamilton. Peggy-Kay had two sisters by the names of Rozanne Hamilton and Gynneth Hamilton.

After graduating from Vassar College in 1944, Hamilton studied mineralogy and geology at Columbia University. In June 1947 she completed her master's degree. Although she was qualified to receive several doctorates in recognition of her contribution to research and various publications, she was reluctant to complete the special requirements to further her degree, and preferred to continue her work as a research assistant at Columbia.[1][2]

After earning her masters degree at Columbia university, Peggy worked in the Mineralogy department of Geology at the same place, where she became an American Research associate. During this time, Hamilton focused her studies on clay minerals and differentiated the various types of clay minerals, where she produced many publications with her research associate P.F. Kerr. One of Hamilton's first breakthroughs was through her publication of Research Project 49 on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute. Soon after, she became dedicated to finding the origin and nature of Uranium. While investigating the mineralization of Uranium, she found that radioactive blue-black soot masses and carbonaceous trash in Cameron, Arizona. Her work on uranium was published multiple times to the Division of Raw Materials of the Atomic Energy Commission. Her work was also published in the American Mineralogist and the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America.[1] Her project to classify Uranium led to her major discoveries of Umohoite and Chrome-Mica-Clay.[1][3]

While analyzing Umohoite, Hamilton noticed that any fresh surface of the mineral developed a bright blue powder-like substance. She later determined that this substance is molybdenum efflorescence (composed mostly of ilesmannite) and formed a few days after the mineral had been exposed to the atmosphere. With use of X-ray spectroscopy, uranium was indeed discovered in the mineral, as well as silica, sulfur, iron, cobalt, nickel, arsenic and thallium. After traveling to several locations around the world for the collection of samples, including the U.S.S.R., it is discovered that this mineral is far more diverse, and distributed than originally thought.[3]

Hamilton also classified various clay minerals, which lead to her publication on the Glossary of Clay Mineral Names. Scattered through this publication are notes for readers that do not have geology backgrounds that help make sense of the observed properties or characteristics.

• Kerr, Paul F., and Peggy Kay. Hamilton. Glossary of Clay Mineral Names. New York : Columbia University, 1949 : [Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1978. Print. American Petroleum Institute. Clay Mineral Standards. Preliminary Report ; No. 1.

One of Hamilton's first breakthroughs was developing Research Project 49, known as the study of clay minerals.

• Kerr, Paul F, Peggy K. Hamilton, and John L. Kulp. Preliminary Reports Reference Clay Minerals: American Petroleum Institute Research Project 49. New York: Columbia Univ, 1951. Print.

Hamilton's use of x-ray diffraction and other mineralogical techniques led to discovery of the compositions of chrome mica clay.

• Kerr, Paul Francis, and Hamilton, Peggy-Kay. "Chrome Mica-clay, Temple Mountain, Utah." The American Mineralogist 43.1-2 (1958): 34-47. Web.

With more investigations on Uranium came the discovery of Umohoite. Hamilton and her research partner Paul Francis used x-ray diffraction to determine the components and properties of Umohoite. Their research led to the discovery that Umohoite was much more widespread than originally thought

• Hamilton, Peggy-Kay, and Kerr, Paul Francis. "Umohoite from Cameron, Arizona." The American Mineralogist 44.11-12 (1959): 1248-260. Web.

Hamilton died after a cerebral operation on September 19, 1959[4] (age 37) in the Lawrence Hospital, Bronxville, New York, following a short and sudden illness, likely due to complications regarding cancer.[2]