Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence and reports related to the maintenance, astronomical instruments, research programs, living conditions, and social activities at Oak Ridge Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It includes observing schedules which contain information about telescopes, instructions on their use, and astronomers assigned to work with them. Several telescopes are reviewed in reports and correspondence, including the Jewett-Schmidt, the 16-inch Metcalf, and the 61-inch Wyeth reflector....

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence and reports documenting the installation of Boyden Station's Schmidt telescope, the Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard, and routine operations at the Station from 1948 through 1951. The bulk of material covers Bart J. Bok's time spent at Boyden Station setting up the Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard telescope in 1950, and then later overseeing the station's administration following the sudden death of Boyden Station's director, John Paraskevopoulos ("Dr. Paras"), in 1951. A significant...

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and articles documenting the activities at Boyden Station created after Bok’s return to Harvard University from Bloemfontein, South Africa in 1952, reflecting his involvement with the station from afar. Bok frequently discussed the station’s administration, instruments, operations, and supply needs with station mechanic Earnest Burton, assistant Michael Bester, and acting superintendent Eric Mervyn Lindsay. Correspondence, articles, and...

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, reports, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the Harvard Corporation’s decision to withdraw financial support of Boyden Station in 1953. There is significant correspondence between Bok and individuals affiliated with the daily operations and management of the station, particularly with acting superintendent Henry J. Smith. Correspondence between astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory and at external organizations document Bok’s process of strategizing...

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, memoranda, and reports documenting Bok’s interactions with astronomers, predominantly based abroad, as he attempted to extend operations at Boyden Station following the Harvard Corporation’s announcement to withdraw funding. A significant portion of correspondence occurs between Bok and astronomer Bertil Lindblad, discussing the formation of a special committee through the International Astronomical Union devoted to continuing Boyden Station's operations. The...

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, reports, and memoranda documenting the transfer of administrative and financial ownership of Boyden Station from the Harvard College Observatory to the joint management of several European observatories. Much of the correspondence and reports references a meeting held in Bonn, Germany on May 11 and 12, 1956, where astronomers involved in Boyden Station's new management system discussed the search for a permanent superintendent, provision of salaries and pensions for...

Scope and Contents: Contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and reports highlighting the short and long term administrative and financial concerns associated with Boyden Station and the Harvard Corporation’s announcement to terminate funding. Astronomers Otto Struve, Jan Oort, and Otto Heckmann corresponded with Bart J. Bok significantly during this time, providing updates on meetings held in Leiden, Netherlands, in 1954, to coordinate and discuss the potential formation of "the Western European...

Scope and Contents: Contains inventories, packing lists, memoranda, and correspondence documenting the materials located at Boyden Station and the administrative functions involved in ordering and shipping supplies to Bloemfontein. There are significant memoranda commenting on requests for shipments from Bart J. Bok to Observatory administrative assistant Sybil L. Chubb. A couple of letters addressed to Harvard College Observatory astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin from Bok discuss the use of the 60-inch...

Scope and Contents: Contains reports, lists, correspondence, diagrams, and charts documenting research programs carried out at Boyden Station from 1952 to 1954. Several reports describe programs using specific instruments, including the Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard telescope, the 60-inch reflector, the 10-inch Metcalf, and the 8-inch Bache. Topics of discussion include the study of cepheid variable stars, monoceros variables, faint stars with emission nebulosity, and the Southern Milky Way. A notable amount of...