Correspondence from Boyden Station, 1927-1954
Scope and Contents
This series contains outgoing correspondence from Boyden Station superintendent John Stefanos Paraskevopoulos to Harvard College Observatory director Harlow Shapley and Willard P. Gerrish. Early letters relate to Parskevopoulos's travels to South Africa to scout a new possible location for Boyden Station, the decision to relocate there, and his experiences settling in and setting up the Station. Beginning in 1952, following the sudden death of Paraskevopoulos, the letters are written by newly appointed superintendent Henry J. Smith and his wife, astronomer Elske van Panhuys Smith, to a variety of Observatory employees, including Bart J. Bok, Sybil L. Chubb, Donald Menzel, Margaret Olmsted, and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
Topics of discussion relate to the Station's administrative and scientific functions and considerations, including scientific instruments, personnel decisions, salaries, invoices of shipped goods, and the transfer of photographic plates.
Most of the correspondence and accompanying documents are numbered in sequential order.
Dates
- Creation: 1927-1954
Researcher access
This series is open for research with the following exception: Personnel and student records are closed for 80 years. Specific restrictions are noted at the folder level; please see reference staff for details.
Extent
1.05 cubic feet (3 document boxes)Processing Information
Seven folders, dated 1919 to 1927, were originally located in this box but have been added to the "Cambridge to Arequipa correspondence" subseries in the Records of Boyden Station, Arequipa, Peru, 1888-1927 (UAV 630.100) in April 2008. It is unclear to the archivist why the correspondence from 1951 is missing from this series.
Creator
- From the Sub-Series: Harvard College Observatory (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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