Correspondence from the Harvard College Observatory Office of the Director
Overview
The Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (founded in 1890) merged in 1971 to form The Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The Center is a research institute that carries on studies in astronomy, astrophysics, earth and space sciences, and science education. The bulk of the records in this series document the Harvard College Observatory's management of the George R. Agassiz Station (Harvard, Massachusetts) and Boyden Observatory (Bloemfontein, South Africa) from 1954 to 1977, while Donald H. Menzel served as acting Director from 1952 to 1954 and Director from 1954 to 1966.
Dates
- Creation: 1919-1977, bulk 1954-1977
Creator
- Harvard College Observatory (Organization)
Researcher access
Open for research with the following exceptions: Harvard University records are restricted for 50 years. Personnel and student records are closed for 80 years. Specific restrictions are noted at the folder level.
Extent
1.70 cubic feet (2 document boxes)3 photographs
The bulk of the records in this series document the Harvard College Observatory's management of the George R. Agassiz Station (Harvard, Massachusetts) and Boyden Observatory (Bloemfontein, South Africa) from 1954 to 1977, while Donald H. Menzel served as acting Director from 1952 to 1954 and Director from 1954 to 1966. Inventories, correspondence, and memoranda document the use and repair of instruments and telescopes at the George R. Agassiz Station, including the 61-inch Cassegrain Spectrograph, the 24-inch Bruce telescope, the Jewett telescope, and the 12-inch Achromatic Lens. Other records, including memoranda and correspondence, document the creation of the Chester S. Cook Memorial Gift, named for astronomer Chester S. Cook, to defray the expense of constructing and installing a telescope at the Agassiz Station. Boyden Observatory records, including correspondence and reports, reveal the Observatory's unsuccessful attempt to establish an observatory station in Chile, including transferring three Damon Three-Color Sky Patrol Cameras from the Boyden Observatory to Chile. Additionally, correspondence in the series documents the Observatory's efforts to modify the terms of the Uriah A. Boyden bequest beyond its initial goal of funding the construction of a mountain observatory to other initiatives to further astronomical research. Additional records, including proposals, expense reports, and correspondence, document the preparation of several solar eclipse expeditions undertaken by Menzel in the early 1970s, including to Africa (1973 June 10), Oaxaca, Mexico (1970 March 7), and Prince Edward Island, Canada (1972 July 10). Also, other records, including correspondence and proposals, document the construction of Building B at the Harvard College Observatory in 1960.
Astronomers George Richard Huguenin, Hector C. Ingrao, Francis A. Budreski and Donald H. Menzel are the principal correspondents in this series.
Historical note on the Harvard College Observatory
In 1839, the Harvard Corporation appointed William Cranch Bond, the first Astronomical Observer, to the University, thereby taking the first step in establishing the Harvard College Observatory, after which the first telescope was installed in 1847. Scholars and students had studied astronomy at Harvard since the seventeenth century, but it wasn't until a large comet sparked public interest in 1843 that donors began donating funds to build an observatory. During the tenure of the Harvard College Observatory's first three directors, William Cranch Bond (1839-1859), George Phillips Bond (1859-1865), and Joseph Winlock (1866-1875), the Observatory's research focused on lunar photography and chronometric activities. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, under the direction of Edward C. Pickering (1877-1919), research shifted from celestial mechanics and positional astronomy to astrophysics. As a result, the Observatory developed into a major research institution, focusing on photographic star surveys and spectroscopic analysis, culminating in the publication of the Henry Draper Catalogue, with spectroscopic classifications for 225,300 stars. During Pickering's tenure, many women astronomers, including Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Williamina Fleming, performed essential research at the Observatory.
During the next several years, the Observatory became an important astronomical training and research center. Harlow Shapley, director from 1921 to 1952, inaugurated a graduate study program in astronomy. Mandating that public education be a part of the Observatory's mission, Shapley required students in the Harvard program to present lectures on astronomy to public school children. Donald H. Menzel (1952-1966) arranged a cooperative relationship with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (founded in 1890) and its relocation to Cambridge in 1955. Financial support for the Observatory expanded under Leo Goldberg (1966-1970), and in 1973 George B. Field (1972-1983) created an administrative umbrella organization, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to coordinate the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory's programs. Today, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics continues studies in astronomy, Earth and space sciences, and science education, while the Harvard College Observatory supports Harvard's Department of Astronomy.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically.
Acquisition Information
- Transferred from the Harvard College Observatory, August 17, 1988; Accession 11501.
Processing Information
Correspondence from the Harvard College Observatory Office of the Director, 1919-1977, bulk 1954-1977, was processed in April 2024 by Dominic P. Grandinetti.
Processing included rehousing materials in appropriate containers and creating this finding aid.
Dates and titles supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.
Creator
- Harvard College Observatory (Organization)
- Title
- Harvard College Observatory. Correspondence from the Harvard College Observatory Office of the Director, 1919-1977, bulk 1954-1977 : an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hua13024
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.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu