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COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.25

Records of the Harvard College Observatory kept by Willard Peabody Gerrish

Overview

Willard Peabody Gerrish (1866-1951) was an assistant professor of astronomy at the Harvard College Observatory, where he worked under Edward Charles Pickering and, later, Harlow Shapley, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The records contain three volumes of letterbooks, booklets, blueprints, and correspondence dating from 1887 to 1939. The correspondence is between the Harvard College Observatory and other Harvard University departments, companies, and observatories on the topics of repair expences, the purchasing of goods, designing a turret, building an observatory dome, and other business affairs.

Dates

  • Creation: 1887-1939

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Extent

1.59 cubic feet (3 flat boxes, 3 folders, 2 document boxes, 1 half-document box)

The Records of the Harvard College Observatory, kept by Observatory employee Willard Peabody Gerrish, contain three volumes of letterbooks, booklets, blueprints, and correspondence dating from 1887 to 1939. The correspondence is between the Harvard College Observatory and other Harvard University departments, companies, and observatories on the topics of repair expenses, the purchasing of goods, designing a turret, building an observatory dome, and other business affairs. Most of letters were sent and received by W.P. Gerrish, though some correspondence was sent or received by astronomers Harlow Shapley, Edward Charles Pickering, Solon Irving Bailey, Leonard Waldo, Donald Menzel, scientist Fletcher Watson, F.C. Garrick, and Sybil Chubb.

Biographical Note on Willard Peabody Gerish

Willard Peabody Gerrish (1866-1951), astronomer, was born on August 31, 1866 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Gerrish graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1887 and married Mary (Wylie) Gerrish in 1896. He was an assistant professor of astronomy at the Harvard College Observatory, where he worked under Edward Charles Pickering and, later, Harlow Shapley, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gerrish was placed in charge of photographic work because of his ability to devise improved instrumentation. Gerrish was a sportsman and outdoorsman, and was a co-founder of the Camp Ossipee Association in 1893, which promoted outdoor sports and the natural sciences. He died on November 10, 1951.

Historical Note on 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), much of the Observatory’s research focused on lunar photography and chronometric activities to establish American longitude and to operate a time service for the United States government and commercial interests. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, under the direction of Edward C. Pickering (1877-1919), research shifted from celestial mechanics and positional astronomy to astrophysics. The Observatory developed into a major research institution, focusing on photographic star surveys, spectroscopic analysis, and culminating in 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.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

  1. Correspondence, 1910-1939
  2. Letterbooks, 1887-1897

Related Materials

The Harvard University Archives also holds Records of the Harvard College Observatory, 1877-1892 (UAV 630.377) and Records of the Harvard College Observatory : Photographs, 1887-approximately 1930? and undated (UAV 630.271).

Processing Information

This collection was proceesd by Jiin Park in November 2019. Processing included physical re-housing of materials and the creation of this finding aid. Additional updates were made by Olivia Mandica-Hart in January 2020 and June 2021.

Title
Records of the Harvard College Observatory kept by Willard Peabody Gerrish, 1887-1939: an inventory
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua27019

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.

Contact:
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461