Papers of Joanne Simpson, 1890-2010 (inclusive), 1950-1995 (bulk)

Collection includes articles and papers written by Simpson, work journals, personal and professional photographs, and other biographical material documenting the work and personal life of meteorologist and atmospheric scientist Joanne Simpson. Her professional papers and work notebooks detail the thought processes and product of a meteorologist. Researchers interested in the development of concepts and experiments will find meticulous notes kept throughout Simpson's career, illustrating her evolution of ideas, experimentation, and results, often revisiting concepts. Simpson's four volumes of bound papers (#7.1v-8.2v) cover her writing and findings throughout her career, results she shared through professional publications and mainstream journals. Upon agreement to donate her papers to the Schlesinger Library, Simpson attempted to explain and detail her work and life through narratives she wrote, which accompanied her regular deliveries of papers to the library over a twenty-year period. These narratives can be found throughout all four series, explaining the material sent, whether it was professional or personal, as well as describing the background. Simpson was aware that the contributions she had made to her field were highlighted through articles, papers, and her notebooks, however, she also attempted to document her personal life in these narratives as well. She also spent a great deal of time captioning each photograph included in the collection. Electronic records were received in 6 DVDs. DVDs were imaged using FTK imager. Selected data has been converted to PDF/A for preservation and delivery.

Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online.

Series I, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL, 1926-2010 (#1.1-2.1, E.1-E.2) includes correspondence; narratives of Simpson's family history and her personal relationships; a travel diary of Southeast Asia, India, Middle East, Egypt, and Eastern Mediterranean trip from 2001; and obituary and tribute articles upon Simpson's death. Additional material received as electronic files will be reformatted at some future date. Folder titles were created by the archivist. Folders are listed in alphabetical order by subject and chronologically within.

Series II, PROFESSIONAL, 1945-2007 (#2.2-9.1, 19F+B.1m - 19F+B.4m, F+D.1), includes four bound volumes of Simpson's scientific papers and articles covering research results, surveys, reviews, and analysis of progress on projects, a majority of which were published in peer-reviewed journals and a small amount from multi-disciplinary media. Her earlier papers were authored under the name Joanne Starr Malkus, and after 1964 as Joanne Simpson. She compiled her honors and awards into files (1960s and 1970s) and a notebook (1980s and 1990s), which includes clippings, photographs, correspondence, and event programs. Simpson also compiled scrapbooks throughout her career, which include clippings, photographs, press releases, etc., about projects from the 1950s to 1970s. Her dissertation for a meteorology PhD (1949); interview transcripts re: her career as a women scientist and exit interview from NASA; project files; and lesson plans for college courses she taught on meteorology and oceanography in the 1960s at UCLA are also included in this series. Simpson contributed material to a traveling exhibition on women in science that ran from 1985 to 1995 ("Women in Science," later renamed "My Daughter the Scientist") which included not only work-related material such as a model of a waterspout cloud and a dummy silver iodide flare, but also her pointe ballet shoes from her time studying ballet as an adult. This exhibition material, as well as exhibition text and correspondence, can be found in this series. Original folder titles are listed in quotations, while the rest were created by the archivist. Folders are listed in alphabetical order by subject and chronologically within.

Series III, WORK NOTEBOOKS, 1947-2006 (#9.2-18.11, E.3) includes notebooks kept throughout Simpson's career, beginning with the development of her Ph.D. dissertation and followed by documentation of research ideas and results of experiments. These notebooks also include staff meeting notes taken while working at Goddard Space Flight Center, speech drafts, and notes from lectures attended. Simpson wrote in these notebooks almost daily, recording then discarding ideas, often re-reading her notebooks after more experience was gained or a discussion with a colleague, revisiting rejected ideas. This type of revisiting situation occurred often during her work with the GATE project. Simpson's narratives regarding these projects are invaluable; she wrote in-depth descriptions of her career, projects, as well as explanations for her first grouping of notebooks (1947-1957). This narrative is in #9.2. Original folder titles are listed in quotations. When possible, folder descriptions were supplemented using Simpson's narrative. The notebooks are arranged in chronological order, following the narrative.

Series IV, PHOTOGRAPHS AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL, 1890-2001 (#PD.1-PD.20, T-428.1 - T-428.2, MP-35.1) includes photographs of Simpson with brother Dan (aka "Jerry") as children; with her parents, husbands, children, friends, and co-workers; receiving awards; participating in flight missions for experiments; etc. For a majority of the photographs, Simpson has written captions either on the reverse side or provided a separate document, listing of photograph numbers with their captions. A number of the early photographs were removed by Simpson from mother Virginia Vaughan Gerould's albums. Transcripts of the audiotapes can be found in Series II (#3.5). The motion picture illustrates Simpson's flying missions to view cloud formations. Folders are arranged by format. Original folder titles are in quotes.