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John C. Merriam Papers, 1899-1938

Title: John C. Merriam Papers 1899-1938

Paleontologist, educator, and author. Correspondence, articles, memoranda, notes, reports, speeches, drawings, maps, photographs, memorabilia, printed matter, and other materials mainly concerning Merriam's work as chairman of the National Research Council, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and regent of the Smithsonian Institution.

ArchivalResource: 70,000 items; 237 containers; 94.8 linear feet

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms013040 View

Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Papers of Frederic Eugene Wright, 1924-1961.

Title: Papers of Frederic Eugene Wright, 1924-1961.

The collection contains material ranging from correspondence to various types of research materials to clippings and reprints of articles of newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. The majority of the collection deals with the history of science and Wright's research of the physical features of the moon. The collection is composed of four sections in accordance with the types of sources: correspondence, manuscripts, research materials, and ephemera. The correspondence is contained in Box 1, while the manuscripts are housed in Boxes 1 and 2. Research materials occupy Boxes 2-5, divided into five sub-sections: unbound research materials, research materials in folders, bound research materials, photographs, and negatives. The Ephemera section is contained in Boxes 5 and 6. The items in each section and sub-section are placed in chronological order. Correspondence indicates the ways in which Wright advanced the research project of the Committee on Study of Surface Feature of Moon as well as in which he shaped his ideas and conducted his research in relation to other scholars; he asked other scholars research questions and was asked by them. Wright regularly corresponded with administrators at the Carnegie Institution, such as W.M. Gilbert and John Merriam, and the committee members in California, updating each other on the project. Also he communicated with other scholars in the field including R.A. Daly at Harvard, W.H. Pickering at an observatory in Jamaica, George Hale at the California Institute of Technology, Harlow Shapley at the Harvard College Observatory, C.P. Oliver at the University of Pennsylvania, Ernest Brown at Yale, Jesse L. Greenstein at the Harvard College Observatory, Otto Struve at the University of California, Berkeley, and Henry Norris Russell at Princeton. Manuscripts and research materials tell us exactly what Wright thought and did in terms of his research project. Manuscripts include the reports of the committee and drafts of talks he gave to various audiences. Research materials are a nice collection of research data (graphs and tables), research notes, and visual sources such as photographs and negatives. The ephemera section also contributes to tracing the trajectory of Wright's ideas, composed of clippings of articles regarding the moon from newspapers and magazines and reprints of his own published papers.

ArchivalResource: 865 items.6 boxes : plus 3 oversize folders.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/726873121 View

Pettit, Edison, 1889-1962. Papers of Edison Pettit, 1920-1969.

Title: Papers of Edison Pettit, 1920-1969.

The correspondence is chiefly with other astronomers in the United States and deals with astronomy in general including Pettit's work at Mount Wilson, telescopes and ultraviolet light research. The rest of the collection is made up of manuscripts, notes, notebooks and printed items. The majority of the manuscripts are by Edison Pettit (two are co-written with Seth Barnes Nicholson and there is one abstract by Harold D. Babcock). The manuscripts deal with astronomy including thermocouples, Pettit's ultraviolet research, the Sun, the Moon and telescope lenses. One notable manuscript is a rather lengthy typed manuscript with handwritten edits (facsimile copy) regarding the moon and which is probably written by Edison Pettit (but never published?). There are also miscellaneous notes related to astronomy in general and more specifically the moon and nebulae including galley proofs for the book Physics and astronomy of the Moon, edited by Zdenĕk Kopal. The twelve Nebular Photometry notebooks in boxes 8 and 9 were kept by Pettit while at work observing the sky. There are also three reprints of articles (one by Pettit). The albums in box 10 include one with photographs (nebulae) but the other three contain handwritten notes and lists kept by Pettit. The collection has several photographs scattered throughout the collection.

ArchivalResource: 3,348 items.10 boxes.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/709807680 View