Alfred Harrison Joy Papers

The collection consists of the professional papers of American astronomer Alfred Harrison Joy (1882-1973). It includes both incoming and copies of going correspondence (3 boxes) and research files (manuscripts, lectures, notebooks, etc.) related to Joy's study of stellar radial velocities, variable stars, T Tauri stars, and galactic structure.

Correspondents include: Helmut A. Abt, Ansel Adams, Robert Grant Aitken, George Ellery Hale, George Howard Herbig, Helen Sawyer Hogg, Gerard Peter Kuiper, Willem Jacob Luyten, Beverly T. Lynds, Paul W. Merrill, Thornton Page, Miroslav Plavec, Frederick Hanley Seares, and Alexander N. Vyssotsky. There is also an extensive amount of material related to Joy's involvement with the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in the collection.

Correspondence (Boxes 1-3)

The correspondence includes both incoming letters and outgoing carbon copies. They are arranged in folders alphabetically by named correspondent or subject. The correspondence files are listed alphabetically according to the last name of the correspondent or, in some cases, to the first word of the subject heading. If a particular correspondent has less than three items associated with him or her, then these have been placed in the "Miscellaneous Correspondence" files at the end. In the list for each file is noted the correspondent's name, the years covered by the letters, the number of items in the file, and any extra comments are in brackets below each entry.

Astronomical working papers (Boxes 4-6)

The working papers are arranged in folders alphabetically according to their subject.

Talks and papers (Box 7)

These are arranged in folders chronologically according to when they were given or published. Undated items are placed at the end of the series.

Society material (boxes 7-8)

This series contains printed programs of conferences and minutes of meetings for the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The folders are arranged chronologically within each society.

Photographs (Box 8)

There are a few folders at the end of Box 8 which contain three dozen photographs, mainly of stellar spectra.

Notebooks and reprints (Boxes 9-10)

This series contains various record and note books. Included here are his notes from Henry Norris Russell's classes and a list of his published papers. Includes one volume of bound reprints published by Joy in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1917-1932)