Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Harry Plaskett
1 of 2
- Date
- 10/2/1953
- Call number
- mssHUB 880
Manuscripts
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Manuscripts
The collection chiefly consists of the administrative, scientific, and personal correspondence of Walter S. Adams spanning the years 1921 to 1956, including his work during World War II. Adams and the observatory staff worked, in secret, with the U.S. government and helped create prisms and optics for various types of binoculars and gun sights; the staff also assisted with aerial and naval defense and attack strategy. There is also material from Adams' retirement years. The collection also contains manuscripts and photographs (some of which are of the B-29 bomber), also dealing with Adams' astronomical work.
mssAdamsw
Image not available
Manuscripts
The majority of the collection is made up of correspondence (364 items) between Theodore Dunham and various astronomers throughout the United States and England (and a couple other countries). Dunham and the other astronomers' research and work are the main topics of the letters. These subjects include: Dunham's work on stars (including our sun) and planets (Jupiter, Venus); biophysics; telescopes and lenses; and the Fund for Astrophysical Research. There is a folder with correspondence between Dunham, Harry Plaskett (Dunham's closest friend and astronomer at Oxford), and others regarding Dunham's attempt at doing his part during World War II. He contacts several people and institutions in England and Canada including the National Research Council in Ottawa looking for a position somewhere. This folder includes a copy of a letter by Dunham to Winston Churchill offering any assistance he can give to the war effort as well as copies of Dunham's "Summary of Scientific Work" (resume). The majority of the letters by Dunham are copies that he kept for his own records.
mssDunham papers
