Guide to the Hamilton Moore Jeffers papers
MS.262
Alix Norton
University of California, Santa Cruz
2016
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Hamilton Moore Jeffers papers
creator:
Jeffers, Hamilton Moore
Identifier/Call Number: MS.262
Physical Description:
3.6 Linear Feet
5 half cartons, 1 document box, 1 half document box
Date (inclusive): 1895-1975
Access
Collection is open for research.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into six series:
- 1. Correspondence
- 2. Research
- 3. Personal
- 4. Student notebooks
- 5. Air Force materials
- 6. Photographs
Materials within each series are arranged in chronological order, unless otherwise specified.
Biographical / Historical
Hamilton Moore Jeffers was an astronomer and astrometrist born in 1893 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He earned both his A.B.
degree in 1917 and his Ph.D. degree in astronomy in 1921 from the University of California, Berkeley. After earning his Ph.D.,
Jeffers was appointed as an instructor of astronomy at the State University of Iowa, and stayed there for almost three years.
In 1924 he accepted an offer as Assistant Astronomer at the Lick Observatory, where he had completed much of his graduate
work while a student at Berkeley. Jeffers became a full astronomer in 1938, and remained at Lick until his retirement in 1961.
He is known for his work in positional astronomy and for his use of the meridian circle, and was mainly interested in observations
of minor planets, comets, and double stars. Jeffers contributed to the observatory’s Index Catalogue of Visual Double Stars,
published in 1963, collaborating with W.H. van den Bos to list over 64,000 instances of double stars. During World War II,
Jeffers left the Lick Observatory to serve in the war, first at the radiation laboratory at MIT, then as operations analyst
for the Army Air Forces in Alaska and India. In 1950, Jeffers married Bobbe de Vore, a secretary at the Lick Observatory.
He lived in Carmel, California, near his brother, poet Robinson Jeffers, and photographer Ansel Adams. Jeffers retired in
1961, and died in 1976 in Carmel, California.
Preferred Citation
Hamilton Moore Jeffers papers. MS 262. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa
Cruz.
Related Materials
Additional Jeffers correspondence from 1917-1956 can be found in Series 1 of the Lick Observatory records:
Scope and Content
This collection documents the work of Hamilton Moore Jeffers, an astronomer who spent much of his career at the Lick Observatory.
Materials include his professional and personal correspondence, some research notes, personal and family photographs, class
notes from his student work at the University of California at Berkeley, and reports and correspondence from his time as an
operations analyst in the Air Force during World War II.
Publication Rights
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use
for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions,
and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit
guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Astronomy
Lick Observatory
Jeffers, Hamilton Moore
Jeffers, Hamilton Moore
Correspondence
1924-1975
Arrangement
Materials are arranged alphabetically by last name or by first letter of last name of the correspondent.
Scope and Contents
This series contains Jeffers' professional correspondence throughout his career in astronomy.
Box 1, Folder 10-12
Hertzsprung, Ejnar
1937-1965
Box 2, Folder 1
International Astronomical Union (IAU)
1960-1975
Box 2, Folder 8
McLaughlin, Dean
1940-1941
Box 2, Folder 12
National Science Foundation (NSF)
1954-1962
Box 3, Folder 3
Potwin, Leslie G.
1940-1944
Box 3, Folder 6
Roemer, Elizabeth
1956-1960
Box 3, Folder 9
Schlesinger, Frank
1930-1936
Box 4, Folder 1
Vinter Hansen, Julie
1936-1958
Research
1931-1975
Scope and Contents
This series includes Jeffers' research notes as well as correspondence, reports, reprints, and other collected material on
Jeffers' work on various projects, such as comets, double stars, and Mars.
Box 4, Folder 9
"Observations for the International Longitude Operation"
1933
Box 4, Folder 10
Lick Observatory work
1936-1960
Scope and Contents
includes annual reports
Box 4, Folder 13
Scale Value 36"
1954-1957
Box 4, Folder 14
Miscellaneous subject files
1931-1975
Scope and Contents
Includes reprints, clippings, articles, and other collected research materials on a variety of topics.
Box 5, Folder 4
Jeffers family estate
1920-1960
Scope and Contents
Includes information on the Jeffers estate, trust, and Hamilton's will, and information on Anna McCord.
Box 5, Folder 5
Foreign trips
1938-1959
Scope and Contents
Includes materials from Jeffers' 1958 trip to Chile and Peru.
Box 5, Folder 6
Pilot's kit, licenses
1940-1973
Box 5, Folder 8
Lick Observatory employment
1947-1958
Box 5, Folder 9
Carmel house plans, blueprints
undated
Box 5, Folder 10
Hansen's General Perturbations
1920
Box 5, Folder 11
Mathematics - Special functions
1920
Box 6, Folder 1-3
Air Force materials
1943-1952
Scope and Contents
This series includes reports, photographs, notes, and correspondence related to Jeffers' time as an operations analyst in
the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.
Box 6, Folder 4-7
Photographs
circa 1895-1965 and undated
Scope and Contents
This series contains photographic prints, including portraits, and some negatives. Photographs mainly portray Jeffers and
his family; views of the family homes, gardens, and pets; and Jeffers' work at Lick Observatory and during his time in the
Air Force during World War II.
