Frederic Eugene Wright papers, 1924-1961

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Summary

Creators:
Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953.
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of American optician and geophysicist Frederic Eugene Wright (1877-1953), who served as the chair of the "Committee on Study of Surface Feature of Moon" of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The majority of the collection deals with the history of science and Wright's research of the physical features of the moon.
Extent:
3.71 Linear Feet (7 boxes, 3 oversize folders)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Frederic Eugene Wright papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This 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, including some taken by Charles A. Lindbergh, 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.

Biographical / historical:

Frederic Eugene Wright (1877-1953) was an eminent optician and geophysicist. His various specialties included the physical features of the surface of the moon, and in 1925, he was appointed the chair of the "Committee on Study of Surface Feature of Moon" of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. In addition to Wright, the committee consisted of W. S. Adams and F. G. Pease (Mt. Wilson Observatory), A. L. Day (Geophysical Laboratory of the Institution), John P. Buwalda and Paul S. Epstein (California Institute of Technology), and W. W. Campbell (Lick Observatory). Wright remained at the Carnegie Institution until his retirement in 1944. At the time of his death, he was considered the foremost authority on the Moon.

Acquisition information:
Deposit, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington Collection, 1988. Approximately fifty additional separate collections form the Mount Wilson Papers of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and are available for research in the Manuscripts Department of the Huntington Library.
Processing information:

Processed by Go Oyagi in May 2011. In March 2023, transparencies in box 5 were moved to cold storage; Maggie Hughes updated the finding aid to reflect that the non-photographic material formerly in box 5 was moved to box 7.

Arrangement:

Organized in the following series: correspondence, manuscripts, research materials, and ephemera.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

RESTRICTED: Box 5: housed in cold storage; extended retrieval and delivery time required.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Frederic Eugene Wright papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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