Frederic Eugene Wright Papers: Finding Aid mssWright
Finding aid prepared by Go Oyagi, May 6, 2011.
The Huntington Library
May 2011
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on September 6, 2023, by Maggie Hughes.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Frederic Eugene Wright papers
Creator:
Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953.
Identifier/Call Number: mssWright
Physical Description:
3.71 Linear Feet
(7 boxes, 3 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1924-1961
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
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.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
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.
Scope and Contents
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.
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.
General
Former call number: mssWright papers.
Arrangement
Organized in the following series: correspondence, manuscripts, research materials, and
ephemera.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Astronomers -- Correspondence
Astronomical observatories -- California -- Wilson, Mount
(Mountain)
Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century --
Sources
Astronomy -- Research
Lunar geology
Moon.
Moon -- Photographs
Moon -- Surface
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Research (document genres) -- 20th century
Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956
Brown, Ernest W. (Ernest William), 1866-1938
Daly, Reginald Aldworth, 1871-1957
Greenstein, Jesse L. (Jesse Leonard), 1909-2002
Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974
Merriam, John C. (John Campbell), 1869-1945
Oliver, Charles P.
Pickering, William H. (William Henry), b. 1858
Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957
Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972
Struve, Otto, 1897-1963
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Mount Wilson Observatory -- History --
Sources
Mount Wilson Observatory. Committee on Study of the Surface Features
of the Moon
Box 1
Correspondence and manuscripts
Box 1, Folder 1
1924-1925. Correspondence. 11 items.
Box 1, Folder 2
1926. Correspondence. 27 items.
Box 1, Folder 3
1927, Jan.-June. Correspondence. 26 items.
Box 1, Folder 4
1927, July-Dec. Correspondence. 31 items.
Box 1, Folder 5
1928, Jan.-June. Correspondence. 24 items.
Box 1, Folder 6
1928, Aug.-Dec. Correspondence. 20 items.
Box 1, Folder 7
1929. Correspondence. 22 items.
Box 1, Folder 8
1930. Correspondence. 33 items.
Box 1, Folder 9
1931, Jan.-Apr. Correspondence. 23 items.
Box 1, Folder 10
1931, May-Aug. Correspondence. 33 items.
Box 1, Folder 11
1931, Sep.-Dec. Correspondence. 13 items.
Box 1, Folder 12
1932-1933. Correspondence. 18 items.
Box 1, Folder 13
1934-1937. Correspondence. 32 items.
Box 1, Folder 14
1938-1940. Correspondence. 22 items.
Box 1, Folder 15
1943-1953. Correspondence. 27 items.
Box 1, Folder 16
Undated. Correspondence. 4 items.
Box 1, Folder 17
1927. Committee on Study of Surface Feature of Moon. Schedule for Winter
1927- 1928. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 18
c. 1927. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Talk on polarization of
moon light. 2 items.
Box 1, Folder 19
c. 1927. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Untitled talk. 1
item.
Box 1, Folder 20
1930, Nov. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Notes on Progress of
Work by Committee on Study of Surface Features of Moon. 2 items.
Box 1, Folder 21
1931, Oct. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Notes on Progress of
Work by Committee on Study of Surface Features of Moon. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 22
1931. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization of sun's rays
on reflection by the moon. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 23
c. 1933. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization of Sun's
Rays Reflected by the moon. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 24
c. 1934. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The characteristic curve
of photographic plates. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 25
1961. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The Surface of the Moon. 1
item.
Box 1, Folder 26
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. A few of the problems
that confront us in the study of the moon's surface. 1 item.
Box 1, Folder 27
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Identification of rocks
by reflected light. 4 items.
Box 2
Manuscripts and research materials
Box 2, Folder 1
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The measurement of the
polarization of the moon's rays by means of the new polarization photometer eyepiece.
1 item.
Box 2, Folder 2
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The measurement of the
polarization of the moon's rays by use of the new polarization photometer eyepiece. 1
item.
Box 2, Folder 3
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The percentage
polarization in moonlight. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 4
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Percentage Polarization
of Moon Light at Different Phases of the Moon. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 5
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The Polarization of
light by reflection from rough, non-polished surface. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 6
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization of light by
reflection from rough rock surface, with special reference to the materials exposed at
the Moon's surface. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 7
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The polarization of
moonlight at different phases of the moon. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 8
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Rock determinations by
reflected light. 3 items.
Box 2, Folder 9
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. The Surface Feature of
the Moon. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 10
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Draft of a letter to
"Mr. Schooley." With some research note. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 11
1927-1934. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization
Photometer Eyepiece. 19 items.
Box 2, Folder 12
1928. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Notes on Lunar Crating. 3
items.
Box 2, Folder 13
c. 1920s. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Lunar radiation.
Including 1 copy of an article by other authors. 22 items.
Box 2, Folder 14
1933-1937. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization of
moonbeams. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 15
1936[?]. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization
Measurements. 17 items.
Box 2, Folder 16
c. 1930s. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Percentage of
polarization. 15 items.
Box 2, Folder 17
c. 1930s-1940s. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Lunar atmosphere.
Including 3 copies of articles by other authors. 12 items.
Box 2, Folder 18
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Classification of
Physiographic Features on Face of the Moon. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 19
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Compound Polarizing
Prisms. 31 items.
Box 2, Folder 20, Folder Oversize 1
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Miscellaneous research
materials. Including 23 oversized materials. 41 items.
Box 2, Folder 21
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon-Historical
Notebook. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 22
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Notes on the
Polarization of Moon's Rays. 3 items.
Box 2, Folder 23
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization Data
Notebook, Vol. 1. 1 item.
Box 2, Folder 24
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization Data
Notebook, Vol. 2. 1 item.
Box 3, Folder 1
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization Data
Notebook, Vol. 3, No. 1. 1 item.
Box 3, Folder 2
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Polarization Data
Notebook, Vol. 3, No. 2. 1 item.
Box 3, Folder 3
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Projection Charts
Chiefly Moon. 13 items.
Box 3, Folder 4
1934. Polarization of moonbeams folder. 10 items.
Box 3, Folder 5
Undated. Moon Photographs and Diagrams folder. 46 items.
Box 3, Folder 6, Folder Oversize 2
Undated. Untitled folder. Including 5 oversized items. 40 items.
Box 3, Folder 7
1933. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Polarization. 1
item.
Box 3, Folder 8
1934. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Visual Means. 1
item.
Box 3, Folder 9
1935. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Visual Measurements. 1
item.
Box 4, Folder 1
1935. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Visual Terrestrial
Materials. 1 item.
Box 4, Folder 2
1936. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Visual. 1
item.
Box 4, Folder 3
1936-1937. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Visual Measurements on
Terrestrial Materials. 1 item.
Box 4, Folder 4
1937. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon. 1 item.
Box 4, Folder 5
1938. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Moon Photographs. 1
item.
Box 4, Folder 6
Undated. Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953. Conversion Tables:
Spherical Coordinates to Transverse Coordinates. 1 item.
Box 4, Folder 7, Folder Oversize 3
Undated. Moon Model Photographs. Including 3 oversized photographs. 7
items.
Box 4, Folder 8
Undated. Moon Photographs from 1888-1890. With 3 notes. 10 items
Box 5
Research materials and ephemera
Conditions Governing Access
RESTRICTED: Box 5: housed in cold storage; extended retrieval and delivery time
required.
Box 5, Folder 1
1926. Map of Moon Karel Andel. 1 item.
Box 5, Folder 2
1936, Feb. Lunar crater shadows projections. Hemisphere. 2 items.
Box 5, Folder 3
Undated. Frequency Distribution Lunar Crates. 3 items.
Box 5, Folder 4
Undated. Great circle on globe orthographic projection Pole afg=30 s=75. 1
item.
Box 5, Folder 5
Undated. H12 Mt. Wilson Observatory Zo 20 cf. 1925 Central Eastern portion. 1
item.
Box 5, Folder 6
Undated. Lunar craters. 7 items.
Box 5, Folder 7
Undated. Lunar perspective projection azimuthal d=69.3 mm. 1
item.
Box 5, Folder 8
Undated. Lunar perspective projection (polar) a=69.3 mm. 1 item.
Box 5, Folder 9
Undated. Lunar Polarization. Polarization: Terrestrial Materials. 26
items.
Box 5, Folder 10
Undated. Negatives of the moon. With a note and envelope. 10
items.
Box 5, Folder 11
Undated. Projectiles on Moon. 5 items.
Box 5, Folder 12
Undated. Projection charts. Stereographic doubles. 3 items.
Box 5, Folder 13
Undated. Relative size of moon and Earth. 1 item.
Box 5, Folder 14
Undated. Tangent method for ascertaining heights of Lunar mts. Hevelius
selenographia. 1 item.
Box 5, Folder 15
Undated. Untitled negatives. 4 items.
Box 7
Research materials and ephemera
Box 7, Folder 1
1925-1929. References to moon articles and clippings. 10 items.
Box 7, Folder 2
c. 1920s-1930s. Newspaper/Magazine Clippings, No.1. 12 items.
Box 7, Folder 3
c. 1930s. Newspaper/Magazine Clippings, No.2. 25 items.
Box 7, Folder 4
c. 1930s. Newspaper/Magazine Clippings, No. 3. 16 items.
Box 7, Folder 5
c. 1930s-1960. Newspaper/Magazine Clippings, No.4. 9 items.
Box 7, Folder 6
1927-1953. Reprints of Articles by F. E. Wright. 7 items.
Box 6, Folder 1
c. 1927-1961. Reprints of Articles by Other Authors. 11 items.
Box 6, Folder 2
Undated. Goodacre, No. 1. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 3
Undated. Goodacre, No. 2. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 4
Undated. Goodacre, No. 3. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 5
Undated. Goodacre, No. 4. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 6
Undated. Goodacre, No. 5. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 7
Undated. Goodacre, No. 6. 1 item.
Box 6, Folder 8
1927-1940. Bills/Receipts. 12 items.
