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McEwen (George F.) Papers
SMC 0021
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: George F. McEwen Papers
Creator:
McEwen, George F. (George Francis), 1882-1972
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0021
Physical Description:
8.8 Linear feet
(22 archives boxes, 1 wooden instrument box, and 1 map case folder)
Date (inclusive): 1897-1961
Abstract: Papers of physical oceanographer George McEwen, including a small amount of material documenting early days at the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography and the first series of Pan-Pacific scientific congresses.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
George F. McEwen (1882-1972) was a physical oceanographer who began his academic career at the Scripps Institution in 1912
(that year, it was formally transferred to The Regents of the University of California as the Scripps Institution for Biological
Research, later to become the Scripps Institution of Oceanography). His papers include a selection of his correspondence,
research and subject files, reports, professional organization files, material on early Pan-Pacific science congresses, manuscripts,
weather forecasting data, and calculations. It includes substantial but by no means complete documentation of McEwen's research
in hydrography and meteorology, including hydrographic data on Alaska dated 1927-1929, and annual reports on McEwen's research
dated 1919-1934 compiled for the director of Scripps and the President of the University of California. The collection also
includes some of McEwen's seasonal weather forecasts dated 1924-1936, along with other lectures and scientific papers. The
bulk of the correspondence is dated from 1919-1936, when McEwen undertook extensive calculations on ocean currents and prepared
long-range weather forecasts, exchanging letters with representatives of federal agencies, including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Weather
Service, and Department of Agriculture. Writings and correspondence from collaborators N. W. Cummings and Polish scientist
Wladyslaw Gorczyński may also be found in the collection. Some of the data in the collection predate McEwen's tenure at Scripps;
for example, the logbook "University of California San Pedro record of stations occupied, 1901" was compiled by UC scientists
at San Pedro station, where William Ritter conducted summer biological laboratories before establishing a permanent marine
station in San Diego. Early documentation of academics at the Scripps Institution include course lists and curriculum materials
describing lectures and offerings. McEwen kept voluminous documentation of his 1926 trip to Japan for the 3rd Pan-Pacific
Science Congress, in Tokyo, including travel ephemera and scientific programs.
Arranged in 7 series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESSES, 4) RESEARCH, 5) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
& SIO, 6) ORGANIZATIONS, and 7) WORKS BY OTHERS.
For a biographical sketch of George McEwen, please see the University of California's 1975
In Memorium profile.
George F. McEwen Papers. SMC 21. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1981-1988, 2008
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
The original SIO Archivist noted, in the early 1980s, that the McEwen papers did not arrive at the Library with any meaningful
existing order. The bulk of the material had been stored in the attic of Ritter Hall. The papers were originally processed
by keeping McEwen's few larger groupings of research materials (such as mathematical tables and tide calculations) together,
and imposing a standard order by genre/format on the rest of the collection. In 2022, all loose unprocessed McEwen accessions
were folded into the main collection, the material was re-appraised, and the existing series tightened up with enhanced folder
titles for an EAD finding aid.
All of the collections cited below are held by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
SIO Biographical Files (SAC 5): Includes eleven folders of McEwen correspondence and other papers dated 1912-1971.
SIO Subject Files (SAC 6): Includes documentation of McEwen's 1936-1939 project to compile oceanographic data for the U.S.
Hydrographic Office at Long Beach.
Tillie Genter Papers (SMC 30) and the SIO Photographs Collection (SMC 59) include several photographs of McEwen.
McEwen correspondence can also be found in the papers of several of McEwen's colleagues and students including the Nephi Willard
Cummings Papers (accession 88-4), the Wladyslaw Gorczynski Papers (accession 88-11). and the Ellis LeRoy Michael Papers (accession
88-3).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Weather forecasting
Hydrography
Meteorologists -- United States -- Correspondence
McEwen, George F. (George Francis), 1882-1972 -- Archives
Gorczyński, Władysław, 1879-1953 -- Archives
Sverdrup, H. U. (Harald Ulrik), 1888-1857 -- Correspondence
Vaughan, Thomas Wayland, 1870-1952
Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- Faculty -- Archives
Pan-Pacific Scientific Conference (1st : 1920 : Honolulu, Hawaii)
Pan-Pacific Science Congress (3rd : 1926 : Tokyo, Japan)
Pacific Science Congress (4th : 1929 Jakarta, Indonesia; Bandung, Indonesia)
Pacific Science Congress (5th : 1933 : Victoria, B.C.; Vancouver, B.C.)