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Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers: Finding Aid
mssMount Wilson legal papers
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Title: Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1903-1938
Collection Number: mssMount Wilson legal papers
Creator:
Mount Wilson Observatory.
Extent: 84 items in 1 box
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers comprise one box of material relating to
the founding, construction, and operation of the institution dating from 1903 to
1939.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
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.
Founded in December 1904 by George Ellery Hale and funded by the Carnegie
Institution, the Mount Wilson Observatory quickly became one of the 20th century’s
major astronomical research centers. Located just north of Los Angeles high atop the
San Gabriel Mountains, the observatory took full advantage of Southern California’s
clear nights and uniquely steady air. The observatory’s 60” telescope completed in
1908 was the largest then in existence. In 1917, another Mount Wilson telescope,
100” in diameter, claimed that title.
Hale was joined at Mount Wilson by a gifted group of earlier astrophysicists. Walter
Adams, George Willis Ritchey, Francis Pease, Ferdinand Ellerman, and Edwin Hubble
studied at the observatory, making important discoveries concerning sunspots, the
composition of stars, and the architecture of the universe.
The Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers comprise one box of material relating to
the founding, construction, and operation of the institution dating from 1903 to
1939. The bulk of the papers are legal documents: deeds, leases, utility contracts,
and permits. Two folders contain documents relating to legal actions taken against
Mount Wilson and the Carnegie Institution. Also included are three letters from John
D. Hooker, a Los Angeles industrialist, philanthropist, and founder of the
California Academy of Science, announcing his donation to fund the 100” telescope
that would bear his name. Other participants include George Ellery Hale, Walter S.
Adams and Francis G. Pease.
The papers are arranged alphabetically according to the
person, company, or institution that created them.
Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956.
- Author in George Ellery Hale, 1868-1938 and Evelina C. Hale items to Mount Wilson Observatory. Box 1 (8).
Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), b. 1881
- Author in Mount Wilson Observatory letter to Strong & Dickenson. Box 1 (15).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Carnegie Institution of
Washington.
Mount Wilson
Observatory.
Mount Wilson
Observatory -- History -- Sources.
Astronomical observatories -- California
-- Wilson, Mount (Mountain)
Astronomy -- United States -- History
-- 20th century -- Sources.
Telescopes -- Design and construction
-- History -- Sources.
Los Angeles (Calif.) --
History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Legal documents -- United States --
20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States -- 20th century.
Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney),
1876-1956.
Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938.
Hooker, John D. (John Daggett),
1838-1911.
Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), b.
1881.
Carnegie Institution of Washington.