Seares (Frederick Hanley) Papers, 1909-1945, bulk 1909-1940

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Summary

Title:
Frederick Hanley Seares Papers
Dates:
1909-1945, bulk 1909-1940
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers of Frederick Hanley Seares (1873-1964), a staff astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory known for his photometric studies and his editorial work.
Extent:
1 unit (Approximately 10,000 items in 21 boxes)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Frederick Hanley Seares Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of the correspondence files and manuscripts, notes, and notebooks of American astronomer Frederick Hanley Seares. While roughly one half of the papers deal with administrative matters of the Mount Wilson Observatory, the remainder cover his scientific work. There are also some manuscripts, notes and notebooks (Boxes 19-21) related to Seares's research activities.

Correspondents represented in the collection include: Walter S. Adams, Robert Grant Aitken, Edward Emerson Barnard, William Wallace Campbell, Gustav Fock, Edwin Brant Frost, Henry Gordon Gale, Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin, Walter M. Gilbert, George Ellery Hale, Ejnar Hertzprung, Edwin Powell Hubble, J.C. Kapteyn, Armin Otto Leuschner, C.E. Kenneth Mees, John C. Merriam, Charlotte Emma Moore, John Adelbert Parkhurst, Francis Gladheim Pease, Edward C. Pickering, P.J. van Rhijn, Frank E. Ross, Henry Norris Russell, Harlow Shapley, Joel Stebbins, Otto Struve, and Edwin Bidwell Wilson.

Corporate and organizational organizations represented in the collection include: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Carnegie Institution of Washington, William H. Guild & Company, International Astronomical Union, International Union for Co-operation in Solar Research, Mount Wilson Observatory and the University of Chicago Press.

Biographical / historical:
Contributions from the Mount Wilson [Solar] Observatory.Astronomical Society of the Pacific),Astrophysical Journal.Mount Wilson Catalogue of Photographic Magnitudes in Selected Areas 1-139, Catalogue Magnitudes and Colors of Stars North of +80°.
Dr. Seares's most important contributions to the science of astronomy pertain to the nature, brightness, and distribution of the stars. His investigations in these and allied subjects are fundamental, and in this field he is recognized as an outstanding authority.... His painstaking work in determining fundamental standards over the whole range of observable photographic magnitudes is recognized by photometric observers the world over as an achievement of the highest importance to astronomy. It was also in 1940 that Seares's wife passed away. Two years later, Seares married his long-time colleague at Mt. Wilson, Mary Joyner.
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 Huntington Library.
Processing information:

Cataloging of the papers was completed in 1989 prior to their transfer to the Huntington.

The descriptions list the folder number, folder title, years of material in the folder (when relevant), and the number of items in the folder (in brackets). If a further description of the folder contents is necessary, this will follow on the next line. If the word "folded" appears in the description, this indicates the presence of oversize materials in a folded condition.

Abbreviations used:
  1. c.ltr: copy of a letter
  2. EPH: Edwin Powell Hubble
  3. FHS: Frederick H. Seares
  4. GEH:George Ellery Hale
  5. incl.: includes
  6. ltr.: letter
  7. tlgrm: telegram
  8. WSA: Walter Sydney Adams
Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in the following series:

1. Correspondence, 1909-1945. (Boxes 1-18)

This series contains both incoming and carbons of outgoing correspondence. They are arranged in alphabetical order by correspondent.

2. Manuscripts, notes, and notebooks. (Boxes 19-21)

The manuscripts are arranged in alphabetical order by the first keyword in the title.

Seares's papers have been arranged, with only minor changes, according to the manner in which they had been found in the attic of Mt. Wilson.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Ronald S. Brashear, completed February 24, 1998; machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou in 1998; supplementary encoding and revision by Diann Benti in June 2017.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-06-16 14:39:34 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

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]. Frederick Hanley Seares 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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