Andrew Ellicott Douglass papers

Chiefly materials related to A.E. Douglass' astronomical and tree-ring research, and administration, at the Harvard College Observatory, Lowell Observatories, Steward Observatory, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, and University of Arizona. Includes scientific records; clippings; photographs of astronomical images, observatories, and tree-rings; typescripts of speeches and manuscripts; his published articles; reprints of articles by others; and lecture notes. Correspondence with other scientists includes William Henry Pickering, Percival Lowell, Godfrey Sykes, and Edmund Schulman. Personal correspondence is with his wife Ida Whittington Douglass, and other family members and friends. Drafts, proofs, and final editions, (1919-1936) from of his book .

Involvement with scientific organizations such as the Carnegie Institution, 1918-1938, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1919-1950, is documented; as are his scholarly contributions to conferences. Personal items cover his childhood and his student days at Trinity College, Hartford, 1885-1889; travels to other countries; and participation in numerous civic and Masonic groups. An unpublished biography of Douglass by David Brinegar is present. Photographs, mainly black-and-white, some cyanotype, depict professional and social activities, personal life, and travels. The South American photographs from the 1890s include Inca ruins in Bolivia, topical views of Chile, and the Harvard College Observatory in Arequipa, Peru. Over ninety 16mm and 35mm silent films, shot by Andrew Ellicott Douglass from 1929 to 1950, document Douglass’s research activities, as well as personal activities and travel. Films in box 182 have been placed in cold storage due to fragile condition.