Reference Request
Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Accession 07-137
DeVorkin, David H., 1944-
David H. DeVorkin Papers, circa 1979-2002
Collection Overview
General Information About This Collection | |
---|---|
Repository: | Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu. |
Creator: | DeVorkin, David H., 1944- |
Title: | David H. DeVorkin Papers |
Dates: | circa 1979-2002 |
Quantity: | 3 cu. ft. (3 record storage boxes) |
Collection: | Accession 07-137 |
Language of Materials: | English |
Summary: | This accession consists of materials documenting the professional activities of David H. DeVorkin, Curator of Astronomy, National Air and Space Museum. Materials primarily document DeVorkin's editing of a book for the National Geographic Society titled "Beyond Earth: Mapping the Universe," preparation of his own books and manuscripts such as the "Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in the Stratosphere," and his involvement in the American Astronomical Society (AAS), especially the Historical Astronomy Division. Materials include correspondence and memoranda; research materials such as photocopied news articles, chronologies, biographies, logs, and artifact information sheets; manuscripts by DeVorkin as well as manuscripts for the book he edited; images; permissions; notes; exhibition proposals; and AAS newsletters, meeting agendas, correspondence, and notes. |
Descriptive Entry
This accession consists of materials documenting the professional activities of David H. DeVorkin, Curator of Astronomy, National Air and Space Museum. Materials primarily document DeVorkin's editing of a book for the National Geographic Society titled Beyond Earth: Mapping the Universe, preparation of his own books and manuscripts such as the Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in the Stratosphere, and his involvement in the American Astronomical Society (AAS), especially the Historical Astronomy Division (HAD). Materials include correspondence and memoranda; research materials such as photocopied news articles, chronologies, biographies, logs, and artifact information sheets; manuscripts by DeVorkin as well as manuscripts for the book he edited; images; permissions; notes; exhibition proposals; and AAS newsletters, meeting agendas, correspondence, and notes.
Restrictions
Access RestrictionUntil the death of the Donor, SIA will notify the Donor prior to, or within 7 days after, the materials have been accessed for reseach. Contact reference staff for details.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- American Astronomical Society
- American Astronomical Society. Historical Astronomy Division
- Beyond Earth: mapping the universe (Monograph)
- DeVorkin, David H., 1944-
- National Air and Space Museum (U.S.)
- National Geographic Society (U.S.)
- Race to the stratosphere: manned scientific ballooning in the stratosphere (Monograph : 1989)
Subject
- Aeronautical museums
- Astronautical museums
- Astronomy
- Book editors
- Exhibitions
- Exhibitions
- Museum exhibits
- Professional associations
- Publications
- Science -- History
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 07-137, David H. DeVorkin Papers
Container List
Box 1
Balloon Book, Research Notes, Edited Drafts, Piccard Papers
Century of Progress - Letters and handwritten notes, many dealing with Piccard
Kepner bio - Two biographical documents
National Geographic Society (NGS) Notes - Handwritten notes and photocopied letters
Collage - Photocopied clippings about balloons
Stratosphere Balloon Clippings - All photocopied
Salt Lake Tribune - Photocopied article about Balloonist's account
New York Times - Short photocopied article about launching rockets from balloons
Photos for Collage Miscellaneous Selections - Short photocopied article from the Butler County Newspaper
Washington Post - Short photocopied article on Army Balloon
Chicago Daily News - Short article with pictures
Balloon Sources, Resources - Newsletter
Balloon Correspondence 1993 - Letters and newsletter
Winker- Ballooning - Letters
John Irwin photos - Letters
Print Requests Completed - Lists of materials to be photographed and photocopied materials
Greenstein-Concept for Spectrograph - Reproduction of information on the V-2 rocket (equations, diagrams, notes)
Regener Pfotzer max TBX - Photocopied material in German and English
Regener Balloon Spectra-TBC - Articles in German and English
Meisinger-Balloons and Meteorology - Parts 1 and 2 of Meisinger Biographical Tribute with an Assessment of His Contributions to Meteorology by John M. Lewis
Rapid City Paper - Photocopied clippings
Project Helios ONR Files - Chronology of project Helios file, photocopied letters, and index cards
Balloons vs. Rockets Helios - Photocopied letters and documents about stratolab
Source for Photographing Woodcut of Croce-Spinelli making Spectroscopic observations of the Sun - Page of 1978 Frankfurt newspaper with pictures of balloons and a few articles
Piccard Article 2/13/1990 - Drafts of Piccard manuscript for Air and Space and letters to and from Air and Space
Miscellaneous Folder - Notes for conclusion Why We Went to the Moon and notes taken in LA and Explorer Notes March 1988 and beyond
Jeannette Piccard - Detroit Log - Copy of original log of Jeannette Piccard
Piccard Notes P-47
Xerox of Complete Poppenhusen File in Piccard Archives (1933-late 1934)
Chicago Museum letter - Piccard Family Papers 1920s-1937 - Many photocopied letters
Library of Congress (LC) Manuscripts Division - Piccard Family Papers 1945 - On "Helios" lots of photocopied material (mainly letters)
For Translation - Letters in French to A. Piccard
Library Work Pending - News clipping about the book New Lands, New Men, notes, and copy of The Physical Review, Vol. 50, No. 4 about Cloud chamber observations of cosmic rays, other articles about spectrophotometry
University of Minnesota Archives - 5 letters
Minnesota Physics People (Ney, etc) - Letters
Van Allen - Letters
Bettmann News photos (UPI) - Correspondence about photographs (no photographs)
Photo Permission to be sent to Springer-Vertag - Letters, forms signed for the use of photographs
SI General Counsel - Letters including requests for advice on copyright and liability when publishing, manuscript copyright and permission to quote document from the Library of Congress
Wide World/ Keystone - Letters about purchasing photographs for publication
Requisition for Photographic Services - Requisition for photographic services along with photocopies of photographs
Box 2
Beyond Earth
CORBIS Images/National Portrait Gallery (NPG) - Printed info from National Portrait Gallery with Herschel pictures, printed info on Herschel Museum, and printed photos of observatories (Mount Wilson?)
Universe Video "Curatorial Road show" - Printed pictures and artifact information sheets
Road show Questions - Artifact information sheets and information on Dicke Differential Microwave Radiometer
Detector Section Video - Artifact info sheets
Birthday Star Data - Lists of nearest stars, list of brightest stars, and birthday star list
Noah's Ark - Photograph of Noah's Ark, article on Planispheric Astrolabes from the National Museum of American History published in Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology No. 45
Mayan or Aztec Thing - Photograph
King Lab - Photograph, negative, Xerox, and letter to Ron Brashear
Geographic book 10/01/2001 - Photograph, negative, and miscellaneous printouts
Kneamen - Images to get (printed pictures)
Hubble Heritage Image File - Printed pictures and information
World's Largest Optical Telescope - List of the largest optical telescopes
Istanbul Observatory - Letters and emails, copies of photo of Islamic observatory used in ETU
Malin, David - Memos and emails, proposal for guest curation of a temporary exhibit on astronomical photography, and proposal for mini-exhibit Origins of Space Science
Eric Long - Photographs of telescopes, Spectrographs, etc.
Ronsaville and Wood - Letter and mounted pictures of geocentric system
Eli Dwek Stuff - Miscellaneous information for ETU including drawings, emails, and spending plan
Laurie Hatch - Lick Refractor Photo License Agreement with 2 photos
Stoke-ST SCI - Email
Women in Astronomy - Copy of STATUS June 2000
ETU Image Checklists
Images (Status) - ETU image checklists and list of ETU illustrations
Dave R. - Photo Captions for ETU
Joan Mathys Contract 2002
Letter to Authors 5/1/2002 - Letter and list of authors' addresses
Book Contract - Contract and publishing agreement
Exhibition Book (Universe) - Proposal for book, thoughts for gallery book, and letters
Geographic Book Contract
Mapping the Universe - Rough drafts for historical attributes, letters, list of chapter authors, copy of Serendipitous discoveries in radio astronomy, information on David T. Wilkinson, and copies of chapters from book
National Geographic Books Catalogue Spring 2002
NGS/SI Celestial Cartography - List of chapter authors, draft proposal on Celestial Cartography, and exhibition book write up for New Telescopes, New Universes
Celestial Cartography - Emails and draft proposal for Celestial Cartography
ETU Book Images - List of images of artifacts in exhibition E or Collection C as Chapter frontispieces
Dibner Photo Order (Xeroxes taken from dump files return) - Information on Tycho Brahe, Galileo, and Herschel and ETU image checklist
Dibner Holdings on Brahe, Kepler, etc. - Emails and printouts from SI research info system
Stuff to do for Sidebars
Sidebars - List of sidebars, photocopied photos, production and manufacturing schedule, and sidebars
How Big is Big? Sidebar - Astronomy picture of the day September 4, 2001 and "A Question of Scale" from www.wordwizz.com
NGS Book Chapter 5 - Warner essay 1st draft and Dibner Images
NGS Book Chapter 1
Kreamer - Emails, Performing the Moral Universe: African Arts and Cosmologies by Christine Mullen Kreamer
Major - East Asian Cosmologies by John Major
Chamberlain - Images to Set
Native American Cosmos - Photographs and negatives
Chamberlain - Cosmologies of the America by Von Del Chamberlain and Historical Archaeoastronomy: The Hopi Example by Stephen C. McCluaskey
NGS Book Chapter 6 "Copernicus Chaser" (The Most Brilliant PhD Thesis Ever Written in Astronomy by Owen Gingerich) - Copy of chapter and emails
NGS Book Chapter 7 - Hoskin 2nd Draft and Performing the Moral Universe: African Arts and Cosmologies by Christine Mullen Kreamer
DeVorkin - Chemistry of Cosmos - What is the Universe Made of? by David DeVorkin and The Chemistry of the Cosmos by David DeVorkin
NGS Book Chapter 8 "From Hubble to Hubble" - David DeVorkin Correspondence with R. Smith
Stephenson - Lessons from the Past: Historical Supernovae by F. Richard Stephenson and photograph
NGS Book Chapter 9 "Why does Astronomer She Cannot See?" by Vera Rubin - Photograph, letter, email, and normal copy of chapter
Smith - Hubble to Hubble by Robert W. Smith
NGS Book Chapter 10 "Gravitational Lenses" - Tony Tyson
Tyson - Draft 3-D Tomography of the Dark Universe
Geller - Rough draft of Exploring Space and Time and emails
NGS Book Chapter 12 "Detecting Cosmic Microwave Background" by Robert Wilson
Wilkinson
NGS Book Chapter 13 "From Pigeon Traps to Boomerangs" by Dave Wilkinson - Emails and photocopied photos (no copy of chapter)
Box 3
Historical Astronomy Division, American Astronomical Society, Russell Grant
HAD check problems done 7/1/1996 - HAD letters
HAD - Adler - Abstract forms for AAS meeting
New IRC - Emails including IRCHAD action list
1999 note logs - Many emails (July 13, 1998-AAS 1999 Note Log)
HAD - Yerkes 1999 - Newsletter and letter to AAS Centennial Committee Members
Russians - "The Early Post-War History of Soviet Radio Astronomy" by Vladimir S. Strelnitski JHA, xxvi (1995); "Political Repression and Personality: The History of Political Repression Against Soviet Astronomers" A. I. Eremeeva JHA, xxvi (1995); "Science Feasts Whilst the Public Starves: A Note on the Reconstruction of the Pulkovo Observatory After World War II" Alexander Gurshtein and Constantin Ivanov JHA, xxvi (1995); "V.T. Ter-Oganezov, Ideologist of Soviet Astronomy" Vitalii Bronshten and Robert McCutcheon JHA, xxvi (1995); Documents about Russian/American conference
Russian Members IRC HAD International Relations Committee - Photocopies of photos, emails, and other documents (many in Russian)
Astronomy and State - Draft of The Early Post-War History of Soviet Radio Astronomy
HAD newsletters - HAD and AAS newsletters
HAD 1994-1995 Tucson - Letters and agenda for business meeting
National Science Foundation (NSF)/ SAO Micro Prop - July 11, 1996 microhao note log and letters
HAD finding aid
HAD files deposited at AIP - Letter
Deadline Dates - AAS calendar of important dates 1988, AAS newsletter November 1987, AAS calendar of important dates 1987, and AAS executive office calendar 1986, 1985, 1992
AAS Graduate Education in Astronomy
Draft of AAS's "An Examination of Graduate Education in Astronomy May 1997"
HAD Newsletters, 1995-1996
HAD newsletters - August 1993-January 1998
AAS Washington 1/1998 - Press advisory for AAS meeting January 6-10, 1998, agenda, HADDC note log October 9, 1997, and HADDC note log July 9, 1997
AAS January 1998 - Information for meeting
HAD Business Meeting - Letters and draft secretary-treasurer's report, 1997
HAD Toronto-Business - AAS 1997 membership renewal information, handwritten notes, Jan 1997 HADPAL note log, September 1996 note log, and AAS newsletter August 1996, December 1996, October 1996
HAD Palomar June 1998 - Information on trip and emails
"The Great Spherical Aberration Fiasco of 1902 and its Aftermath" by D. E. Osterbrock - Abstract
HAS - Austin 1999 - Emails
HAD 1997 Report - Report, emails, and letters
HAD Budget 1997 - Letters, emails, account transactions, income vs. spending, monthly cash flow, where the money goes, account balance history, and account balances
AAS January 2002 - Agenda LOC meeting January 2002, emails, and proposed schedule for invited talks and special sessions January 2002
Ralph Kenat - Short letters
Russell Grant 1980 NSF - Final report for Russell NSF Grant, unsigned independent contractor agreements, letters and memos, summary of work on NSF Grant July 1980-July 1981, and proposal to NSF
AIP 1981 - Robert D'Escourt Atkinson Correspondence, letters, list of chapters in Menzel bio
AIP Correspondence 1980 - Letters and notes from phone call
NSF-HNR - Summary of work on NSF grant July 1980-July 1981, posting for a free-lance research assistant, revised budget proposal for NSF grant, letters, revised budget, and request for continuation of NSF-supported research on Russell
Applicants - Applications for Russell research assistant
Donna Houck - Bills and acceptance of research assistant position
Format for reading Micro
Chapter 16 (Old) - Letters and working copy
Final Program, AAS, Atlanta, Georgia, January 1992
Russell chapter revision - Letters with comments about chapters
- Finding Aid encoded on: 3-15-2022
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