Carnegie Institution of Washington

Institutional History

Abstract

The Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), also called the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW), is an organization in the United States established to support scientific research.

Important Dates

1895Andrew Carnegie contributed his fortune to establishing 23 organizations that bear his name including the Carnegie Institution for Science.

January 29, 1902First meeting of the board of trustees.

1903The institution was incorporated by the United State Congress, Washington (D.C.).

1903 – 1905Frank Ross was on staff.

1904Board changed the course from individual grants to providing major support to departments of research.

1925 – 1926Samuel Allison was on staff.

1939 – 1940Norman Ramsey was on staff.

1939 – 1941Philip Abelson was on staff.

1939 – 1955Vannevar Bush was on staff.

1940 – 1946Ugo Fano was on staff.

1946 – 1954John Fleming was on staff.

1947 – 1951Lloyd Berkner was on staff.

1971 – 1978Philip Abelson was on staff.

1993 – 1997Frank Press was on staff.

2007The institution begins to refer to itself as the Carnegie Institution for Science while keeping its legal name the same.

Places

Headquarters

Washington (D.C.)

Subjects

Physics -- Research.

Physics -- Societies, etc.

Science -- Societies, etc.

Citations

Historical information from the "Our History" webpage of the Carnegie Institution of Science (https://carnegiescience.edu/about/history).

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Assistant Physicist and President.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Research Fellow.

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Section Chief, Exploratory Geophysics of the Atmosphere.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Member, Board of Trustees.

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

President.

Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962

Research associate.

Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007

Researcher, Proximity Fuse Project.

Fano, Ugo

Research Fellow in Genetics, Research Associate, Physicist and Mathematician, and Research Associate.

Fleming, J. A. (John Adam), 1877-1956

Adviser in International Relations.

Gunn, Ross, 1897-1966

Research Associate.

Press, Frank, 1924-

Cecil and Ida Green Senior Fellow and Member to Senior Member, Board of Trustees.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Carnegie Fellow.

Ross, Frank E. (Frank Elmore), 1874-1960

Assistant.

Associates & Members

Abbot, C. G. (Charles Greeley), 1872-1973

Babcock, Horace W.

Baum, William A.

Becker, G. F. (George Ferdinand)

Borgmann, Carl W. (Carl Williams), 1905-

Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973

Douglass, A. E. (Andrew Ellicott)

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Fuller, Veryl Richards, 1896-1935

Gardner, Irvine C. (Irvine Clifton), 1889-

Golden, William T., 1909-2007

Greenstein, Jesse L. (Jesse Leonard), 1909-2002

Grondahl, Lars Olai, 1880-

Hafstad, Lawrence, 1904-

Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938

Lee, Gilbert Lamont, 1919-

MacVicar, Margaret Love Agnes

Meggers, William F. (William Frederick), 1888-1966

Merrill, Paul W. (Paul Willard), 1887-1961

Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931

Münch, Guido, 1921-

Nicholson, Seth Barnes

Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), 1881-

Pogo, Alexander, 1893-

Richter, Charles, 1900-1985

Swope, Henrietta Hill, 1902-1980

Wilson, Olin C., 1909-1994

Wood, Harry O. (Harry Oscar), 1879-1958

Wright, F. E. (Frederic Eugene), 1877-1953

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism

Carnegie Institution of Washington. Geophysical Laboratory

Collaborators

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Co-sponsored conference evaluating President Carter's National Energy Plan.

Associates

American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics

Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.

Hale Observatories

Mount Wilson Observatory

Smithsonian Institution

United States. Congress

Incorporated the institution in 1903.

University of Toronto. Department of Astronomy

Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Carnegie Institution of Washington archives, 1890-2001.

Carnegie Institution's contributions in the earth sciences, 1989.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Smithsonian Institution Office of the Secretary records of Charles D. Walcott, Charles G. Abbot, and Alexander Wetmore, 1925-1949.

Smithsonian Institution. Archives.

Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024-2520, USA

Subject

Albert Michelson papers and notebook on the velocity of light, 1878-1930.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Alexander Pogo papers, 1952-1959.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Andrew Ellicott Douglass papers, 1867-1962.

Library. Special Collections

University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

C. G. Abbot intellectual autobiography, 1956, 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Francis G. Pease papers, 1850-1937 (bulk 1905-1937).

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Frederic Eugene Wright papers, 1924-1961.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Frederick Eugene Wright-Carnegie Moon Committee papers.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

George Ellery Hale papers [microform], 1882-1938.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

George Ellery Hale papers, 1882-1938.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

George Ellery Hale papers, 1891-1923.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

George F. Becker papers, 1814-1928 (bulk 1870-1919).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Hale Observatories annual reports, 1904-1980.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Harry O. Wood papers, 1905-1954.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Henrietta Hill Swope papers, 1923-1979.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Irvine Clifton Gardner intellectual autobiography, circa 1960.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lars Olai Grondahl autobiography, circa 1963.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lawrence Hafstad papers, 1939-1976.

St. Olaf College

Norwegian-American Historical Association

Northfield, MN 55057, USA

Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Margaret MacVicar papers, 1962-1990.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Mount Wilson Observatory legal papers, 1903-1938.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop papers, 1903-1938.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Olin C. Wilson papers, 1930-1990.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Borgmann, 1983 November 10.

Office of University Archives and Records Management

Indiana University

Bryan Hall 201, 107 South Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

Oral history interview with Charles F. Richter, 1978 February 15-September 1.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Gilbert Lee, 1983 October 30.

Office of University Archives and Records Management

Indiana University

Bryan Hall 201, 107 South Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

Oral history interview with Guido Münch, 1977 July 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Horace W. Babcock, 1977 July 25.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ira Bowen, 1968 August 9 and 1969 August 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Jesse Leonard Greenstein, 1974 July 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lawrence Hafstad, 1984 June 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1978 December 19, 1979 January 5 and 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Olin C. Wilson, 1978 July 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Benjamin Leighton, 1977 July 29 and August 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with William A. Baum, 2004 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. Geophysics and Oceanography: Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment, 1992-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Philip H. Abelson autobiography, undated.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Seth Barnes Nicholson papers, 1914-1963.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

University of Toronto Department of Astronomy records, 1964-2003.

University Archives

University of Toronto

120 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5, Canada

Vannevar Bush papers, 1901-1974.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1921-1974.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Veryl R. Fuller Papers, 1931-1936.

Elmer R. Rasmuson Library. Alaska and Polar Regions Department. Archives and Manuscript Collections.

University of Alaska

Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA

Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics records, 1933-1947.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William F. Meggers addition to papers, 1870-1973 (bulk 1906-1966).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William T. Golden papers, 1946-2007.

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Columbia University

Butler Library, 6th Floor East, New York, NY 10027, USA

Published Resources

Author

Frontiers in space.

Good seeing : a century of science at the Carnegie Institution of Washington / James Trefil and Margaret Hindle Hazen ; with a foreword by Timothy Ferris.

How galaxies rotate: clues to their past? : an essay about basic research from The Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Mount Wilson Observatory records of George Ellery Hale, 1901-1925.

Paul W. Merrill papers, 1922-1961.

Revision of Rowland's Preliminary table of solar spectrum wave-lengths, with an extension to the present limit of the infra-red / by Charles E. St. John, Charlotte E. Moore, Louise M. Ware, Edward F. Adams, Harold D. Babcock.

The George Gamow symposium : sponsored by the George Washington University and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 12 April 1996 / edited by E. Harper, W.C. Parke, and G.D. Anderson.

The search for understanding; selected writings of scientists of the Carnegie Institution, published on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the institution's founding. Edited by Caryl P. Haskins.

Vannevar Bush centenary : extending the vision / sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Subject

Centennial history of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The Earth, the heavens, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington / edited by Gregory A. Good ; with a foreword by Maxine Singer.