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

Mount Wilson Observatory.

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

The collection consists of the records of George Ellery Hale during his tenure as Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. Correspondents represented in the collection include: Walter S. Adams, Harold D. Babcock, John A. Brashear, H. Deslandres, Ferdinand Ellerman, Henry Gordon Gale, John D. Hooker, Edwin Powell Hubble, Alfred H. Joy, J.C. Kapteyn, Sir Norman Lockyer, John M. Manley, Paul W. Merrill, Albert Abraham Michelson, Robert Andrews Millikan, Ernest Fox Nichols, Seth Barnes Nicholson, Francis Gladheim Pease, Edison Pettit, Edward C. Pickering, G.W. Ritchey, Henry Norris Russell, Frederick Hanley Seares, Harlow Shapley, Adriaan Van Maanen, and Carl Zeiss. There is also corporate correspondence from Bausch & Lomb Optical Company, D.H. Burnham & Co., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Corning Glass Works, Royal Astronomical Society, and Warner & Swasey.

George Ellery Hale, astronomer, was born in Chicago and educated at M.I.T., Harvard College Observatory, and the Univ. of Berlin. A specialist in solar and stellar spectroscopy, Hale organized the Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory for the Univ. of Chicago (and served as its director until 1896), where he also invented and developed the spectroheliograph, established the Astrophysical journal, and served as the director of the Yerkes Observatory. In 1904 Hale moved to Pasadena, California, where he organized the Mount Wilson Observatory, served as its director until 1923, and was instrumental in the construction of the 200-inch reflecting telescope at Mount Palomar. Hale received numerous awards and honors in the international scientific community and was a leading force in the cultural and scientific growth of the Pasadena area.

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. 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.

Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956

Babcock, Harold D. (Harold Delos), 1882-1968.

Brashear, John A. (John Alfred), 1840-1920.

Deslandres, Henri Alexandre, 1853-1948-

Ellerman, Ferdinand, 1869-1940

Gale, Henry Gordon, 1874-1942.

Hale, George Ellery, 1868-1938

Hooker, John D. (John Daggett), 1838-1911

Hubble, Edwin, 1889-1953

Joy, Alfred H. (Alfred Harrison), 1882-1973.

Kapteyn, J. C. (Jacobus Cornelius), 1851-1922.

Lockyer, Norman, Sir, 1836-1920.

Manley, John Henry, 1907-

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

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

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953.

Nichols, Ernest Fox, 1869-1924

Nicholson, Seth B. (Seth Barnes), 1891-1963

Pettit, Edison, 1889-1962.

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

Pickering, Edward C. (Edward Charles), 1846-1919.

Ritchey, G. W. (George Willis), b. 1864.

Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957

Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972.

Seares, Frederick Hanley, 1873-

Van Maanen, Adriaan, 1884-1946

Zeiss, Carl

Bausch & Lomb Optical Company

Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Corning Glass Works

D.H. Burnham & Co.