Guide to the Winslow Upton Papers, circa 1876-1969

(bulk 1876-1914)


John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title: Winslow Upton papers
Date range: circa 1876-1969
Creator: Upton, Winslow, 1853-1914
Abstract: The collection comprises diaries, astonomical observation notebooks, scrapbooks, lecture notes, peronal and professional correspondence, as well as photographs, various tributes to Professor Upton, and a memoir written by his daughters.
Language of materials: English
Repository: John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number: MS-1UF-U1

Scope & content

Access Points

Subject Organizations Subject Topics Occupations Document Types Subject Topics

Arrangement

The collection is organized in four series:

  • I. Diaries and notebooks, 1877-1910
  • II. Lecture notes
  • III. Correspondence, circa 1875-1914
  • IV. Personal papers, circa 1877-1969
.

Biographical/Historical note

Winslow Upton (born in Salem, Massachusetts, 12 October 1853; died Providence, Rhode Island, 8 January 1914) was a United States astronomer. He graduated from Brown University. He was an assistant at the Harvard Observatory for several years, then assistant engineer of the Army Engineer Corps' Lake Survey. Upton became a computer at the Naval Observatory in Washington in 1880. He worked with the United States Signal Office from 1881 to 1883. In May of 1883 he accompanied a group of scientists to Carolina Island in the Pacific to view a solar eclipse, an event which resulted in his writing The Carolina Island Opera. He was appointed professor of astronomy at Brown in 1883 and became director of Ladd Observatory when it opened in 1891. He was a member of the U. S. government eclipse expeditions of 1878 and 1883, also of two private expeditions sent out in 1887 and 1889, and in 1896-1897 was attached to the southern station of Harvard University at Arequipa, Peru. He was appointed the first dean of the University in 1900, but resigned that position a year later. In December 1913, after directing the Christmas music performed by his church choir, he became ill with pneumonia and died on January 8, 1914.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials: Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation: Winslow Upton Papers, MS-1UF-U1, Brown University Archives.
Contact information: John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding: This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 February 1
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor: Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

Series I. Diaries and notebooks, 1877-1910

Container Description Date
Box 1 Diaries
 1881-1905
Box 2-3 Notebooks and scrapbooks
Contents Note: Notebooks on astronomical observations including lunar eclipses, sunspots, Haley's Comet (1909-1910), and a scrapbook on balloon flights.

 1877-1910

Series II. Lecture notes

Container Description Date
Box 4 Lecture notes

Series III. Correspondence, circa 1875-1914

Container Description Date
Box 5 Professional correspondence
 circa 1875-1914
Box 6 Family correspondence
Contents Note: Chiefly correspondence from Winslow Upton addressed to his wife, Cornelia August Upton. Additional correspondents include Mary Babcock, Eleanor Upton, and Grace Upton, among others.

 circa 1876-1913

Series IV. Personal papers, circa 1877-1969

Container Description Date
Box 6 Photographs
Box 6 An earthbound astronomer: Winslow Upton, a memoir by his daughters Eleanor S. Upton and Margaret F. Upton
 1969
Box 7 Assorted notes, correspondence, and tributes to Upton
Contents Note: Includes Upton's notebook of Lectures upon the differential and integral calculus, given at Harvard College during the years 1877, 1878, 1879 by Prof. Wm. E. Byerly.

 1877-1879