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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Edwin B. Frost Papers 1886-1924

© 2008 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Frost, Edwin B. Papers

Dates:

1886-1924

Size:

2 linear feet (4 boxes)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

Edwin B. Frost (1866-1935), professor of astrophysics at the University of Chicago and Director of the University’s Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The majority of this collection consists of the professional correspondence of Edwin B. Frost from 1889-1924. This collection also contains article drafts, notes, sketches, and experiment data.

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Frost, Edwin B. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Edwin B. Frost (1866-1935), professor of astrophysics at the University of Chicago and Director of the University’s Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wisconsin. He received his A.B. at Dartmouth in 1886 and did his advanced study in physics and astronomy at Princeton, Potsdam and Strassburg. He was a member of the Dartmouth faculty from 1887 to 1898.

Frost first came into prominence as an astronomer at the beginning of the 20th century, at about the time the spectroscope was being introduced into the study of heavenly bodies on a systematic scale. He went on to become a leader in the development of the field of astrophysics. Frost came to Yerkes Observatory in 1898 and served as professor of astrophysics from 1898 to 1905. When observatory director George E. Hale left Yerkes to head the Mount Wilson Observatory at Pasadena, Frost assumed the directorship.

In 1906, Frost undertook a fifteen year program of stellar observation to map, classify and determine the velocities of the stars in the Orion constellation. Following the completion of the project, Frost gradually went blind. Despite his disability, he continued to work on the faculty until 1932. After his retirement, he remained at his lakeside home near the observatory, working in an advisory capacity.

Scope Note

The majority of this collection consists of the professional correspondence of Edwin B. Frost from 1889-1924 and is organized chronologically. Boxes 2-4 contain correspondence regarding the American efforts to provide aid to Russian astronomers and observatories in the early 1920s, which Frost played a central role in organizing. This collection also contains select article drafts, notes, sketches, and experiment data, found in Box 4.

Related Resources

Browse finding aids by topic.

Astrophysical Journal. Records

University of Chicago. Yerkes Observatory. Records

Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Box 1   Folder 1

Correspondence, A-M, 1889-1902

Box 1   Folder 2

Correspondence, M-Y, 1886-1903

Box 1   Folder 3

Correspondence, A-M, 1902-1904

Box 1   Folder 4

Correspondence, M-Y, 1901-1904

Box 1   Folder 5-6

Correspondence, receipts, and invoices regarding alterations to Professor Frost’s residence at Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, 1908-1909

Box 1   Folder 7

Correspondence, A-L, 1922-1923

Box 1   Folder 8

Correspondence, M-Y, 1923

Box 2   Folder 1

Correspondence, A-J, 1923

Box 2   Folder 2

Correspondence, K-V, 1923

Box 2   Folder 3

Correspondence, Y, 1923, A-C, 1924

Box 2   Folder 4

Correspondence, D-H, 1924

Box 2   Folder 5

Correspondence, S-W, 1922-1924

Box 2   Folder 6

Correspondence, aid relief for Russian astronomers, 1922-1923

Box 3   Folder 1-8

Correspondence, aid relief for Russian astronomers, 1922-1924

Box 4   Folder 1-4

Correspondence, aid relief for Russian astronomers, 1922-1924

Box 4   Folder 5

Article drafts and notes, 1918-1923

Box 4   Folder 6-8

Notes, sketches, and experiment data, undated