© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
Series VII includes evaluative student materials that are restricted until 2033 and family medical and financial records that are restricted indefinitely. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Wilczynski, Ernest J. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Ernest Julius Wilczynski (1876-1932) joined the faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Chicago in 1910 as an associate professor. He was promoted to professor in 1914, but ill health forced him into premature retirement in 1923 He was named professor emeritus in 1926.
Wilczynski was born in Hamburg, Germany. Shortly after he began school, his parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. It was in Chicago that Wilczynski completed his elementary and secondary education. In 1893, he enrolled at the University of Berlin, receiving his doctorate in mathematics in 1897 at the age of twenty-one. Unable to find an academic position, Wilczynski spent a year working for the Office of the Nautical Almanac in Washington, D. C. In 1898, he was appointed instructor in mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, becoming an associate professor in 1906 Between 1903 and 1905, Wilczynski traveled throughout Europe and the United States as a research associate for the Carnegie Institution. From 1907 to 1910 he taught mathematics at the University of Illinois.
Wilczynski began his career as a mathematical astronomer, though his interests soon shifted to geometry. He is regarded as the creator of projective differential geometry. The author of numerous books and articles, Wilczynski served as vice-president of the American Mathematical Society, a member of the council of the Mathematical Association of America, and an associate editor of the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society. He was named laureate of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1909 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1919.
The Wilczynski Papers are divided into six series.
Series I: Correspondence, has been divided into four subseries according to discrete periods of his career: 1892-1902, covering his studies in Berlin and early career at Berkeley; 1903-1906, documenting largely his work for the Carnegie Institution; 1907-1914, dealing with his years at the University of Illinois and early career at Chicago; 1915-1931, covering his final years.
Wilczynski’s correspondence is largely incoming and has been arranged alphabetically within each sub-series. Correspondents include many of the more prominent American and European mathematicians and astronomers of the period, some of whom -- Oskar Bolza, L. E. Dickson, and E. H. Moore -- became his colleagues at Chicago. Of biographical interest is the correspondence with George Emery Hale which documents Wilczynski’s early interest in astronomy and Hale’s ongoing encouragement and advice (1:8-9).
Series II: Biographical Materials and Memorabilia, includes Ernest P. Lane’s “Biographical Memoir of Ernest Julius Wilczynski, 1876-1932,” as well as copies of Wilczynski’s vita.
Series III: Notebooks, consists of notes Wilczynski took at courses in the University of Berlin, where he studied astronomy, mathematics, and physics with some of the most distinguished scientists of the day. Notes have been preserved for courses by, among others, Hans Battermann, Wilhelm von Bezold, Wilhelm Julius Forster, Carl Stumpf, Hans Delbruck, Immanuel Fuchs, August Kundt, Max Planck, Hermann Amandus Schwarz, and Julius Scheiner.
Series IV: Writings, contains articles published between 1895 and 1923 arranged chronologically. Most are offprints of published works, but several manuscripts are included.
Series V: Wilczynski family materials, consists of a large volume of correspondence and memories of the Wilczynski family. Much correspondence and material is in Italian. Correspondence takes place largely between the Wilczynski sisters, Massimilia (Mimi), Helen, Beatrice and their mother, Inez Macola from the early 1920s until the late 1990s. There is also correspondence with relatives in Italy and family friends. Memorabilia largely concerns the devotional Catholic life of the three sisters and their mother. They were intensely religious and expressed their religious devotion and love of each other through gifts of religious drawings, medallions, relics, small plaques, religious tracts, books, writings of the Saints, translations of religious texts from Italian, etc. In this regard, the present collection is of interest to historians seeking to understand Catholic religious life and its particular meaning to young women during the 20th century. The collection with its correspondence and memorabilia comprises a material cultural history of the Catholic faith. The collection also includes the sisters’ educational materials, including materials for Italian language instruction.
There is also a large number of family photographs. These include many pictures of the Wilczynski sisters, their mother, and Italian relatives. There are also a few photographs from Ernest J. Wilczynski, their father, from his life in Berkeley during the 1890s before moving to Chicago.
Series VI consists of oversize materials and Series VII contains restricted materials.
Mostly between daughters-Mimi, Helen, and Beatrice-and with their mother, Ines, EJW's widow