Archives - Dudley Observatory

 The Records of the Dudley Observatory, c1852-c1950

The Records of the Dudley Observatory are institutional archives that have been maintained in storage as the 'historical collection' of the Observatory. In January 1992, the Observatory decided to initiate the processing of this collection. In March 1992, the archival materials were inventoried and processing began. The materials in this 'historical collection' do not contain records after 1950. The collection includes many series of records, of which the Records of the Dudley Observatory are one. The other groups include the Records of the Astronomical Journal, and the Papers of Sebastian Albrecht, Benjamin Boss, Seth C. Chandler , James Armsby and Benjamin A. Gould, Jr. Researchers will also find materials related to the Dudley Observatory in those series.

Size: Approx. 26 linear feet (38 boxes and 17 oversized folders)

Content Note

The Records of the Dudley Observatory include account books, annual reports, clippings, correspondence, deeds, drawings, glass plates, journals, ledgers, logs, manuscripts, memorandum, notebooks, observational data, pamphlets, payroll records, photographs, prints, publications, and receipts. They have been arranged chronologically into the following series: administrative records, financial records, organizational records, library records, observational records, apparatus and buildings, Lewis Boss and Benjamin Boss. Within each series, the records are organized into subseries by form. The Observational Records, because of their volume, are only described, at this time, by date on the finding aid. However, each folder does have a descriptive title. A decision was made, after consultation with historians and other archivists, to take a sampling of the great quantity of observing cards and destroy the remainder. The other forms of observational data remain as found.

The records before processing were in practically no recognizable order. The current arrangement has been initiated at the discretion of the processing archivist. Extreme care was taken to insure that any original order that could be recognized was preserved. When possible, the Observational Records have been reconstructed to represent groups of data collected for specific publications. Click here for container list.

Historical Notes

For Post-1956 records, click here

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Dudley Observatory
107 Nott Terrace, Suite 201
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 382-7583
info@dudleyobservatory.org