Scope and Contents
The materials consist primarily of research notes; materials for presentations and articles; correspondence; photographs; biographical materials, and printed ephemera documenting the career of E. Dorrit Hoffleit in the field of astronomy.
Dates
- 1847-2006
- Majority of material found within 1945 - 2000
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Original computer files may not be accessed due to their fragility. Researchers must consult access copies.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Astronomy Department, Yale University, 2008. Materials were removed from Hoffleit's office by the Astronomy Department following her death.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged as received from the Astronomy Department, Yale University.
Extent
8.5 Linear Feet (9 boxes)
1 CD-Rs (648.11 megabytes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The materials consist primarily of research notes; materials for presentations and articles; correspondence; photographs; biographical materials, and printed ephemera documenting the career of E. Dorrit Hoffleit in the field of astronomy.
Biographical / Historical
Ellen Dorrit Hoffleit was born in Florence, Alabama, on March 12, 1907. She received a B.A. in mathematics (1928) and a Ph.D. in astronomy (1938) from Radcliffe College; and a D.Sc. from Smith College (1984) and from Central Connecticut State University (1998). Hoffleit was a research assistant at the Harvard College Observatory in 1929 and was hired as an astronomer at Harvard in 1948. In 1943, she joined the Ballistic Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground to compute missile trajectories. Hoffleit left Harvard in 1956 to run Yale University's star cataloging program. She authored the Bright Star Catalogue, containing information on the 9,110 brightest stars, and co-authored the General Catalogue of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes, containing precise distance measurements to 8,112 stars. She retired from Yale in 1975. Hoffleit was also director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory, Nantucket, from 1957 to 1978. In 1988, minor planet 3416 was named "Dorrit"in her honor. Hoffleit died at her New Haven, Connecticut, apartment on April 9, 2007.
- Title
- Guide to the E. Dorrit Hoffleit Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Carol King; William R. Massa, Jr.; and William Landis
- Date
- October 2008
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511