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E. Dorrit Hoffleit papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1915

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

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1915

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

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours