HOS-Meteorology. History of Meteorology Collecting Initiative

Existing archives in meteorology consist of roughly 110 banker boxes. We are currently seeking funding to process them and make them available to scholars. Initial archives already in the History of Meteorology Collecting Initiative include the following: The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) Archive: Partially processed archive consisting of 2 banker boxes and 32 document boxes covering a period from the origin of the NSSL to the late 20th century, ending prior to the construction of the National Weather Center. Papers related to the NSSL Archive include an additional 4 document boxes for the NASA-Langley Lightning Research Project (1986) and 3 document boxes for Leonard Benedict Loeb (1891-1978). Edwin Kessler Archive: Kessler oversaw the development of Doppler weather radar and was the first director of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). 16 banker boxes, 26 document boxes, and 183 notebook binders are awaiting processing. Ronald K. Taylor and Ming Ying Wei Archive: The Ronald C. Taylor Collection in meteorology was donated by Ming Ying Wei. Ronald C. Taylor was a program director for meteorology at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 27 years until retirement in 1997. He participated in the International Geophysical Year (1957-58), stationed at Little America, and carried out some of the early Antarctic weather analysis. Ron Taylor’s meteorological books are being cataloged and added to the print holdings. An additional 18 oversize boxes of papers have arrived so far, with more to come. Ming Ying Wei was the first female graduate from OU with a doctorate in meteorology. She worked for NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, until her recent retirement. She has sponsored an annual dissertation fellowship in the history of meteorology for the Department of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. Gary Grice Archive: Contains more than 200 photographs of old weather instruments and meteorological facilities. These are awaiting funding for processing. In addition, the Gary Grice Collection of printed works cataloged in the Collections holdings contains more than 200 volumes from the early 1800s to the mid 20th century. These books and booklets vary from theory and conceptual models to operational manuals of the U.S. Signal Service (1871-1891) and Weather Bureau (subsequent to 1891). Grice also donated a barometer made for the Signal Service in the 1880s which is in the Instruments and Artifacts Archive. Herbert Holl Archive: Herbert Holl trained in Germany in the optics and physics of the atmosphere before World War II. The Holl papers represent the influential community of German scientists who emigrated after the war to Huntsville, Alabama, and established a distinctive scientific and civic culture famously associated with Werner von Braun. The Holl Archive consists of 29 banker boxes and is awaiting funding for processing. Holl’s books have been given to the Collections and have been added to the cataloged print holdings. Holl’s career represents a significant moment in the development of German physics before the second world war and the books in his collection are very hard to find in the United States. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita Archive: Tetsuya Theodore Fujita’s research focused on severe weather including severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, downbursts and microbursts. He created the Fujita scale of tornado intensity and damage. 1 banker box of OU-related papers, mainly handouts and offprints, is awaiting funding for processing. Neil Ward Archive: Neil Ward was a meteorology professor at OU who conducted early vortex simulation experiments in the laboratory. The Ward Archive includes several photos and the only known extant video recording of Ward's well-known investigations of vortex experiments in the 1960s. 12 document boxes are awaiting funding for processing.