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Records of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Tucson, Arizona. Correspondence files of Robert R. McMath, Leo Goldberg, and Orren C. Mohler, reports, minutes, financial and budgetary materials, and technical reports relating to the development of AURA and its predecessor organization, the Advisory Panel for the National Astronomical Observatory, and concerning observatories at Kitt Peak, Arizona, and Cerro Tololo, Chile; also material concerning political developments in Chile; and photographs.

The AURA record group provides a record of an important aspect of the development of modern science, the growth of cooperative scientific associations, and the beginnings of government support for basic research in the post-war period. In addition, the records include much information related to the University of Michigan Astronomy Department and observatories, since several faculty members, including Robert R. McMath, Leo Goldberg, and Orren C. Mohler, have been involved in the growth of AURA. The record group also provides a detailed history of the development of AURA itself, and the observatories at Kitt Peak and at Cerro Tololo, where it touches on scientific and political developments in Chile during the 1960s and 1970s.

The AURA record group includes files collected by three University of Michigan Astronomy Department faculty members who were active in the organization. Robert R. McMath, chairman of the Advisory Panel for the National Astronomical Observatory, first President of AURA, and Chairman of the Board of AURA, was responsible for most of the material dated before his death in 1962. Leo Goldberg, a consultant to the Advisory Panel, is responsible for a correspondence file related to the work of the panel. This file partially duplicates McMath's correspondence file. On the death of McMath, Orren C. Mohler assumed the duties of University of Michigan representative on the AURA Board of Directors and continued to add to the record group. Some of the material dated before McMath's death and all material after that date was collected by Mohler.

The collection includes seven major types of records: historical/informational materials; correspondence; minutes/reports; governance records including papers of the board of directors and the executive committee; committee and subcommittee files; financial/funding records; files about the Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo observatories; and miscellaneous which includes a few folders of photographs. Correspondence is divided into three groups according to the originators of the files. Within each group some correspondence is arranged chronologically and some by correspondent, but there is considerable overlap between the two sequences. Reports, minutes, and financial records are arranged chronologically.

Professor of astronomy at University of Michigan. Personal correspondence, mainly with family, describing his various astronomical expeditions to Chile and Sumatra; also speeches and photographs.

The collection consists mainly of copies of letters to family describing his work in astronomy, trips to Mexico, Sumatra and Europe and comments on current events with frequent references to personal family matters. There is one letter, July 19, 1925, concerning the teaching of evolution in the schools with comments about Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, and the Scopes trial.

The McCreery and Fenton families were prominent Genesee county, Michigan residents some of whose members distinguished themselves in local and state government, as soldiers during the Civil War, and in the United States diplomatic service. Papers include diaries, correspondence and other material relating to the Civil War, local and state politics and aspects of diplomatic service in Central and South America.

The McCreery-Fenton family collection documents the individual careers of family members who served their community and their nation in a variety of roles. Through correspondence, diaries and other materials, the researcher will find information pertaining to the Civil War, to the history of Flint and Fenton in Genesee County, Michigan, and to facets of America's diplomatic relations with some of the countries of Central and South America. Arranged by name of the three principal family members represented in the collection - William M. Fenton, William B. McCreery, and Fenton R. McCreery, the papers also include series of general family materials, business records, and photographs.

The William L. Culbertson, Jr., scrapbook consists of one volume containing numerous newspaper clippings, documents, photographs, hand-drawn maps and illustrations, correspondence, and various ephemeral items related to the career of US Navy officer CDR William Linn Culbertson, Jr., between 1905 and 1918.

The William L. Culbertson, Jr., scrapbook consists of one volume containing numerous newspaper clippings, documents, photographs, hand-drawn maps and illustrations, correspondence, and various ephemeral items related to the career of US Navy officer CDR William Linn Culbertson, Jr., between 1905 and 1918.

The volume (25.5 x 19 cm) has 146 pages and is bound in red marbled paper covers. The covers and spine are in poor condition. Inside of the front cover there is a loose diplomatic passport for Culbertson, Jr., issued by the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France, from August 1916 that contains personal descriptive information as well as a photographic ID portrait. The scrapbook begins with newspaper clippings from ca. 1905 and subsequent materials proceed in chronological order for the most part. Numerous items collected during Culbertson, Jr.’s time abroad contain text in foreign languages including French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Arabic, and Greek.

• Hand-drawn portrait of a man playing cards and smoking a pipe (between pgs. 2 & 3)
• Clipping related to court martial of Iowan midshipman Charles M. James for alleged involvement in hazing (pg. 5)
• Photomechanical image of the U.S.S. Missouri (pg.7)
• 1906 New York herald clipping with full page illustrated article titled "At Sea with the Naval Cadets Annual Cruise of the Boys to Learn Practical Seamanship" (pg. 9)
• An order from Lt. CDR Cleland Davis of the U.S.S. Missouri dated May 24, 1906 instructing Culbertson, Jr., to "take charge of the remains of J. J. Molloy, fireman 1st class" who died from asphyxiation while ashore in New York City (pg. 11)
• A letter received March 27, 1906 while the U.S.S. Missouri was in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, regarding Culbertson, Jr.'s request to be assigned to a torpedo boat that will "make the trip to the Asiatic Station" (pg. 17)
• Ca. 1906 clipping regarding Culbertson, Sr.'s real estate dealings (pg. 19)
• Typescript copies of the "Plan for the Occupation of St. Marc, Hayti" dated February 1916 (between pgs. 30 & 31)
• Program for the "Memorial Service in memory of the Culbertsons, of 'Culbertson's row' and their descendants who served in the War of the American Revolution" held at Rocky Spring Presbyterian Church, Franklin County, Pennsylvania on September 15, 1907 (pg. 37)
• Pamphlet detailing "Facilities for American Seamen on shore leave in Rio de Janeiro, January, 1908" which includes a map of Rio's commercial district (pg. 41)
• Clippings of an article regarding Surgeon General Presley M. Rixley's opinion that medical officers be placed in command of hospital ships (pg. 44) and a satirical cartoon titled "When the Navy puts doctors in command of the hospital ships" (pg. 45)
• A humorous mock notice issued to Culbertson, Jr., in September 1908 while aboard the U.S.S. South Dakota sent by "Neptune Rex" and undersigned by "Secretary to his Majesty Davy Jones" (pg. 52)
• A manuscript map detailing features of American Samoa (pg. 53)
• Clippings of three cartoons from a series titled "Trials of a First Baby" (pgs. 54-57)
• Letter from oiler J. J. Murphy dated May 23, 1907, requesting permission to purchase his discharge from the U.S. Navy in order to return home to Ireland following the deaths of two brothers; obituary clipping attached (between pgs. 68 & 69)
• Manuscript item in Japanese (pg. 73)
• New York herald clipping giving Culbertson, Jr.'s account of what he saw in the aftermath of the 1907 earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica (pg. 76)
• Manuscript map detailing the valley of the Artibonite River in Haiti, likely ca. 1915/1916 (between pgs. 86 & 87)
• Manuscript map detailing prospective plan of attack on St. Marc, Haiti, relative to the U.S.S. Des Moines, likely ca. 1916 (pg. 99)
• Passport for Culbertson, Jr., issued by the American Consulate in Alexandria, Egypt, on December 31, 1915 (pg. 115)
• Clipping of a humorous joke anecdote about a woman from San Francisco who contacted her deceased husband "John" with help from a spiritualist medium only to find he was much happier being dead than he ever was living with her (pg. 118)
• Memorandum dated October 13, 1915, regarding damages to the U.S.S. Brutus and U.S.S. Des Moines (pg. 129)
• Two French travel permits for Culbertson, Jr., issued by the Departement des Alpes-Maritimes in 1916 (pgs. 136 & 137)
• Numerous playbills, tickets, receipts, stamps, business cards (including cards for foreign naval officers), schedules, menus, advertisements, event invitations, social club notices, and other ephemeral items collected at various ports of call including Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Shanghai, Yokohama, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, New York City, Alexandria, Cyprus, Naples, etc. (passim)
• Numerous clippings related to World War I (passim)