Dorothy Weeks papers
Collection
Identifier: MSS-006
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of the correspondence and oral history of Dorothy Weeks, an alumna of the Wellesley College Class of 1916. This collection consists of two series: Series I. Correspondence includes correspondence between Dorothy Weeks and her family, friends, and colleagues, dating from 1913-1960. These letters include enclosures and news clippings. Series II. Oral History is composed of the tapes and transcripts from Dorothy Weeks’ oral history interviews, which were conducted and transcribed in 1989 by Marianne Durgin.
Dates
- 1913-1960, 1989
Creator
- Weeks, Dorothy (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. To make an appointment to view materials, please contact the Archives staff by email at archives@wellesley.edu or by phone at (781) 283-3745.
Conditions Governing Use
The Wellesley College Archives welcomes researchers to use materials in the public domain, to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law, and to request permission to use works whose copyright is held by Wellesley College. All materials from the Archives, regardless of copyright status, should be attributed to the Wellesley College Archives, Library & Technology Services when cited, quoted, or reproduced.
Biographical / Historical
Dorothy Weeks was born in 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a physicist and educator, and a member of Wellesley College's Class of 1916. While a student, she was a member of the Shakespeare Society, and she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an Assistant in Physics in 1920-1921, a Research Associate in Physics in 1921-1922, and an Instructor in Physics 1n 1922-1924. She received a master’s degree in Physics from MIT in 1923, and a master’s degree from the Prince School of Business at Simmons College in 1925. She earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT in 1930, becoming the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from the school. During World War II she supervised the British Reports Section of the Liaison Office of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. She was a Professor of Physics and head of the Physics Department at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania for 24 years. In 1956, she became Professor Emeritus, and for the next 8 years worked for the Army Materials Research Agency in Watertown, Massachusetts. This work was related to radiological shielding. Other areas of research in her career were the neutral iron atom, and atomic spectroscopy. She received multiple research grants over the course of her career, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949-1950. She also conducted research as a member of the Solar Satellite Project at the Harvard College Observatory. She retired in 1976 at the age of 83, and lived until 97 in 1990.
Extent
1.8 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is composed of two series: Series I. Correspondence (1913-1960) includes correspondence between Dorothy Weeks and her family, friends, and colleagues. Series I. was kept in original order. Letters are cataloged individually, with their item number representing their order within folders. Series II. Oral History (1989) is composed of the tapes and transcripts from Dorothy Weeks’ oral history interviews with Marianne Durgin.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Series I. Correspondence (1913-1960) was given to the Archives in 1990 as part of the estate of Dorothy Weeks. Series II. Oral History (1989) was given to the Archives in 1989 by the interviewer and transcriber, Marianne Durgin.
Creator
- Weeks, Dorothy (Person)
- Title
- Weeks, Dorothy. Dorothy Weeks papers, 1913-1960, 1989: a guide
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Item-level description by Student Assistant Efua Akonor, collection-level description by Natalia Gutierrez-Jones, Project Archivist.
- Date
- February 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Wellesley College Archives Repository