The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the William D. Harkins. Papers 1877-1988
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Harkins, William D. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1877-1988 |
| Size: | 1 linear ft. (2 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | William D. (William Draper) Harkins, Professor of Chemistry. The William D. Harkins’ papers are comprised mostly of documents which predate his career at Chicago. The collection contains a series of reprints and typescripts, pertains to the research for which Harkins is most famous, as well as documents related to Harkins’ work at the University of Montana on the effects of smoke from the Anaconda copper smelter on local livestock. The remaining documents pertain to Harkins’ family, his father-in-law, Henry A. Hatheway, and his brother-in-law, Thomas G. Hatheway, Harkins’ personal and professional correspondence and photographs of family members. |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Harkins, William D. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
William D. Harkins was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1873. After a successful childhood dalliance in oil speculation, Harkins immersed himself in science. He received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University in 1907, and prior to his appointment at Chicago, served as Professor of Chemistry at the University of Montana from 1900 to 1912. In 1909, Harkins worked as a research fellow at the Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie Karlsruhe in Germany, and in 1911, as a research associate in the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1912, Harkins was appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. Two years later, he was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 1917, was granted tenure as Professor of Chemistry. Harkins is perhaps most famous for his research on the neutron in the 1920s and 1930s. This research led in part, to Harkins’ appointment as the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry in 1931. Although he retired in 1939, Harkins busied himself with research on emulsion polymerization until his death in 1951.
The William D. Harkins’ papers are comprised mostly of documents which predate his career at Chicago. The collection contains a series of reprints and typescripts, pertains to the research for which Harkins is most famous, as well as documents related to Harkins’ work at the University of Montana on the effects of smoke from the Anaconda copper smelter on local livestock. The remaining documents pertain to Harkins’ family, his father-in-law, Henry A. Hatheway, and his brother-in-law, Thomas G. Hatheway, Harkins’ personal and professional correspondence and photographs of family members.
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, 1887-1905 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, January-July 1906 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | August-December 1906 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, 1907 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Correspondence, 1908-1911 and n. d. |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Reprints, 1926-1946
|
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Anaconda Smelter Materials, c. 1909
|
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Notes and Reprints, 1906-1918
|
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Henry A. Hatheway and Thomas G. Hatheway, correspondence and financial records, 1877-1911 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Newspaper clippings (Daily Missoulian, New York Times, Daily Maroon, Anaconda Standard, Chicago Daily Tribune) |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Maps, Financial and Biographical Materials, 1904-1988
|
| Box 2 Folder 1-4 | Photographs, Harkins’ children, in-laws, and unidentified others |