Autobiography
Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin first published her autobiography in 1979. This edition was self-published and has a comb-binding. In 1984, her autobiography was republished by Cambridge University Press, edited by Katherine Haramundanis, her daughter, and retitled "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections." In 1996, Cambridge University Press printed a second edition by the same title, which is the most widely available.
Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia. 1979. The Dyer’s Hand: An Autobiography. [Privately printed.]
HOLLIS Record. WorldCat Record.
Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, and Katherine Haramundanis. 1984. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. HOLLIS Record. WorldCat Record.
Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia, and Katherine Haramundanis. 1996. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin : An Autobiography and Other Recollections. 2nd ed. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. HOLLIS Record. WorldCat Record.
PhAEDRA Notebooks
Harvard College Observatory observations, logs, instrument readings, and calculations
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Notebooks, 1924-1929
Collection Identifier: KG11365-6
Archival Resources
See here for Oral history interviews from four female astronomers at the Harvard College Observatory, including Payne-Gaposchkin.
A Search of “Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin” in Hollis for Archival Discovery:
Papers of Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin, 1924, circa 1950s-1990s, 2000. Harvard University Archives: HUGB P182.XX. Online Finding Aid. Note: This archival collection includes letters that are inaccessible until 2056. Access to the pamphlet folder, "The Dyer's Hand, 1979," the accordion folder of "Ceclia Payne-Gaposchkin: an autobiography and other recollections, 1996" and the pamphlet folder, "Biographical Materials," requires the permission of the Harvard University Archives. The items listed under "Needlepoint of supernova CAS-A, digital images, circa 1960" are digital images/files only, and Harvard does not hold the physical materials.
Margaret Harwood Papers, 1902-1974; item description, dates. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University: 79-M62--2007-M228.
- See Folder: Correspondence: Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne. 79-M62--2007-M228, 50., Carton: 2.
Dorrit Hoffleit Papers, 1906-2005; item description, dates. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University: MC 529.
- See Folder: Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia H.: articles and correspondence, 1961-1996.
E. Dorrit Hoffleit Papers. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library: MS 1915. Online Finding Aid and Digitized Materials.
- See multiple folders and files related to female astronomers.
Records of Radcliffe College President Wilbur Kitchener Jordan, 1943-1960
COLLECTION Identifier: RG II, Series 3
“Official Radcliffe correspondence, reports, minutes, etc., of W.K. (Wilbur Kitchener) Jordan, college administrator, educator, and fourth president of Radcliffe College.”
1949-1950: G.
ITEM — Box: 27 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 288.
“Maria Gallison re: portrait of her husband; Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's undefined status on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Graduate School Fund Drive.”
1956-1957: Graduate center.
ITEM — Box: 60 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 669.
“Dedication including remarks by Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin; Graduate School Business.”
1949-1950: Alu-Ax.
ITEM — Box: 26 Identifier: RG II, Series 3, 270
Alumnae Association; Anglo-American Historical Conference in England; Appointment Bureau; Astronomy includes correspondence with Fred Whipple re: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's experimental changes in the content of Astronomy 1 at Radcliffe.
Research note - parts of this collection are currently restricted and closed to research.
Records of the Harvard College Observatory Director Donald H. Menzel
COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.37
Research Note: This collection contains several correspondence items between Menzel and Payne-Gaposchkin and her husband, Sergei. Parts of this collection are closed to researchers without special permission.
G, 1956
ITEM — Box: 22, Folder: 1
Includes correspondence with...astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and astrophysicist Sergei I. Gaposchkin. It also contains a press release announcing the appointment of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin as Professor of Astronomy and includes a photograph of her.
Records of Harvard College Observatory Director Harlow Shapley
COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.22
1930-1940 correspondence, 1921-1950
“This subseries contains correspondence between Shapley and a variety of correspondents, including astronomers from the United States and abroad, such as Walter Sydney Adams, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Sergei Gaposchkin…”
Gabba-Garbedian, 1922-1934
ITEM — Box: 7, Folder: 4
“Contains correspondence with….astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin…”
[Bound volume], July-December 1923
ITEM — Box: 109
“….Topics of discussion include Observatory equipment, the Annals of the Harvard College Observatory publication, Observatory staff members, Shapley's involvement with the American Association of Variable Star Observers, the employment of Cecilia Payne (Gaposchkin), and news from the Boyden Station Observatory in Arequipa, Peru.”
Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne- and Sergei, 1931-1941
ITEM — Box: 32, Folder: 6
Correspondence between Shapley and the Payne-Gaposchkins.
Conant, James B., 1933-1937
ITEM — Box: 27, Folder: 2
“…and a letter from Shapley recommending the appointment of Annie Jump Cannon to the position of William Cranch Bond Astronomer and Curator of Astronomical Photographs and Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin as Phillips Astronomer.”
Gaposchkin, Cecilia Payne and Sergei, 1942-1950
ITEM — Box: 66, Folder: 8
Correspondence between Shapley and the Payne-Gaposchkin’s.
Records of the Harvard College Observatory Director Leo Goldberg
COLLECTION Identifier: UAV 630.38.5
Correspondence with staff, faculty, and others, 1960-1969
“…There are also letters with several of the Observatory’s female astronomers, including Barbara Bell, Helen Spence Federer, Margaret N. Lewis, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Dorothy Weeks, and Frances Woodworth Wright, as well as other female employees, such as Lyle G. Boyd and Thomasine Brooks.”
Records of Harvard College Observatory Boyden Station, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Collection Identifier: UAV 630.110.xx
Correspondence from Boyden Station, 1927-1954
“...the letters are written by newly appointed superintendent Henry J. Smith and his wife, astronomer Elske van Panhuys Smith, to a variety of Observatory employees, including Bart J. Bok, Sybil L. Chubb, Donald Menzel, Margaret Olmsted, and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.”
Correspondence, 1954
ITEM — Box: UAV 630.110.21 Box 3, Folder: 12
“...Contains correspondence from Boyden Station superintendent Henry Smith to employees at the Harvard College Observatory, including Bart J. Bok, Sybil L. Chubb, Margaret Olmsted, and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.”
