Research Guides: National History Day 2022-2023: Frontiers in History: Science and Engineering

Science and Engineering

Below you'll find organizations and individuals who work in the fields of science and engineering available at the Schlesinger Library, including archival material, books, and journals and newsletters covering the topic. Materials that have been digitized and are available for remote access are listed first for each category, and materials that must be accessed in-person are listed second.

The archival materials featured below include collections related to scientists who broke out onto new frontiers, such as Ruth Hubbard, the first women to be awarded a tenured biology professorship at Harvard. However, Schlesinger Library's collection includes many other scientists who made important contributions to the field, whether or not they were the first to do so; therefore, researchers working on projects related to this topic will find the Schlesinger Library's Scientists Guide of interest.

Further material on the topic can be found by searching HOLLIS, Harvard's online library catalog, for "science," "engineering," "women scientists," and "science education." You can also search by field using keywords such as "biologists" and "computer science."

Archival Collections - In-Person

Rachel Brown (1898-1980) and Elizabeth Lee Hazen
Rachel Fuller Brown and Elizabeth Lee Hazen were co-discoverers in 1950 of the drug nystatin, the first antibiotic administered to humans that safely and effectively treats serious fungal diseases. Both were employed by the Division of Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health. From 1957 to 1978, the Brown-Hazen Fund supported research and other programs in the biomedical sciences, especially in microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, and mycology; beginning in 1973, grants were restricted to work in mycology. Correspondence, clippings, articles, speeches, pamphlets, photos, and biographical information detail Brown and Hazen's research, accomplishments, and partnership.
Alice Hamilton (1869-1970)
A physician who was the first woman professor at Harvard University, Hamilton also worked as a resident researcher at Hull House, a researcher of industrial poisons for the United States Department of Labor, and a member of the League of Nations Health Organization and of President Hoover's Committe on Social Trends. Correspondence, articles, speeches, notes, clippings, and awards document Hamilton's professional life and interests.
Ruth Hubbard (1924-2016)
Biologist and feminist Ruth Hoffmann Hubbard graduated from Radcliffe College in 1944 with a B.A. in Biochemical Sciences and returned to Radcliffe to receive her Ph.D. In 1950, Hubbard began working at Harvard University, and in 1973, she became the first woman to be awarded a tenured biology professorship at Harvard. In the late 1960s, prompted by the Vietnam War and the women's liberation movement, her interests shifted from research towards political and social issues. In 1982, she was one of the founders of the Council for Responsible Genetics, a nonprofit non-governmental agency aiming to represent the public interest on issues in biotechnology. The collection includes correspondence, conference and speech material, writings, diaries, photographs, and files relating to organizations with which she was active.
Joanne Simpson (1923-2010)
Joanne Simpson became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology. Simpson worked as a research meteorologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in the 1950s. In 1960, she left Woods Hole to teach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she began her work on weather modification. Simpson later became an advisor to the United States Weather Bureau's National Hurricane Research Project. In Miami, Simpson ran the Experimental Meteorology Laboratory. Simpson eventually joined NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Project in 1986. The collection includes articles and papers written by Simpson, work journals, photographs, and other biographical material.

Published Materials

The library's published material collections are a rich source of information. Below, you'll find a sampling of books available to researchers online and researchers able to visit the library in-person, but a much larger selection is available through HOLLIS, Harvard University's catalog. To find material available at the Schlesinger Library, use the "Advanced Search" feature and limit your search to "Library Catalog. Choose "Schlesinger" from the "Scope" drop-down menu. Finally, select "Books" or "Journals" from the "Resource Type" drop-down menu. This search results list for the keyword "science" serves as an example of the breadth of books available in the Schlesinger Library's collection.

Please note that some materials labeled as available "Online" in the library catalog may require HarvardKey access for remote access. During an in-person visit, you can access those materials on the Library's public computers.