The Ford Foundation and the European Southern Observatory

Those in attendance were: Baade (U.S.A.), Bourgeois (Belgium), Danjon (France), Heckmann (Federal Republic of Germany), Lindblad (Sweden), Oort, Oosterfoff, and Blaauw (Netherlands). J. H. Bannier, Director of the Dutch national science foundation, also attendEd. Blaauw Adriaan , ESO's early history (European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, 1991), 4.

The statement was signed by: Heckmann O. , Director of the Hamburg Observatory; A. Unsöld, Director of the Kiel Observatory; Bourgeois P. , Director of the Royal Observatory of Belgium; Couder A. , Astronomer, Paris Observatory; Danjon A. , Director of the Paris Observatory; Redman R. O. , Director of the Cambridge Observatory; Oort J. H. , Director of the Leiden Observatory; Oosterhoff P. Th. , Astronomer, Leiden Observatory; van Rhijn P. J. , Director of the Kapteyn Astronomical Laboratory at Groningen; Lindblad B. , Director of the Stockholm Observatory; Lundmark K. , Director of the Lund Observatory; and Malmquist K. G. , Director of the Uppsala Observatory. The Messenger , no. 54 (December 1988), 2.

The members were: Bourgeois Danjon Heckmann Oort Lindblad from the original group. Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the Astronomer Royal (Great Britain), replaced Redman. Blaauw, op. cit. (ref. 1), 6.

Letter, Oort to Struve, 11 February 1954, Oort Archives, Leiden Observatory.

Letter, Struve to McMath, 16 February 1954, McMath Robert R. Collection, Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

Letter, Struve to Oort, 16 February 1954, Oort Archives, Leiden Observatory.

Letter, Oort to Stone, 2 August 1956, Ford Foundation Archives (hereafter: FFA).

Letter, McDaniel to Oort, 14 August 1956, FFA.

Borgmann , 5 April 1979 interview with Edmondson in Boulder, Edmondson personal files. The Ford Foundation made four large grants in astronomy between late 1959 and early 1967, all for projects in the southern hemisphere:

(a) European Southern Observatory ($1.0 million);.

(b) Yale-Columbia Southern Hemisphere Astrograph ($750,000);.

(c) CSIRO for Australian Radio-heliograph ($550,000 plus $80,000 = $630,000);.

(d) AURA for half the cost of the Cerro Tololo 150-inch (4-metre) telescope ($5.0 million).

McPeak to Nims, 16 April 1958, FFA.

Per Olof Lindblad, 8 August 1988, interview with Edmondson at IAU in Baltimore.

McDaniel Lindblad , 2 May 1958, FFA.

Gordon Nielsen , 29 April 1958, FFA.

Oort to Heald, 18 July 1958, FFA. Also a copy from C. D. Shane's personal archives.

Heald to Oort, 22 July 1958, FFA.

Oort to Bowen, 22 July 1958, Mt Wilson Observatory Archives.

Borgmann to Pearson, 1 August 1958, FFA.

Pearson to Borgmann, 20 August 1958, FFA.

Skapski to Borgmann, 28 August 1958, FFA.

Oort to Heald, 8 September 1958, FFA; Heald to Oort, 12 September 1958, FFA.

Borgmann to Lindblad, 26 September 1958, FFA.

Borgmann to Science and Engineering files, 9 October 1958, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 15 October 1958, FFA.

Lindblad to Borgmann, 4 November 1958, FFA.

Oort to Heald, 4 November 1958, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 8 November 1958, FFA.

Pearson to Oort, 25 November 1958, FFA.

Oort to Pearson, 2 December 1958, FFA.

Berger to Stone, 29 November 1958, FFA.

Stone to Borgmann and Pearson, 11 December 1958, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 5 January 1959, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 18 January 1959, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 5 February 1959, FFA.

Pearson to Records Center, 16 February 1959, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 17 February 1959, FFA.

Borgmann to Records Center, 23 March 1959, FFA.

McPeak to Heald, undated, FFA.

Heald to McPeak, 16 March 1959, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 25 March 1959, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 14 April 1959, FFA.

Pearson to Science and Engineering files, 31 March 1959, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 30 April 1959, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 13 July 1959, FFA.

Docket Excerpt, Meeting of Board of Trustees, 25 September 1959, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 2 October 1959, FFA. Also a copy from Shane C. D. personal archives.

Borgmann to Records Center, 5 October 1959, FFA.

Oort to Danjon (in French), 5 October 1959; I am indebted to my wife for the English translation. Note: A typed “copie” of the first page of the letter is in the FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 7 October 1959, FFA.

Oort to Shane, 6 October 1959, Shane C. D. personal archives.

Stone to Nielsen, Borgmann, Records Center, 25 October 1959, FFA.

Stone to Lieut. Kimbler, Ford Foundation, cable, 21 October 1959, 9.49 a.m., FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 29 October 1959, FFA.

Blaauw , op. cit. (ref. 1), 14.

Ibid. 16.

Ibid. 16.

Oort to Borgmann, 22 April 1960, FFA.

Berger to Stone, 28 June 1960, FFA.

Bayen to “Monsieur le Directeur de la Foundation FORD”, 22 June 1960, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 28 June 1960, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 12 January 1961, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 14 October 1962, FFA.

Blaauw , op. cit. (ref. 53), 18.

Pearson to Records Center, 24 March 1960, FFA.

Oort to ESO Committee, 22 April 1960, FFA.

Oort to Shane, 28 April 1960, Shane C. D. personal archives.

Blaauw to Stock, 15 June 1962, KPNO-Mayall archives.

Blaauw , op. cit. (ref. 53), 49–52; Fehrenbach Charles , Des hommes, des téléscopes, des étoiles (Paris, 1997), 379–81; and Edmondson Frank K. , AURA and its national observatories (New York, 1997), 209–10.

Oort to Edmondson, 17 November 1963, Edmondson personal archives.

Oort to Edmondson, 10 February 1964, Edmondson personal archives.

Oort to Borgmann, 10 February 1964, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, 24 February 1964, FFA.

Borgmann to Oort, cable, 16 June 1964, FFA.

Oort to Borgmann, 1 July 1964, FFA.

Cooney to Oort, 14 July 1964, FFA.

Request for Grant out of Appropriation, 30 July 1964, FFA. This grant was one of five, total $4,158,000, published in the New York Times 21 October 1964.

Cooney to Heald, 30 July 1964, FFA.

Oort to the Ford Foundation, 3 August 1964, FFA.

Oort to Cooney, 14 August 1964, FFA.

McDaniel to Oort, 4 September 1964, FFA.

MacLeod to Millard (Morgan Guaranty Trust Company), 15 September 1964, FFA.

MacLeod to Oort, 15 September 1964, FFA.

Heckmann to Millard, 21 September 1964, FFA.

Oort to McDaniel, 29 September 1964, FFA.