Records, 1902-1965 Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives Washington, D.C. Contact us at [email protected] Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Historical Note.................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 3 Descriptive Entry.............................................................................................................. 4 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 7 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 9 Series 1: ORGANIZATION AND INCORPORATION OF SCIENCE SERVICE, MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, AND RELATED CORRESPONDENCE, 1919-1943......................................................... 9 Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DIRECTOR (EDWIN E. SLOSSON) AND SENIOR STAFF OF SCIENCE SERVICE, 1920-1929........................................... 12 Series 3: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF EDWIN E. SLOSSON, 1902-1929........................................ 34 Series 4: BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE OF SCIENCE SERVICE, 1922-1925............................................................................................................... 38 Series 5: EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DIRECTOR AND SENIOR STAFF OF SCIENCE SERVICE, 1921-1963, INCLUDING THE CORRESPONDENCE OF WATSON DAVIS AS NEWS EDITOR (1921-1922), MANAGING EDITOR (1922-1933), AND DIRECTOR (1933-1963)....................... 44 Series 6: COMMITTEES, ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLICATIONS, AND OTHER ACTIVITIES OF WATSON DAVIS, 1941-1954.................................................... 209 Series 7: MISCELLANEOUS SCIENCE SERVICE STAFF FILES ON PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY, AND ENGINEERING, 1942-1958................................................ 211 Series 8: DAILY MAIL REPORT, 1932-1964....................................................... 214 Series 9: ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION SURVEY, 1938-1939......................... 228 Series 10: RADIO PROGRAMS OF SCIENCE SERVICE - "ADVENTURES IN SCIENCE" AND "SCIENCE NEWS OF THE WEEK," 1935-1958....................... 235 Series 11: PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS, AND SCIENCE NEWS LETTER PROOFS, 1921-1957........................................................................................... 290 Series 12: KNUD RASMUSSEN EXPEDITION, 1923-1926................................ 304 Series 13: INTERLINGUA, 1951-1963................................................................. 306 Series 14: NATIONAL INVENTORS COUNCIL, 1941-1948................................ 312 Series 15: UNESCO, 1947-1951......................................................................... 316 Series 16: LATIN AMERICAN TRANSLATIONS, 1941-1952............................... 319 Series 17: SYNDICATED CORRESPONDENCE................................................. 337 Series 18: AMERICAN DOCUMENTATION INSTITUTE, 1922-1954.................. 363 Series 19: PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES OF WATSON DAVIS, 1922-1952............................................................................................................. 381 Series 20: "ADVENTURES IN SCIENCE" RECORDINGS, 1951-1959............... 390 Series 21: KEYSTONE SCIENCE SERVICE, 1935-1936.................................... 399 Series 22: ADDITIONAL MATERIAL.................................................................... 400 Records http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217249 Collection Overview Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C., [email protected] Title: Records Identifier: Record Unit 7091 Date: 1902-1965 Extent: 268.55 cu. ft. (79 record storage boxes) (372 document boxes) (2 12x17 boxes) (3 3x5 boxes) (3 5x8 boxes) (2 tall document boxes) Creator:: Science Service Language: English Administrative Information Prefered Citation Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7091, Science Service, Records Historical Note Science Service, a not-for-profit institution founded to increase and improve the public dissemination of scientific and technical information, began its work in 1921. Although initially intended as a news service, Science Service produced an extensive array of news features, radio programs, motion pictures, phonograph records, and demonstration kits and it also engaged in various educational, translation, and research activities. It later became Science Service, Inc., an organization that publishes Science News and promotes science education. On January 10, 2008 Science Service was renamed Society for Science & the Public (SSP). Record Unit 7091 contains correspondence and other material related to Science Service, from just before its establishment through 1963, including the editorial correspondence of the first two directors and senior staff. The inspiration for such an organization developed during conversations between newspaper publisher E.W. Scripps (1854-1926) and zoologist William E. Ritter (1856-1944), who headed the Scripps-funded oceanographic institute in California. "Document A - The American Society for the Dissemination of Science," dictated by E. W. Scripps on March 5, 1919 (see Box 1, Folder 1), declared that the "first aim of this [proposed] institution should be just the reverse of what is called propaganda." Scripps believed that it should not support partisan causes, including those of any particular scientific group or discipline, but should instead develop ways to "present facts in readable and interesting form..." (p. 3). Scripps and Ritter held meetings throughout the United States to solicit ideas and support from scientists. By 1920, they had concluded that the best way to improve the popularization of science would be to create an independent, non-commercial news service with close ties to, but not operated by, the scientific community. The scientists would lend credibility to the organization's work, help to ensure accuracy, and project an image of authority. Page 1 of 401 Records http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217249 Scripps supplied an initial donation of $30,000 per year from 1921 until his death in 1926. His will placed $500,000 in trust for Science Service and provided a continuing endowment until the trust was dissolved in 1956. Science Service did not provide all its services for free. Scripps believed that the news service would be more valued by its clients - and would better reflect their needs and professional standards - if it charged a fair price for its products. As a result, the history of the organization is one of continual innovation, as the staff developed and marketed new syndicated features, wrote articles and books for other publishers on commission, and re-wrote each basic news story for multiple markets. From the beginning, Science Service was guided by a 15-member board of trustees composed of two groups: prominent scientists nominated by the National Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Smithsonian Institution, and newspaper editors or executives nominated by the Scripps-Howard organization or the Scripps family trust. William E. Ritter served as the first president of the board of trustees. Such scientists as J. McKeen Cattell, Edwin G. Conklin, Harlow Shapley, and Leonard Carmichael (the seventh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution) succeeded him over the next four decades. During the summer of 1920, Ritter began negotiations with Edwin E. Slosson (1865-1929), a well-known chemist and popularizer. Slosson had taught at the University of Wyoming for thirteen years until moving to New York to become the literary editor of The Independent. He began work as the head of Science Service in January 1921. The first public announcement of the creation of Science Service appeared in Science, April 8, 1921, pp. 321-323. The first meeting of the trustees was held on May 20, 1921; the Science Service trust was set up July 22, 1921; and the not-for-profit organization was incorporated in the state of Delaware on November 1, 1921. In 1921, Howard Wheeler, former editor of the San Francisco Daily News, was hired as the business manager. Watson Davis (1896-1967), a civil engineer who had been working at the National Bureau of Standards and writing science features for a Washington, D.C., newspaper, was hired as principal writer. In 1923, Wheeler was fired; Slosson (whose title had been "Editor") was named Director; and Davis was promoted to managing editor. Throughout the 1920s, Davis built the news service through the "Daily Science News Bulletin," which later became the syndicated "Daily Mail Report" sold to newspapers around the country. He developed a local radio program and script service ("Science News of the Week"), coordinated a project to produce phonograph records, and assembled a skilled staff to handle reporting, circulation, production, sales, advertising, and accounting. Davis also edited the organization's most successful product, Science News Letter (titled Science News Bulletin, April 2, 1921-March 1922, and Science News-Letter, March 1922- October 1930).