Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2000.0025: Edwin C. Flowers, 2000 March
[identification of item], Edwin C. Flowers Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0041, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Devon Boerman, 2019 December; Finding aid written by: Devon Boerman, 2019 December
Edwin C. Flowers started his career in meteorology near the end of World War II; he spent 18 months in the United States Navy making weather observations. After leaving the Navy, Flowers joined the United States Weather Bureau in Washington D.C. As part of a group of four meteorologists from the Weather Bureau, Flowers volunteered to go to Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year from 1957-1958. He was assigned to work as the Chief Meteorologist at South Pole Station where his group recorded weather observations and measurements. For about ten years after the International Geophysical Year, Flowers did work related to the polar region for the Weather Bureau such as returning to Antarctica in 1960, working with the Canadians in planning arctic region programs, and designing programs for the polar regions for the International Quiet Sun Year (IQSY) from 1964-1965 to study the sun.
The Edwin C. Flowers Oral History, dated 2000-2002, contains audiocassettes, administrative information and transcripts of the interview between Flowers and Ohio State University Polar Archivist Laura Kissel that took place on March 9, 2000, regarding his experience as a meteorologist in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY). This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation Major topics of the oral history include how Flowers became a meteorologist and subsequently how he became involved with the IGY, what daily life at South Pole Station was like, and Flower's role as a weather observer and his research activities, such as weather balloon launches. The oral history also contains a discussion on Paul Siple and his influence on others at South Pole Station, the relationship between Navy personnel and civilian scientists, and Flowers' relationship with others people in Antarctica during that time.