Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process, with the final folder containing correspondence following up on the interview after its completion.
Accession No. PA.2000.0060: Alan Shapley, 1997 January
[identification of item], Alan Shapley Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0078, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 October; Finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, Sam Devereaux, 2020 November
Alan Horace Shapley (1919-2006) graduated from Harvard College in 1940 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics and Astronomy. After that, he began working at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, forecasting the behavior of the ionosphere for radio propagation for the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). In 1945, Shapley began working in the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory (CRPL) in Anchorage, Alaska. He was in charge of CRPL’s radio disturbance warning service and travelled around Alaska, selling and setting up the service to military customers. In 1947, Shapley became Director of the National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data Center (NGSDC) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Shapley attended a meeting in 1950, between the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the Mixed Commission on the Ionosphere. During the meeting, resolutions were written for an International Geophysical Year (IGY) from 1957-1958, and ICSU established an international committee for planning IGY, Comité Spécial de l’Année Géophysique Internationale (CSAGI). Shapley helped create a calendar of World Days during IGY when more intensive or specific observations should be taken due to special weather events and shared this information in CSAGI meetings. During this time, Shapley was also the Vice Chairman of the United States National Committee for IGY. He helped establish World Data Centers, which provided a way to archive the international results of scientific findings during IGY. Shapley also designed Weather Central, a network of stations that would collect weather reports from countries with which they had a stable relationship, and broadcast those weather reports worldwide. At the end of 1958, Shapley went with a group to tour and inspect the United States Antarctic stations. He made a second trip to inspect the stations in 1969, while working for the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). In 1970, ESSA became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Shapley made his final trip to Antarctica to visit the South Pole Station. During that year, Shapley became the Director of the National Geophysical and Solar Terrestrial Data Center at NOAA. He served in that position until his retirement in 1981.
The Alan Shapley Oral History, dated 1997 and 2001, contains audio recordings and transcripts of the interview between Shapley and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on January 31, 1997, as well as correspondence from 2001. Major topics discussed include Shapley's involvement in the planning and execution of the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958, his research trips to the various polar regions around the globe, his career as a geophysicist, and how his work led to the development of the World Data Centers to allow for the sharing of scientific data between countries on topics relating to the Earth.
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