Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Samuel Robinson Williams Papers, 1877-1956 (bulk 1904-1955)

Finding aid prepared by Linda Seidman.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

Biographical Note

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Handwritten and typewritten drafts of manuscripts, reprints, bound volumes, printers' proofs, publishers' prospecti, correspondence, research notes, photographs, drawings, plans, and reports relating to Williams' teaching and research in physics, as well as a small amount of personal papers documenting his private life. His extensive correspondents are listed in the appendix, and included Arthur Stanley Pease and Stanley King (Presidents of Amherst College), Walter Crabtree Jr., Ray T. Bayless (American Society for Metals), M.F. Behar (Ed., Instruments), and David Landau (Nitralloy Corporation and Société des Amis d'Andre-Marie Ampere).

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into six series:

• 1. PUBLISHED WRITINGS, 1904-1956
• 2. UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS, 1942-1954
• 3. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1915-1955, n.d.
• 4. HOUSE-BUILDING RECORDS, LINCON AVENUE, AMHERST
• 5. SIGNAL CORPS RECORDS, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH DIVISION
• 6. MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

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Series 1: PUBLISHED WRITINGS 1904-1956

Series 1, PUBLISHED WRITINGS, consists largely of reprints, bound volumes, printers' proofs, publishers' prospecti, correspondence, and a framed award. The records are arranged by title in chronological order.

The reprints are in three bound volumes covering the years 1904-1952 which contain nearly all the published research papers by Williams.

"The Untold Story of the Telephone" was actually written by Lloyd W. Taylor, Williams' successor at Oberlin, but a note written by Williams on the cover sheet of the article indicates that he began work on the subject and turned his research materials over to Taylor upon leaving for Amherst. Among the letters in the correspondence folder for this article are two electrostatic copies of letters between Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray (1877) giving and claiming credit for apparatus which led to the invention of the telephone and two original letters (1878) to Elisha gray from George B. Prescott and H.S.Carhart about his inventions.

"The Spirit and Method of Research in Undergraduate Courses" consists of two pamphlets of reprints of two articles by Williams explicating his ideas about teaching physics to undergraduates, and six articles published by Williams and/or eight of his students which serve as examples of his method. First published in 1929, the 1946 version has a revised introduction by Williams.

Folder 9 contains printers' proofs of Chapters 1-9 and a typed carbon copy of Chapter 10 of what appears to be a partial revision of Foundations of College Physics, although it is called Metrology. It parallels but differs from the earlier book.

The development of Hardness and Hardness Measurements from lecture to serialization to published volume can be traced through the material in this collection, however the correspondence through which much of this is done is in the GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Series, 1935-1943, particularly in correspondence with Bayless, Behar, Eisenman, Lessells and Rimbach (see Name Index)

The notebook of printers' proofs of "Magnetism" which appeared serially in School Science and Math (LIV no. 4; LIV no. 9; LV no. 8; LVI no. 1) between 1952 and 1956 contains an enigmatic added type-written title page: "Magnetic Phenomena: An Elementary Treatise. By S.R.Williams, Ph.D., D.Sc., Emeritus Professor of Physics on the Eliza J. Clark Folger Foundation. Amherst College. First Edition."

Series 2: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 1954

Series 2, UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS, consist of handwritten and typewritten drafts of articles, correspondence, research notes and materials, and photographs and illustrations.

The records in this series relate to the three unpublished articles which Williams was working on at the time of his death: "Andre-Marie Ampre: Electro Dynamist par Excellance 1775-1836";"Reed and Pipe Organs Owned by Amherst College"; and "A History of Physics at Amherst College". There is also an unfinished revision of Foundations of College Physics to be found in Folder 9 of the PUBLISHED WRITINGS series.

The materials are arranged by title, then in the sequence of drafts, correspondence, research notes, photographs and illustrations.

The correspondence as kept by Williams for the Ampere article is largely between Williams and David Landau of the Nitralloy Corporation and Le Société des Amis d'Andre-Marie Ampere. It covers the time period September 4, 1942 to November 11, 1954, but refers specifically to Ampere only between February 14, 1949 and February 7, 1952. Additional Landau correspondence can be found in Folder 16 of the GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE series. Eight of the letters, as indicated in the folder, were enclosed with the draft of the article in a notebook now discarded. Other correspondents concerning this article were Gifford Scott and J. Howard McMillen.

The photographs for the article "Reed and Pipe Organs Owned by Amherst College" are of the Estey organ and of Williams repairing an early chapel organ he had moved to his house.

Among the photographs and illustrations for "The History of Physics at Amherst College" is one of a wave instrument designed by Professor Ebenezer Snell which was destroyed in the Walker Building fire.

Series 3: GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 1915-1955

Series 3, GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, consists of letters, telegrams, memoranda, and enclosures. The series is arranged chronologically. At the end of this register is a name index of all correspondents that is arranged alphabetically by the name of the letter writer or the person to whom the letter is addressed. It gives the folder number, year, and number of letters written by Williams to each correspondent and/or the number of letters he received.

The bulk of the correspondence is from the years Williams was at Amherst College and is professional in nature. Some of the subjects include Amherst College departmental matters; college policies; physics matters--opinions, information, the nature of teaching it; hiring of faculty, war-time issues at Amherst College; letters of recommendation and introduction; or the publishing of books and articles.

Williams' correspondents included Amherst College Presidents Cole, King and Pease, physics professors at other colleges and universities, present and former colleagues and students, manufacturers of instruments or materials he used in research, other physicists, or editors and publishers. The last folder in the series contains letters received during Williams' last illness. Additional correspondence can be found in other series as noted in the Folder Title list.

Series 4: HOUSE-BUILDING RECORDS, LINCOLN AVENUE, AMHERST

Series 4, HOUSE-BUILDING RECORDS, consists of drawings, plans, notes, bid forms, bills, account reports, product brochures, newspaper clippings, and correspondence (1935, 1941). See also GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE for letters concerning the College-owned house in which Williams lived before building this one. The Correspondence is arranged chronologically and the other materials are roughly sorted by type.

Series 5: SIGNAL CORPS RECORDS, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH DIVISION

Series 5, SIGNAL CORPS RECORDS, consists of correspondence and research material. The correspondence consists of letters, telegrams, and memoranda from April 27, 1918 to November 26, 1918. It is chronologically arranged. The research material is unarranged and consists of reports, graphs, charts, notes, statistical tabulations, maps, and "data sheets."

Series 6: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS

Series 6, MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, consists of a signed copy of an Amherst College commencement speech by Charles Cole; 4 pages of unidentified writings; a copy of the Amherst College Statutes in Reference to the Presidency and Faculty; 3 pages of unidentified research notes; 4 mimeographed pages entitled "Three Course Program"; a college song; 2 newspaper clippings; a notebook called "Technical Library Gifts"; and an autograph book signed by guests at a dinner honoring Williams during the 270th American Physical Society Meeting New York City January 25, 1946. This series is unarranged.