Scope and Content Note
The papers of Alan Tower Waterman (1892-1967) cover the years from 1912 to 1967, with the greater part concentrated in the period 1940-1963. The collection includes diary notes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, speeches and articles, and miscellaneous biographical material documenting Waterman's career as an administrator of scientific research organizations. The papers are in English and arranged into eight series: Diary Notes, Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Subject File, Speech and Article File, Miscellany, Additions, and Classified.
Waterman was trained as a physicist and devoted the early years of his career, 1919-1942, to teaching physics at Yale University. During World War II, Waterman headed the Office of Field Services for the Office of Scientific Research and Development, coordinating the work of civilian scientists on weaponry and other military applications, particularly in the Pacific theater. After World War II, the navy initiated a series of grants to universities for fundamental scientific research, and Waterman was placed in charge of the program as chief scientist and deputy chief of the Office of Naval Research. The success of this program led to congressional legislation in 1950 creating the National Science Foundation and to the appointment of Waterman as its director by President Harry S. Truman. The great majority of Waterman's papers details his administrative work for these organizations.
As chief scientist with the Office of Naval Research, Waterman assured universities that the government was not attempting to control academic research but did need to advance scientific knowledge in the technological age. His views on the role of government-sponsored research are stated in his speeches and articles. In addition to the General Correspondence series, a group of papers designated by Waterman as "Diary Notes" provides summaries of conversations relating to his management of the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. Highlights of the National Science Foundation records concern the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958, and the nation's early satellite program.
Among the prominent scientists appearing in the corrrespondence are Detlev W. Bronk, Vannevar Bush, K. T. Compton, James Bryant Conant, Lee A. Dubridge, George Gamow, Willard Frank Libby, Bernard Lovell, Margaret Mead, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Harlow Shapley, Norbert Wiener, and Jerrold Zacharias. The General Correspondence also contains papers relating to many organizations in which Waterman was active, particularly the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C.
A Subject File contains papers relating to Waterman's years as a reader and chief examiner in physics for the College Entrance Examination Board and a collection of his travel itineraries and vouchers for the years 1940-1965.
Additions to the collection include the 1997 Addition and the 2022 Addition. The 1997 Addition includes declassified documents from World War II, a collection of Waterman's speeches and statements, articles by Waterman and others, and miscellaneous correspondence. The 2022 Addition includes administrative paperwork related to Waterman’s service with the United States Army Signal Corps, 1917-1919.