Administrative Information
Provenance
The papers of Vera C. Rubin, astronomer, were given to the Library of Congress by Vera C. Rubin in 2001 and 2012. Small additions were given by the estate of Vera C. Rubin through the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, in 2017 and by Charles J. Peterson in 2018.
Processing History
Given the inter-related and complex content of the Rubin papers, it was decided to retain the collection's original arrangement. The collection was boxed, therefore, in the order it was received, with minor adjustments. Rubin's papers that were given in 2001 are in containers 1-72 and oversize containers OV1-OV10 and OV14. Her 2012 donation is in containers 72-237 and oversize containers OV11-OV13 and OV15-OV17. The 2017 addition from Rubin's estate is in containers 237-242. Although many original file folders were replaced, many of Rubin's original folders were retained, in particular those with annotations made by her.
The contents of the collection were described and listed during processing in a spreadsheet which was sorted by series and therein either alphabetically or chronologically. The sorted spreadsheet was then used to generate the container list. The finding aid's container list, as a result, describes the collection in intellectual rather than physical order. Rather than creating cross-references, some folders are listed in two series. The spreadsheet is available as an Excel file upon request.
Other Repositories
The Vera C. Rubin Photograph Collection, circa 1942-2012, is available to researchers at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Vera C. Rubin Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.