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Finding Aid for the Harry Curtis Collection, 1908-1963


MS-0323

University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN


Encoded by: Elizabeth Dunham, September 7, 2006.

Summary Information
Title: Harry Curtis Collection

Date/Date Range :   1908-1963

Extent: 10.5 linear feet

Abstract:
The Curtis Collection contains business and personal correspondence, research notes and published and unpublished articles, talks, and book reviews by Dr. Curtis, photographs, articles on his retirement and death, printed technical material, and a copy of his account of his career.

Call number: MS-0323

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Access and Use
Aquisition Information:
Mrs. Curtis donated this collection to the Special Collections Library in July of 1964.
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Copyright:
The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of Item], Harry Curtis Collection, MS-0323. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Arrangement

Collection consists of fifteen boxes divided into 11 series: Correspondence; Correspondence with Universities; Correspondence with Organizations; Correspondence with Business Firms; TVA Service; Government Service other than TVA; Articles, talks, book reviews, and notes for these by Dr. Curtis, and correspondence concerning books and technical journals to which Dr. Curtis contributed; Publications containing articles by Dr. Curtis, bulletins, and reprints of articles by Dr. Curtis, unpublished stories and essays by Dr. Curtis; Material on patents granted to Dr. Curtis, research notes, printed technical material; Technical material. Information on various elements, compounds, chemical processes, and mathematics; and Records and correspondence corncerning the Curtis family, Dr. Curtis's eye injury, and Mrs. Curtis's illnesses; non- technical printed material; miscellaneous material.


Biography / History

Dr. Harry Alfred Curtis (1884-1963) was a brilliant chemical engineer who distinguished himself in industry, government service, research, and education. From 1949 until his retirement in 1957, he served on the board of directors of TVA.


Collection Scope and Content Note

This collection contains letters from Harcourt A. Morgan, president of the university and TVA board member; Senators Harry Truman, Estes Kefauver, and Albert Gore; Trygve Lie, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; and the distinguished chemist, Frederick G. Cottrell. The papers were left in Dr. Curtis' arrangement when possible, with a series of letters to or from the individual or firm grouped together and filed chronologically. Where there were only one or two pieces of correspondence with an individual, these were placed in folders according to last initial and filed in chronological order. Dates following the description in the contents refer to the period covered by the correspondence.

Subject Terms

  • Curtis, Harry Alfred, 1884-1963.
  • Tennessee Valley Authority. Board of Directors.
  • United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century.
Contents List
   

Series I: Correspondence, 1919-1963
Box   1     Folder   1    
Miscellaneous: A, 1957-1963
Box   1     Folder   2    
Miscellaneous: B, 1923-1963
Box   1     Folder   3    
Neil Bass, Chief Conservation Engineer, TVA, 1935-1948
Box   1     Folder   4    
Leonard Blumenthal, professor of mathematics, University of Missouri, 1951-1956
Box   1     Folder   5    
Charles O. Brown, consulting engineer, 1946-1960
Box   1     Folder   6    
Robert M. Burns, chemist, 1923-1962
Box   1     Folder   7    
Miscellaneous: C, 1923-1957
Box   1     Folder   8    
James H. Christensen, TVA chemical engineer, 1953-1956
Box   1     Folder   9    
Raymond L. Copson, chemical engineer, 1929-1957
Box   1     Folder   10    
Frederick G. Cottrell, distinguished chemist, director of Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and later, head of Research Associates, Inc., 1923-1952
Box   1     Folder   11    
Winterton C. Curtis, Dean Emeritus, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Missouri, 1955-1957
Box   1     Folder   12    
Miscellaneous: D, 1921-1961
Box   1     Folder   13    
Paul M. Dean, professor of chemistry, University of Colorado, 1924-1961
Box   1     Folder   14    
Barnett F. Dodge, professor of chemical engineering, Yale University, 1925-1962
Box   1     Folder   15    
Frederick W. Doolittle, public utilities finance adviser, 1922-1940
Box   1     Folder   16    
Miscellaneous: E, 1921-1958
Box   1     Folder   17    
John B. Eckeley, head, Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado and teacher of Dr. Curtis, 1923-1937
Box   1     Folder   18    
R.C. Ernst, Dean, Speed Scientific School, University of Louisville, 1936-1956
Box   2     Folder   1    
Miscellaneous: F, 1923-1959
Box   2     Folder   2    
Hugh M. Frampton, attorney, 1922-1933
Box   2     Folder   3    
Miscellaneous: G, 1923-1959
Box   2     Folder   4    
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Geers, former student and secretary of Dr. Curtis, respectively, at University of Missouri, 1949-1961
Box   2     Folder   5    
Miscellaneous: H, 1924-1957
Box   2     Folder   6    
Leonard Hill, editor, British technical publications, 1945-1962
Box   2     Folder   7    
Daniel S. Hamilton, industrialist, 1919-1963
Box   2     Folder   8    
James K. Hunt, chemist, DuPont Company, 1922-1962
Box   2     Folder   9    
Miscellaneous: J, 1923-1962
Box   2     Folder   10    
Miscellaneous: K, 1946-1961
Box   2     Folder   11    
Judson King, Director, National Popular Government League, 1956-1958
Box   2     Folder   12    
Norman W. Krase, professor of chemical engineering, 1928-1939
Box   2     Folder   13    
Miscellaneous: L, 1931-1958
Box   2     Folder   14    
Arthur M. Miller, TVA chemical engineer and later, assistant to president of Rohm and Haas, 1936-1959
Box   2     Folder   15    
Harcourt A. Morgan, Director of TVA, 1936-47
Box   2     Folder   16    
Miscellaneous: N, O, and P, 1921-1962
Box   2     Folder   17    
Miscellaneous: R, S, and T, 1923-1962
Box   2     Folder   18    
E.H. Thomas, chemist, Pacific Chemical and Fertilizer Company, 1948-1958
Box   2     Folder   19    
Horace L. Tower, Jr., chemical engineer and student of Dr. Curtis at Yale, 1926-1935
Box   2     Folder   20    
Miscellaneous: U, 1925-1948
Box   2     Folder   21    
Miscellaneous: V, 1926-1935
Box   2     Folder   22    
Miscellaneous: W, 1922-1934
Box   3     Folder   1    
Miscellaneous: W, 1935-1949
Box   3     Folder   2    
Miscellaneous: W, 1950-1962
Box   3     Folder   3    
Alfred H. White, professor of chemical engineering, University of Michigan. Includes letters to and from Dr. White's son, McLaren, 1923-1953
Box   3     Folder   4    
Clayton S. Wolf, chemical engineer, 1921-1926
Box   3     Folder   5    
Clayton S. Wolf, 1927-1961
Box   3     Folder   6    
Miscellaneous: Z, 1940-1951
   

Series II: Correspondence with Universities, 1916-1962
Box   3     Folder   7    
Harvard, 1957
Box   3     Folder   8    
Northwestern University, 1919-1920
Box   3     Folder   9    
University of Colorado, 1916-1960
Box   3     Folder   10    
University of Colorado Alumnae Office, 1951-1962
Box   3     Folder   11    
University of Colorado Class 1908 Fund, 1932-1935
Box   3     Folder   12    
University of Colorado memorial Building, 1920-1935
Box   3     Folder   13    
University of Louisville, 1942
Box   3     Folder   14    
University of Missouri, 1938-1952
Box   3     Folder   15    
Letters of congratulations on appointment as dean at University of Missouri, 1938-1939
Box   3     Folder   16    
Material on reunions of University of Missouri engineering alumni in 1940 and 1947, undated
Box   3     Folder   17    
University of Tennessee, 1957-1960
Box   3     Folder   18    
University of Wisconsin, 1937-1952
Box   3     Folder   19    
Yale University. Inter-office correspondence with James Angell, President, and Charles Warren, Dean of Sheffield Scientific School, 1923-1930
Box   3     Folder   20    
Chemical engineering at Yale. Material on philosophy of the course, requirements for degrees, etc., undated
   

Series III: Correspondence with Organizations, 1924-1963
Box   4     Folder   1    
Alpha Chi Sigma, chemical fraternity, 1925-1949
Box   4     Folder   2    
Alpha Chi Sigma. Includes issues of the Hexagon, magazine of Alpha Chi Sigma and photographs made at 1948 conclave of the fraternity, 1952-1963
Box   4     Folder   3    
American Chemical Society, 1927-1962
Box   4     Folder   4    
American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1924-1958
Box   4     Folder   5    
Coal Research Club, 1933-1952
Box   4     Folder   6    
Engineers' Council for Professional Development, 1938-1939
Box   4     Folder   7    
National Popular Government League, 1955-1958
Box   4     Folder   8    
Post World War Council, 1945-1949
Box   4     Folder   9    
Resources for the Future, 1958
Box   4     Folder   10    
United Nations, 1949-1951
Box   4     Folder   11    
United Nations Economic and Social Council. Includes publications on UNESCO, 1948-1958
Box   4     Folder   12    
World Engineering Congress, 1928-1929
   

Series IV: Correspondence with Business Firms, 1920-1960
Box   5     Folder   1    
American Briquet Company, 1927
Box   5     Folder   2    
Central Farmers Fertilizer Company, an agricultural cooperative established to provide supply service to midwestern agricultural cooperatives, undated
Box   5     Folder   3    
Includes dealings with Stockholders Syndicate, Idaho Phosphates Deposits of which Central Farmers is a shareholder, 1947-1952
Box   5     Folder   4    
Central Farmers Fertilizer Company. Includes report on activities of CCF, 1951-1956
Box   5     Folder   5    
Central Farmers Fertilizer Company. Includes contracts between Dr. Curtis and CCF, 1957-1959
Box   5     Folder   6    
Correspondence with A.L.Stutts of Central Farmers Fertilizer Company, 1958-1959
Box   5     Folder   7    
Research bulletins published by Central Farmers Fertilizer Company, undated
Box   5     Folder   8    
Idaho Phosphate Deposits. Includes correspondence with Robert J. Shields, manager of the syndicate and maps and charts of the phosphate deposit areas and a report by Dr. Curtis, 1947-1948
Box   5     Folder   9    
Two notebooks on proposed phosphate leases, 1947 January
Box   5     Folder   10    
Notebook of work notes on the phosphate deposits project, undated
Box   5     Folder   11    
Envelope containing material on Wyoming phosphate, undated
Box   5     Folder   12    
Two envelopes of material on Utah phosphate, undated
Box   6     Folder   1    
Development and Resources Corporation, formed to provide technical and financial guidance in developing natural resources abroad. Includes invoices for Dr. Curtis' services and his notes on a project for the firm, 1955-1959
Box   6     Folder   2    
Iraq program, 1957
Box   6     Folder   3    
Khuzestan fertilizer program in Iran, 1957-1959
Box   6     Folder   4    
Leo Anderson's report on Khuzestan Program, 1957
Box   6     Folder   5    
Correspondence with Leroy Thompson concerning Khuzestan Project, 1957-1960
Box   6     Folder   6    
Montecatini, 1957-1958
Box   6     Folder   7    
International Coal Products Corporation, 1920-1921
Box   6     Folder   8    
Houdry Process Corporation, 1931-1933
Box   6     Folder   9    
Missouri Valley Authority, 1945
Box   6     Folder   10    
Torkelson Company, 1957-1958
Box   6     Folder   11    
Vacuum Oil Company, 1930-1933
Box   6     Folder   12    
Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corporation, 1927-1930
Box   6     Folder   13    
Dr. Curtis' notebook on projects of Development and Resources Corporation, undated
Box   6     Folder   14    
Published report on Khuzestan Fertilizer Program, undated
Box   6     Folder   15    
Typed reports on nitrogen and fertilizer plants, undated
   

Series V: TVA Service, 1933-1962
Box   7     Folder   1    
Dr. Curtis' contracts with TVA as chief chemical engineer, as consultant, and as board member. Also record of all government service and information on retirement benefits, 1933-1961
Box   7     Folder   2    
Miscellaneous notes, 1933-1944
Box   7     Folder   3    
Reports made as TVA chief chemical engineer, 1933-1939
Box   7     Folder   4    
TVA correspondence: C, 1937-1955
Box   7     Folder   5    
TVA chemical plant, 1935-1960
Box   7     Folder   6    
Coke, 1934-1941
Box   7     Folder   7    
Miscellaneous TVA correspondence, 1958-1962
Box   7     Folder   8    
Shoals research, 1954-1956
Box   7     Folder   9    
TVA correspondence: W, 1939-1947
Box   7     Folder   10    
Letters from well wishers on retirement from TVA, 1957
Box   7     Folder   11    
Dealings with TVA after retirement, 1957-1962
Box   7     Folder   12    
Letters concerning appointment as TVA Director arranged alphabetically in binder, 1948-1949
Box   7     Folder   13    
Excerpts and records from dinner meeting in honor of Dr. Curtis at Valley-Wide meeting in Gatlinburg, 1957 March 21
Box   7     Folder   14    
Photographs of TVA chemical plant and staff arranged in binder, intended as retirement gift for Dr. Curtis, 1957
Box   8     Folder   1    
TVA bulletins on fertilizer, undated
Box   8     Folder   2    
Bulletins and articles on chemical research (other than fertilizer) published by TVA, undated
Box   8     Folder   3    
TVA inventory of technical developments, 1947
Box   8     Folder   4    
Chemical engineering bulletin no.2--Analytical Control for Ammonia Synthesis, 1955
Box   9     Folder   1    
List of retired TVA employees, bibliography of TVA publications magazine articles, non-technical pamphlets on TVA, undated
Box   9     Folder   2    
Notebook containing material on congressional inquiry, undated
Box   9     Folder   3    
Notebook containing indexes and lists of reports, publications, and patents relating to activities of office of chemical engineering, undated
Box   9     Folder   4    
Notebook on experimental work conducted by TVA, undated
Box   9     Folder   5    
Folder on Dr. Curtis' work with Western phosphates as a member of Interior Secretary Ickes' committee and Senator Pope's committee, undated
   

Series VI: Government Service other than TVA, 1919-1955
Box   10     Folder   1    
Advisory Board on Utilization of Surplus Industrial Facilities. Contains minutes of board meetins and correspondence, 1944
Box   10     Folder   2    
Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, first under jurisdiction of U.S. War Department and, later, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1919-1955
Box   10     Folder   3    
Foreign Economics Administration, a bureau which studied economics of enemy nations and for whom Dr. Curtis made a study of the German chemical industry. Contains reports, diagrams, travel records, and correspondence, 1945-1946
Box   10     Folder   4    
National Defense Advisory Council. Dr. Curtis served as a consultant on the possibility ofusing the ammonium and carbide nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals for defense purposes, 1940-1941
Box   10     Folder   5    
National Research Council. Contains technical notes, 1933
Box   10     Folder   6    
International Nitrogen Conference, attended by Dr. Curtis as special chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Contains Dr. Curtis' itenerary, notes on chemical processes, conferences, and visits to chemical plants in Europe. Also, correspondence concerning the trip, 1928
Box   10     Folder   7    
Office of Price Administration, which Dr. Curtis served as executive in charge of price administration for chemicals and drugs, 1941
Box   10     Folder   8    
U.S. Department of Commerce. Contains reports and correspondence concerning Dr. Curtis' studies and writings on fertilizer for the Department of Commerce, 1923-1946
Box   10     Folder   9    
U.S. Department of the Interior. Contains report by Dr. Curtis entitled The Feasibility of a Government Project in the Production and Distribution of Fertilizers , 1944
Box   10     Folder   10    
U.S. State Department. Correspondence concerning request by State department for Dr. Curtis to teach in Chinese universities, 1942
Box   10     Folder   11    
U.S. Treasury Department. Correspondence concerning Dr. Curtis' attendance at a conference on the American Cyanamid Company, 1928
Box   10     Folder   12    
U.S. Veterans Bureau. Correspondence concerning government life insurance, 1923-1939
Box   10     Folder   13    
U.S. War Department. Copies of contracts awarded by Ordnance Department of War Department, report by Dr. Curtis, and correspondence, 1927-1944
Box   10     Folder   14    
World War I service. Contains orders and correspondence concerning Dr. Curtis' service in the Colorado National Guard and as a chemist in the Nitrate Division of the War Department, 1917-1925
   

Series VII: Articles, talks, book reviews, and notes for these by Dr. Curtis, and correspondence concerning books and technical journals to which Dr. Curtis contributed, 1908-1959
Box   11     Folder   1    
Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, McGraw-Hill technical publication, 1921-1931
Box   11     Folder   2    
Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, 1933-1952
Box   11     Folder   3    
Chemical Engineering Handbook, 1929-1950
Box   11     Folder   4    
Chemical engineering textbook series, 1925-1944
Box   11     Folder   5    
McGraw-Hill publishing company, 1924-1934
Box   11     Folder   6    
World Crops, a publication of the Leonard Hill Technical Group, London, 1949-1952
Box   11     Folder   7    
Articles and addresses by Dr. Curtis, 1925-1949
Box   11     Folder   8    
Articles and addresses by Dr. Curtis, 1950-1958
Box   11     Folder   9    
Binder containing book reviews by Dr. Curtis, 1920-1952
Box   11     Folder   10    
Binder containing public addresses by Dr. Curtis, 1955-1959
Box   11     Folder   11    
Binder containing unpublished public addresses, 1923-1958
Box   11     Folder   12    
File cards listing articles by Dr. Curtis in technical and semi-technical publications, 1908-1954
Box   11     Folder   13    
File cards listing book reviews by Dr. Curtis, 1920-1952
Box   11     Folder   14    
File cards containing notes for talks, 1950-1954
Box   11     Folder   15    
File cards listing non-technical articles by Dr. Curtis, 1912-1939
   

Series VIII: Publications containing articles by Dr. Curtis, bulletins, and reprints of articles by Dr. Curtis, unpublished stories and essays by Dr. Curtis, 1935-1954
Box   12     Folder   1    
Reprints and typescripts of technical articles by Dr. Curtis (1935-1947) and list of his articles published from 1935-1953, 1935-1953
Box   12     Folder   2    
Bulletins and reprints of technical articles by Dr. Curtis, 1948-1954
Box   12     Folder   3    
Bulletins and periodicals containing Dr. Curtis' articles Little Stories for Boyhood Days in Colorado. Typewritten, 1954
Box   12     Folder   4    
Reflections, a collection of essays. Typewritten, 1954
Box   12     Folder   5    
Recreation in Solving Elementary Mathematical Problems. Two copies. Typewritten, 1954
Box   12     Folder   6    
Stories of South Clinchfield, Virginia. Typewritten, 1954
   

Series IX: Material on patents granted to Dr. Curtis, research notes, printed technical material, 1921-1957
Box   13     Folder   1    
Patents granted to Dr. Curtis, 1931-1939
Box   13     Folder   2    
Applications for patents made by Dr. Curtis and by others on TVA staff, 1926-1938
Box   13     Folder   3    
Record of patents and discoveries, 1921-1957
Box   13     Folder   4    
Notebooks kept by Dr. Curtis on his research projects, undated
Box   13     Folder   5    
Printed technical material, undated
   

Series X: Technical material. Information on various elements, compounds, chemical processes, and mathematics, undated
Box   14     Folder   1    
Alunite
Box   14     Folder   2    
Fertilizers
Box   14     Folder   3    
Bulletins and articles relating to fertilizers
Box   14     Folder   4    
Fixed nitrogen
Box   14     Folder   5    
Flourine
Box   14     Folder   6    
Math notes
Box   14     Folder   7    
Math problems
Box   14     Folder   8    
Nitrophosphates
Box   14     Folder   9    
Nitric phosphates and metaphosphates
Box   14     Folder   10    
Phosphate
Box   14     Folder   11    
Phosphates (Florida soft)
Box   14     Folder   12    
Potash
Box   14     Folder   13    
Precipitator dust
Box   14     Folder   14    
Superphosphate
Box   14     Folder   15    
Superphosphate acid
Box   14     Folder   16    
Bulletins and articles containing miscellaneous chemical information
Box   14     Folder   17    
Notes on chemical processes made by Dr. Curtis
   

Series XI: Records and correspondence corncerning the Curtis family, Dr. Curtis's eye injury, and Mrs. Curtis's illnesses; non- technical printed material; miscellaneous material, 1930-1963
Box   15     Folder   1    
Medical records and sketches of Dr. Curtis' life, undated
Box   15     Folder   2    
Jeanne and Patricia Curtis, daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Curtis. Includes correspondence with Jeanne and her husband, Gordon Webber, and notes from the Curtis grandchildren, 1930-1963
Box   15     Folder   3    
Newspaper clippings concerning Dr. Curtis' retirement from TVA, 1957
Box   15     Folder   4    
Tributes and honors, 1949-1963
Box   15     Folder   5    
Mrs. Curtis' illness. Includes correspondence concerning insurance covering Mrs. Curtis' broken wrist and surgery and cancelled checks covering her expenses, 1960-1963
Box   15     Folder   6    
Dr. Curtis' eye injury. Includes correspondence concerning indurance benefits and arrangements for surgery and get well wishes, 1960-1962
Box   15     Folder   7    
Obituaries on Dr. Curtis' death, 1963 July 1
Box   15     Folder   8    
Photographs of Dr. Curtis, undated
Box   15     Folder   9    
Non-technical publications, undated
Box   15     Folder   10    
Miscellaneous material, undated
Box   15     Folder   11    
Xerox copy of handwritten account by Dr. Curtis of his early life, his eduaction, and his many professional activities. Includes recollections of his service with TVA, with frank comments about those who served under him, undated
Box   15     Folder   12    
Nathan W. Dougherty Award presented to Dr. Curtis in February, 1960