The collection consists of the research notes, correspondence, published manuscripts, and photographic materials of Katherine Gordon Kron, who was a member of the Advisory Board of Lowell Observatory for over twenty years, and a trustee of the Museum of Northern Arizona from 1977-1985.
Identification:
MS.9
Language:
Material in English
Repository:
Lowell Observatory
1400 West Mars Hill Road
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
(928) 714-7083
E-Mail: archives@lowell.edu
Biographical Note
Katherine Carson Gordon was born May 24, 1917, in New York City. She earned a B.A. from Vassar College in 1938. Katherine studied astronomy at the University of Lund, Sweden, from 1938-1939. She returned to Vassar College and received an M.A. in 1940. From 1940-1941 Katherine studied at the Harvard College Observatory. Katherine’s research focus was photoelectric techniques used to measure light curves of eclipsing binary stars. Katherine began work at Lick Observatory, University of California in 1941. She then went to work as a research associate at the California Institute of Technology in 1943. From 1944-1945 Katherine worked as a physicist at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA.
In 1946, Katherine married astronomer Gerald Kron. Katherine and Gerald raised their five children at observatories around the world, including several long stints at Mt. Stromlo Observatory in Canberra, Australia. The couple worked together studying eclipsing binary stars and were the first to make a photometric observation of a stellar flare.
Katherine served as the Editor of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific from 1961-1968. She also served as a finance committee member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a member in the International Astronomical Union, on the Advisory Board of Lowell Observatory, and as a trustee of the Museum of Northern Arizona from 1977-1985. In 1985 the Krons retired to Honolulu, Hawaii, then to Sedona, Arizona in 1998. Katherine Gordon Kron died June 1, 2011.
Scope and Content
The Katherine Kron Papers contain research notes, correspondence, and photographs. The collection is organized into four series: Correspondence, Other Professional Activities, Manuscripts, and Working Papers.
The collection consists of Kron's notes of her work on eclipsing binary stars; notes and photographs from Lick Observatory; records of her work with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the American Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union, and SPIE; and correspondence with friends and colleagues.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series: Correspondence, Manuscripts (published papers), Other Professional Activities, and Working Papers.
Please contact the archives to make an appointment before visiting the institution.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished and published manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
