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Civil Engineering Surveying Notes, 1880-1898

 Collection
Identifier: SC MS 0121

Scope and Contents

This is a bound paperboard book with buckram spine measuring 30 x 15 cm, 102 pages. On the cover is a label with the handwritten title Engineering Notes. Surveying Notes Students L. U. 1886. The pages of the book are numbered in pencil in the upper outer corner of each page. The material includes Bench Marks on campus noted by large stones or trees or buildings and readings made from these marks on campus into South Bethlehem and across the Lehigh River to Bethlehem on the north side. Also noted are the Coast and Geodetic Survey Bench Marks in relationship to the local region (Allentown and Bethlehem, PA). The contents of the calculations represent an historical account of the campus and surrounding area in the 1880s.

Dates

  • 1880-1898

Creator

Biographical / Historical

The surveying courses were conducted by Professor Charles L. Doolittle (1843-1919), a professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Lehigh from 1875 until 1895. During his time at Lehigh, the university and Sayre Observatory gained an international reputation due to his astronomical research. In 1912, Lehigh honored him with an Honorary LLD. Howard McClintic (’88) and Charles Marshall (’88) also contributed to this book during their time here, and went on to work on constructions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the locks of the Panama Canal, and the Empire State Building.

Extent

.25 Linear Feet (1 box, .25 linear feet)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A historical description of Lehigh University’s campus and its relationship to Bethlehem through surveying notes made by the civil engineering students from Sophomore Classes in the 1880s as recorded in this field notebook. The Surveying classes were under the instruction of Professor Charles L. Doolittle, father of poetess Hilda Doolittle. Some of the student notations were made by H. H. McClintic and C. D. Marshall, who would later form the company that built the Panama Canal gates.

Title
Civil Engineering Surveying Notes, 1880-1898
Status
Completed
Author
Special Collections Staff
Date
2011-10
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Lehigh University Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem PA 18045 USA
610-758-4506
610-758-6091 (Fax)