Alex McGrath
Welcome
Welcome
I am an archivist-historian of science and society. I study the history of astronomy, genomics, commodities, empires, power, and queerness. I have processed a wide variety of collections in small and large, community and academic libraries, and have an interest in archival theory.
This website exists to collocate all my web publication and citations. If you would like to contact me...
Blog posts, Publications, and Presentations
2020. “The Steamship Authority Strike of 1960.” History Topics (Blog). https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/the-steamship-authority-strike-of-1960/
2020. “Preservation Institute: Nantucket.” History Topics (Blog). https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/preservation-institute-nantucket/
2020. (with J. Russell) Moby Dick and Nantucket (Exhibit: July 1 -) in the NHA Whaling Museum, Mezzanine Gallery. https://nha.org/whats-on/exhibitions/featured-exhibitions/moby-dick-and-nantucket/
2020. (with A. Holmes, et. al.) The Road from Abolition to Suffrage (Exhibit: August 4 - ) in the NHA Whaling Museum, Williams Forsyth Gallery. https://nha.org/whats-on/exhibitions/featured-exhibitions/the-road-from-abolition-to-suffrage/
2019. “’You Take Our Stars’: Harvard Astronomers in Peru, 1889-1900.” Presented at Columbia-Stony Brook Conference on Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) (April 27, 2019).
2019. “’A Peculiar Sense of Proprietorship’” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: September – 2020 March). https://wolba.ch/gazette/arequipa/ .
2019. “Building an Interdisciplinary Finding Aid: Project PHaEDRA.” Paper presented at iPres Digital Preservation Conference, Amsterdam, NL. (September 16-20, 2019).
2018. "Drive and Joy: Annie Jump Cannon at HCO." Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: May - September). https://wolba.ch/gazette/ajc/ .
2018. “Cecilia and Sergei: American Astronomers.” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: February – May). https://wolba.ch/gazette/cecilia-and-sergei-american-astronomers/ .
2018. “Computers at Work: Astronomical labor at the HCO at the turn of the century.” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: July – December). https://wolba.ch/gazette/computersatwork/ .
2018. “OOPs!: Trials and travails in the Observatory’s Optics Projects.” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: December – 2019 May). https://wolba.ch/gazette/oops/ .
2018. (with D. Bouquin et. al.) “Project PHaEDRA: Preserving Harvard’s Early Data and Research in Astronomy.” EPJ Web of Conferences 186 (2018): 07003. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201818607003.
2017. “My Time in the Perkins Archives.” Perkins School for the Blind Archives (blog). May 2. http://www.perkinsarchives.org/3/post/2017/05/my-time-in-the-perkins-archives.html.
2017. “The First Computer: Williamina Fleming and the Horsehead Nebula.” Galactic Gazette. Exhibit: July – August). https://wolba.ch/gazette/the-first-computer-williamina-fleming-and-the-horsehead-nebula/ .
2017. “Eclipse Expeditions: From HCO and SAO out into the World.” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: August – October). https://wolba.ch/gazette/eclipse-expeditions-from-hco-and-sao-out-into-the-world/ .
2017. “Harvard Photos of Eclipses through the Years.” Harvard Gazette, August 18. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/08/harvard-photos-of-eclipses-through-the-years/.
2017. “Illustrating Astronomy: E.L. Trouvelot at HCO.” Galactic Gazette. (Exhibit: October – February ). https://wolba.ch/gazette/illustrating-astronomy-e-l-trouvelot-at-hco/.