Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm2011085590
Collection material in English, Russian, and German
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Carl Sagan, astronomer, author, and educator, and Ann Druyan, author and television producer, were purchased by Seth MacFarlane for the Library of Congress in 2012.
The papers of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan were processed in 2013 by Connie L. Cartledge, Karen Linn Femia, Melinda K. Friend, Laura J. Kells, Kathleen O'Neill, and Karen Stuart, with the assistance of Thomas Bigley, Maria Farmer, Rosa Hernandez, Sherralyn McCoy, Brian McGuire, Jewel McPherson, Dan Oleksiw, Kimberly Owens, Tammi Taylor, and Prints and Photographs Division staff who processed the photographs and visual materials. The finding aid was revised in 2017 to include a description of the Digital Files and to indicate the expiration of restrictions for the television and book files relating to “Nucleus.”
Digital files were received as part of the papers of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan on a variety of storage media, each of which was assigned a unique digital ID number. Use the digital ID number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Sound recordings, films, videotapes, and videodiscs have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Books and technical reports have been transferred to the Science and Technology Division, and some books have been made available as part of the Manuscript Division Reading Room reference collection. One comic book, “Man with Head of Saturn,” has been transferred to the Serial & Government Publications Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Druyan Archive.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information.
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions. In addition, many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Access to digital content is available onsite only in the Manuscript Reading Room and requires advanced notice. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting.
Government regulations control the use of security classified items in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified material.
Microfilm on one reel was received as part of the papers of the Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Druyan Archive and is listed and described in this finding aid. This microfilm is not available for interlibrary loan.
Part of the papers of Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Druyan Archive are available on the Library of Congress Web site at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000030.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container, reel, or digital ID number, Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Druyan Archive, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Carl Edward Sagan (1934-1996) and Ann Marcia Druyan (1949- ) span the years 1860-2004 with the majority concentrated between 1962 and 1997. The bulk of the collection documents Sagan's career as an astronomer, astrobiologist, science educator, television personality, and author. The papers chronicle his work as a professor at Harvard University and Cornell University, as a consultant and adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and as a popularizer of science through the television series
The Correspondence series, 1952-1998, documents Sagan's activities and interests primarily from his time at Harvard University until his untimely death in 1996 and includes some correspondence of Druyan dating chiefly from 1976-1998. The Correspondence is organized into five categories: alphabetical file, chronological file, fan mail, “fissured ceramics,” general, and get-well letters. The alphabetical file contains incoming and outgoing letters with friends, colleagues, scientists, politicians, government officials, entertainers, authors, journalists, publishers, students and former students of Sagan, and a few family letters. Arranged in four sets, the alphabetical file consists chiefly of correspondents that the Sagan staff considered well known and individuals that Sagan and Druyan knew personally. The general correspondence includes letters from colleagues, scientists, politicians, government officials, acquaintances, and the public. Filing in the alphabetical and general correspondence was inconsistent; some names appear in both files. Interfiled in the alphabetical file are newspaper clippings and magazine articles about correspondents, copies of their writings, and other material relating to them.
The alphabetical file and general correspondence relate chiefly to discussions about scientific findings and ideas as well as scientific projects and proposals (including NASA projects such as the Viking and Voyager missions), and requests to involve Sagan and Druyan in speech and writing projects, political causes, entertainment ventures, and other proposals. Also included are letters documenting Sagan and Druyan's activities surrounding their opposition to nuclear weapons and weapons testing.
Correspondence in the chronological file is organized into incoming and outgoing mail. The incoming correspondence consists chiefly of letters that were not filed by Sagan's staff. Most of the outgoing correspondence documents the daily output of letters sent by him. Sometimes a copy of an incoming letter is included (the original is located in the alphabetical or general correspondence) with an outgoing response. The outgoing chronological file is organized into four groups: confidential, Cornell University, general, and personal. The confidential letters relate primarily to financial and legal issues about writing projects,
Fan mail in the Correspondence series consists primarily of responses to Sagan's writings and television appearances, including some for
The Academic File , 1952-1996, documents Sagan's endeavors as a student, university fellow in astronomy, and as a professor. Most of the papers document Sagan's tenure as a professor of astronomy and space sciences at Cornell University, 1968-1996; the director of its Laboratory for Planetary Studies, 1968-1996; and associate director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, 1972-1981. The Cornell files contain lecture notes, class assignments, and resource material for various astronomy classes including Sagan's critical thinking class, Astronomy 490.
Grants and proposals comprise the bulk of the Academic File . They document Sagan's efforts to gain financial support for his research and the budgetary reporting and supporting documentation required when grants were obtained. Topics featured are comparative planetology, exobiology, satellites and planetary atmospheres, and NASA projects relating to Galileo, Mariner 9, Viking, and Voyager. The Cornell files include faculty, staff, and student materials that overlap with the Correspondence series. A subject file in the Cornell files further chronicles Sagan's activities and interests while a professor there.
The Academic File also treats Sagan's career at Harvard University, his work as a consultant for the GCA Corporation, and as a staff member of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The latter are filed with the Harvard papers. Also in the Academic File are notes, notebooks, and student papers from Sagan's graduate and undergraduate work at the University of Chicago, 1954-1960, his fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, 1960-1962, and class papers from Sagan's Harvard students, David Morrison and James B. Pollack, with whom he later collaborated on many scientific papers and projects.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration File , 1954-1996, pertains to Sagan's work as an adviser and consultant to NASA, including on the Mariner 9 and Viking missions. The Viking landers were the first spacecrafts to land successfully on Mars. The files document Sagan's service as a member of the team to select a landing site for the Viking missions and his role as a member of the imaging team that designed the system to photograph the planet's surface. Also featured are files pertaining to Sagan's proposed biology briefing for the Apollo astronauts in 1967, and his contributions to the Voyager mission to the outer solar system, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and as a designer of interstellar messages for Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Files relating to the Voyager interstellar record, audio records designed by Sagan, Druyan, Timothy Ferris (writer), Frank D. Drake (astronomer), Jon Lomberg (artist), and Linda Salzman (artist and wife of Sagan at the time), are located in the Writings File series under the book entitled
The Television and Film File , 1945-2000, documents the thirteen-part series
The Television and Film File also features files pertaining to Carl Sagan Productions, a corporation formed by Sagan and Gentry Lee to promote the popularization of science. Also chronicled in the series is the television project “Nucleus,” an unfinished writing collaboration by Sagan, Druyan, and Steven Soter about the nuclear arms race. The “Nucleus” files chronicle the effort to get the show funded and produced and contain treatment and episode files, advisory board minutes, and a large amount of resource material. Sagan's appearances on
The Subject File , circa 1860-1998, mainly documents scientific topics but also treats political and social issues. Topics featured include creationism/evolution, Mars, Titan, drug policy, nuclear war and nuclear winter (the effect of a nuclear exchange between countries on the global climate), unidentified flying objects, and the environment. An extensive press file, consisting chiefly of newspaper and magazine clippings, chronicles Sagan's research and writing projects, television appearances, and public profiles. The nuclear files in the Subject File overlap with the Anti-Nuclear Activism File .
Papers in the Anti-Nuclear Activism File , 1943-1992, pertain to Sagan and Druyan's opposition to nuclear weapons, weapons testing, and the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by President Ronald Reagan. The series contains the correspondence, transcripts, and drafts relating to the Conference on the Long-Term Worldwide Biological Consequences of Nuclear War held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1983. At the conference Sagan and his colleagues, Richard P. Turco, O. B. Toon, Thomas P. Ackerman, and James B. Pollack, discussed publicly for the first time their paper about nuclear winter. They suggested that after “a major nuclear exchange, smoke and dust may darken the earth for weeks and cause a prolonged period of sub-freezing temperatures.” The “TTAPS” paper, named for the initials of the authors, was later published in
Files in The Planetary Society , 1907-1997, document Sagan's activities as a co-founder and president of the organization. The Planetary Society was created in 1979 as a space-interest group to promote space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life. The series contains many files relating to the exploration of Mars and
The Organizations File , 1958-1997, reflects Sagan's contributions as a member and leader of scientific and astronomical organizations such as the American Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life. Also reflected in this file are Sagan's endeavors as an advisor to a number of groups and institutions. The Organizations File includes correspondence relating to the National Academy of Sciences vote in 1992 refusing Sagan membership because some members felt too much of his work focused on the popularizing of science. The series overlaps with the Speech and Engagement File because some speeches and related papers are filed with the organization sponsoring an event.
The Writings File , 1883-1996, constituting almost one third of the collection, documents the prolific output of Sagan and Druyan through articles, scientific papers and abstracts, books, letters to editors, reviews, forewords and introductions, and the editing of the planetary research journal
Book files in the Writings File series include correspondence, drafts, transcripts of audiotapes, and resource material. Titles featured are
The Speech and Engagement File , 1960-1996, consists chiefly of correspondence and memoranda about travel arrangements, travel itineraries and schedules, and notes and resource material. Sagan liked to speak extemporaneously. Therefore, only a few complete speeches and speech drafts appear in the files.
The Miscellany series, 1911-2004, contains family papers, a school and childhood file, a biographical file, awards and honors, material relating to Sagan's death, and manuscripts of historical interest that he purchased or collected. The biographical files include successive drafts of Sagan's vitae, his submissions to biographical directories, and writings about him. Also in the Miscellany is an “ideas riding” file, containing Sagan and Druyan's ideas for future projects, whether scientific, literary, or a video game.
The Photographs and Visual Materials , 1967-1994, contain portraits of Sagan, family photographs, and visual materials relating to Sagan and Druyan's lectures and publications, NASA missions,
The Digital Files in this collection were created from 1987 to 1997 and consist chiefly of word processing files received on three inch floppy disks. Sagan dictated his thoughts for letters, books, articles, and other projects into a tape recorder, and the tapes were typed by his staff. A list of the Digital Files, arranged by type of material and by digital ID, was compiled by Library of Congress staff. Library staff arranged the files according to the predominant category that the file represented. The bulk of the Digital Files are comprised of outgoing correspondence and writings that are duplicated in the analog portion of the collection. The writings consist chiefly of drafts of Sagan and Druyan's books and articles. Correspondence in the Digital Files are usually labeled by name of correspondent or a correspondent's initials. Numbers after a correspondent's name usually indicates the month and day the letter was written. The Library also received five and a quarter inch disks and eight inch disks as part of the Sagan Druyan collection that are currently not accessible.
Correspondents include George O. Abell, Diane Ackerman, Jerome Agel, Isaac Asimov, Christopher F. Chyba, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank D. Drake, Timothy Ferris, Louis Friedman, Albert Gore (1948- ), David Harry Grinspoon, Lester Grinspoon, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, Bishun N. Khare, Joshua Lederberg, Gentry Lee, Jon Lomberg, Adrian Malone, Mikhail I︠A︡kovlevich Marov, David Morrison, Bruce C. Murray, Thomas A. Mutch, Lynda Rosen Obst, James B. Pollack, R. Z. Sagdeev, Steven Soter, Steven W. Squyres, Yervant Terzian, W. Reid Thompson, O. B. Toon, Richard P. Turco, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Joseph Veverka, and Timothy E. Wirth.
The collection is arranged in sixteen series:
Letters and memoranda between Sagan and Druyan and friends, family, colleagues, scientists, government officials, politicians, entertainers, authors, journalists, publishers, students and former students, acquaintances and the public relating to Sagan and Druyan's personal and professional activities.
Arranged into five groups: alphabetical file, chronological file, fan mail, “fissured ceramics,” general, and get-well letters. The alphabetical file is organized into four sets and further arranged alphabetically by name of person, organization, or topic. The chronological file is arranged into two files, incoming and outgoing, with the incoming file arranged chronologically by date, and the outgoing file arranged alphabetically by type and therein chronologically. The fan mail is organized into four files: alphabetical file, chronological file, geographical file, and required scientific knowledge to answer. A systematic sample was taken of the “fissured ceramics” correspondence; ten percent of those letters were retained. The “fissured ceramics” letters are arranged chronologically. The general correspondence is arranged chronologically by date and therein alphabetically by name of person or organization, topic, or type of material. The get-well letters are arranged chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, lecture notes, notes and notebooks, student papers, class rosters, grants and proposals, reports, financial papers, press releases, photographs, brochures, resource material, short stories, computer printouts, clippings, printed matter, and other material documenting Sagan's academic career as a professor at Cornell University and Harvard University, a student at the University of Chicago, and a fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
Arranged alphabetically by institution and therein alphabetically. The Cornell University files are organized into four categories: course file; faculty, staff, and student file; grants and proposals, and subject file.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, minutes of meetings, proposals, maps, photographs, charts, newsletters, bulletins, schedules, press releases, writings, clippings, memorabilia, and printed matter relating to Sagan's work as an adviser and consultant to NASA and NASA projects.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person or organization, topic, or type of material.
Correspondence, memoranda, scripts and other production files, notes, legal documents, financial papers, resource material, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and other papers relating to television and film projects undertaken by Sagan and Druyan, individually or collectively, and the production companies created to carry out these projects.
Arranged alphabetically by title or name of company and therein by type of material or topic. A number of smaller projects are grouped by title or topic in a section called miscellaneous projects.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, academic papers, notes, audiotape transcripts, charts, maps, oral histories, press interviews, legal papers, newsletters, resource material, photographs and slides, computer printouts, directories, newspaper and magazine clippings, scrapbooks, and printed matter relating to topics chiefly of interest to Sagan.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person or organization, topic, or type of material.
Correspondence, writings, printed matter, conference material, notes, photographs, transcripts, reports, and news clippings relating to Sagan and Druyan's political and public awareness activities surrounding their opposition to nuclear weapons, weapons testing, and the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein alphabetically or chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings, reports, academic papers, article drafts, addresses and lectures, financial and legal papers, petitions, fan mail, photographs and slides, statements, lists, brochures, printed matter, and other material relating to Sagan's activities with the society.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein alphabetically or chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings, reports, newsletters, proposals, statements, lists, printed matter, and other material related to various organizations with which Sagan and Druyan were affiliated.
Arranged alphabetically by name of organization or group and therein alphabetically or chronologically.
Correspondence, memoranda, articles, scientific papers, abstracts, book drafts and galleys, letters to the editor, reviews, outlines, notes and notebooks, blurbs, scripts, charts, photographs, illustrations, academic papers, contracts, resource material, audiotape transcripts, permissions, press clippings, printed matter, and other material relating to articles, books, and uncompleted book projects by Sagan and Druyan. Also included are writings by others collected by Sagan and Druyan.
Arranged in two categories: writings by Sagan and Druyan and writings by others. Writings by Sagan and Druyan are arranged by type or topic and therein chronologically or alphabetically. Writings by others are organized into an alphabetical file and a chronological file. The alphabetical file is arranged alphabetically by author. The chronological file is arranged chronologically by year.
Correspondence, memoranda, travel itineraries and schedules, notes, a few speech transcripts, resource material, lists, notebooks, press clippings, printed matter, and other material relating to Sagan's speeches and engagements.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic and therein chronologically or alphabetically.
Correspondence, memoranda, family papers, notes, biographical material, financial and legal papers, messages and reminders, school yearbooks and newspapers, report cards and honor roll cards, award certificates and medical papers, a childhood drawing, condolence letters and memorials, photocopies of autographs and inscriptions from Sagan's books, calendars and schedules, a scrapbook, address books, rolodex cards, manuscripts and printed matter by others collected by Sagan, press clippings, and other material.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic and therein chronologically or alphabetically.
Containers marked with an asterisk (*) are closed.
Photographs, prints, posters, drawings, slides and lantern slides, negatives, and transparencies.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Radiation calculator, slide rule, star finders, rock and soil samples, bust of Sagan, New York World's Fair memorabilia, stamp albums, T-shirts, and other memorabilia.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
A list of reports.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.
Correspondence, notes, calenders, financial papers, a quilt, a whiteboard, photographs, slides and lantern slides, posters, transparencies, drawings, charts, maps, stamp albums, a certificate, artifacts, and other material.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.
Received on 3.5" floppy disks, 245.3 MB. The digital files are comprised mainly of word processing files typed by Sagan and Druyan’s staff containing outgoing correspondence; drafts of writings including articles, grants and proposals, books, television and film projects; notes, class files and related papers; reports; messages; vitae and biographical information; lecture list and lectures; transcripts of audiotapes; and other material.
Floppy disks in 5.25" and 8" formats received with the collection are not accessible.