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Thomas Darlington Cope Papers

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center [Contact Us]3401 Market Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
UPT 50 C782
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Extent:
2 cubic feet
Language:
English
Date:
1912-1960 (inclusive) and 1939-1956 (bulk)
Creator:
Cope, Thomas Darlington
Form:
Drafts (preliminary versions), Diaries, Articles, and Manuscripts for publication
Abstract:
Thomas Darlington Cope received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1915 at the University of Pennsylvania and spent his entire professional career at Penn. His prominence as a historian of science arose from his study of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the English surveyors who were brought to America to help settle the border dispute between Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania that resulted in the famous Mason-Dixon Line. The Thomas Darlington Cope Papers contains Cope's personal correspondence from 1912-1956, and his Mason and Dixon Line research.

Thomas Darlington Cope was born on December 28, 1880 in East Bradford, Pennsylvania. After graduation from the State Normal School in West Chester, Pennsylvania he entered the University of Pennsylvania where he received his Bachelors of Arts in 1903, and Ph.D. in Physics in 1915. Cope also studied at Cornell University and Berlin University - where he studied under Max Planck from 1912-1913. Copes entire professional career was spent at the University of Pennsylvania - starting as an instructor in 1906, eventually becoming an assistant professor in 1913 and professor in 1922, eventually retiring in 1952. Cope teaching career was briefly interrupted during World War I when he served as a captain in the U. S. Army Signal Corps and Air Service at Langley Field.

Cope was very active in professional activities - including the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, the American Association of University Professors, the American Institute of Physics, and American Association of Physics Teachers. His prominence as a historian of science arose from his study of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the English surveyors who were brought to America to help settle the border dispute between Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania that resulted in the famous Mason-Dixon Line. Cope's background as a physicist gave him considerable insight into Mason and Dixon's journals, providing a scientific and technological context of their work. Between 1939 and 1956 he published numerous articles on the survey in historical and scientific journals. Cope's research on Mason and Dixon is still considered authoritative today.

Cope died on December 13, 1964 at his home in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

The first series of the collection contains Cope's personal correspondence from 1912-1956. The second series, Mason and Dixon Line Research, consists of historical research, correspondence, and articles written by Cope relating to Charles Mason, Jeremiah Dixon, and their boundary survey. The Research and Writings Series contains Cope's articles and notes relating to other topics. Finally, Works by Others contains a few pamphlets on the history of science and teaching, as well as articles written by Provost Edgar Fahs Smith.

Additional Thomas Darlington Cope papers can be found at the American Philosophical Society Library.

The collection is organized into four series: Correspondence, Mason and Dixon Line Research, Research and Writings, and Works by Others. With a few exceptions the collections original order has been maintained.

Gift of Mrs. Thomas D. Cope

People
Organization
Subject
Place
Occupation

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Finding Aid Author
Joseph-James Ahern
Finding Aid Date
June 2010
Access Restrictions

Access to collections is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Centers.

Collection Inventory

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American Association of Physics Teachers - Correspondence, 1941-1943.
Box 1 Folder 1
American Association of Physics Teachers - Meetings, 1936-44.
Box 1 Folder 2
American Association of University Professors - Loyalty Oath, 1951-1953.
Box 1 Folder 3
American Physical Society, 1946.
Box 1 Folder 4
Boley, August, 1913-1961.
Box 1 Folder 5
Charitable Contributions Acknowledgements, 1951-1956.
Box 1 Folder 6
Chen, Henry S.C., 1958.
Box 1 Folder 7
Cope, Anna and William, 1912-1913.
Box 1 Folder 8
Cope, Jesse, 1912-1913.
Box 1 Folder 9
Crowell, William J. - paper on ether, 1946.
Box 1 Folder 10
Cummings, Hubertis M., 1960.
Box 1 Folder 11
Dreier, William H., 1954.
Box 1 Folder 12
Eckhardt, Englehardt August, 1913-1959.
Box 1 Folder 13
Franklin Institute Tributes, 1959-1965.
Box 1 Folder 14
Goodspeed, Arthur W. (1860-1943), 1946-1958.
Box 1 Folder 15
Heyl, Paul R., 1930-1942.
Box 1 Folder 16
Hynes, Lee P., 1957.
Box 1 Folder 17
Ingram, William T., 1912.
Box 1 Folder 18
Kains, E. D., 1942.
Box 1 Folder 19
Knepp, Thomas H., 1957.
Box 1 Folder 20
Meirs, William R., 1954.
Box 1 Folder 21
Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1939-1956.
Box 1 Folder 22
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, 1947-1951.
Box 1 Folder 23
Physics Building Fundraising, 1954.
Box 1 Folder 24
Physics Instruments, 1956.
Box 1 Folder 25
Reconversion Fund, 1945-1946.
Box 1 Folder 26
Richards, Horace C., death of, 1945.
Box 1 Folder 27
Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, 1952.
Box 1 Folder 28
Schoolmen's Week Science Program, 1951-1952.
Box 1 Folder 29
Sutton, Richard M., 1947.
Box 1 Folder 30
University of California - Berkeley, 1949.
Box 1 Folder 31
University of Pennsylvania, 1947-1952.
Box 1 Folder 32
University of Pennsylvania Fund, 1926-1940.
Box 1 Folder 33
Wiley Bulletin, 1950.
Box 1 Folder 34
Wilmington Secondary Schools, 1946.
Box 1 Folder 35

1942-1943.
Box 1 Folder 36
1944.
Box 1 Folder 37

American Philosophical Society, 1945-1948.
Box 1 Folder 38
Boundary Markers and the Jersey Quadrant, 1953-1958.
Box 1 Folder 39
Brown, Lloyd A.1955-1956.
Box 1 Folder 40
Dixon, Lionel G., Jr., 1958.
Box 1 Folder 41
Doerflinger, William, 1958.
Box 1 Folder 42
Eckhardt, George H., 1949-1952.
Box 1 Folder 43
General Correspondence, 1944-1952.
Box 1 Folder 44
Haber, Francis C., 1956-1958.
Box 1 Folder 45
Hamer, Philip M., 1957.
Box 1 Folder 46
John Bevis Transit Instrument, 1953-1954.
Box 1 Folder 47
John Ellicott Astronomical Clock, 1940.
Box 1 Folder 48
John Shelton Clock, 1948-1952.
Box 1 Folder 49
Kent, Donald H., 1947-1948.
Box 1 Folder 50
Mahoney, William T. and H. Clay Reed, 1951-1953.
Box 1 Folder 51
Price, Derek, and David P. Wheatland, 1957-1958.
Box 1 Folder 52
Robinson, H. W., 1947-1948.
Box 1 Folder 53
Robinson, H. W., 1949.
Box 1 Folder 54
Robinson, H. W., 1950.
Box 1 Folder 55
Robinson, H. W., 1951-1962.
Box 1 Folder 56
Roger Joseph Boscovich, 1957-1958.
Box 1 Folder 57
Royal Society, 1949.
Box 2 Folder 1
Russ, William A., Jr., 1958.
Box 2 Folder 2
Seddon, Robert E., 1958-1959.
Box 2 Folder 3
Smart, C.E., 1960.
Box 2 Folder 4
Star Gazer's Stone, 1950.
Box 2 Folder 5
Torrence, Robert M., 1958.
Box 2 Folder 6
Bibliographical Notes, 19424-1951.
Box 2 Folder 7
Degrees Along the West Line, 1948-1949 Folder 1.
Box 2 Folder 8
Degrees Along the West Line, 1948-1949 Folder 2.
Box 2 Folder 9
John Shelton's Clock, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 10
List of Persons Interested in Mason-Dixon Line, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 11
New Sources to Investigate, 1956-1957.
Box 2 Folder 12
Notebook: Instruments and Their Makers - Correspondence, 1942-1943.
Box 2 Folder 13
Notebook: Instruments Used in the Surveys of Boundaries, 1949-1953.
Box 2 Folder 14
Notebook: Mason and Dixon's Daily Journal, 1942-1949.
Box 2 Folder 15
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon drafts, 1941.
Box 2 Folder 16
Charles Mason, Jeremiah Dixon and the Royal Society, 1951.
Box 2 Folder 17
A Clock Sent Thither by the Royal Society, 1950.
Box 2 Folder 18
The First Scientific Expedition of Mason and Dixon first draft, 1944.
Box 2 Folder 19
The First Scientific Expedition of Mason and Dixon publication drafts, 1944-1945.
Box 2 Folder 20
The First Scientific Expedition of Mason and Dixon reviews, 1944.
Box 2 Folder 21
The First Scientific Expedition of Mason and Dixon PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY, 1945.
Box 2 Folder 22
A Frame of Reference for Masion and Dixon draft, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 23
The Jersey Quadrant Used in Pennsylvania drafts, 1953.
Box 2 Folder 24
John Shelton's Astronomical Clock Used by Mason and Dixon at Brandywine, 1944-1945.
Box 2 Folder 25
Mason and Dixon - English Men of Science correspondence, 1948-1949.
Box 2 Folder 26
Mason and Dixon - English Men of Science drafts, 1949.
Box 2 Folder 27
More About Mason and Dixon, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 28
A Proposal of Interest to Naturalists, 1947.
Box 2 Folder 29
Some Contacts of Benjamin Franklin with Mason and Dixon and their Work, 1951.
Box 2 Folder 30
Some Local Scholars Who Counselled the Proprietors of Pennsylvania and Their Commissioners during the Boundary Surveys of the 1760s, 1955.
Box 2 Folder 31
Westward Five Degrees in Longitude, 1948.
Box 2 Folder 32
When the Maryland-Pennsylvania Boundary Survey Changed from a Political and Legal Struggle into a Scientific and Technological Project, edits 1954.
Box 2 Folder 33
When the Maryland-Pennsylvania Boundary Survey Changed from a Political and Legal Struggle into a Scientific and Technological Project, typed draft 1954.
Box 2 Folder 34
When the Maryland-Pennsylvania Boundary Survey Changed from a Political and Legal Struggle into a Scientific and Technological Project written draft 1954.
Box 2 Folder 35
When the Stars Interrupted the Running of a Meridian Line Northward up the Delmarva Peninsula, 1956.
Box 2 Folder 36

Eighteenth Century Scientists Biographical Sketches, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 37
Foreword for DAVID RITTENHOUSE, by J.E. Ford, 1946.
Box 2 Folder 38
A Mountain in Perthshire correspondence, 1954.
Box 2 Folder 39
A Mountain in Perthshire draft, 1954.
Box 2 Folder 40
Schichallion Mountain Material, 1953.
Box 2 Folder 41
Soul of Lodestone, by Alfred Still. Review, 1946.
Box 2 Folder 42

Pamphlets and reports, miscellaneous, 1916-1932.
Box 2 Folder 43
Smith, Edgar Fahs, 1914-1937.
Box 2 Folder 44

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