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Alfred H. Thiessen photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P1057

Scope and Contents

The Alfred H. Thiessen photograph collection contains personal photos of family history and travel. Some images relate to his work with the Weather Bureau or the Army.

Dates

  • 1920-1930

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Note

Alfred H. Thiessen was born in Troy, New York. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Cornell University in 1898. His service in the Weather Bureau began at Pittsburgh as observer on July 1, 1898. He subsequently was assigned to Helena, Washington, Point Reyes and Manteo as assistant, and to Mount Weather, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Portland, Baltimore, and Denver as official in charge. He resigned from the Weather Bureau on December 11, 1920, to accept a commission as Captain in the Regular Army. He left active service, as a major, and was reappointed at the Central Office of the Weather Bureau on March 17, 1941. He retired on April 30, 1942.

His best known work (1911) dealt with the description of weather prediction with a geometric method for dividing land areas, that although known from Dirichlet Tessellation (1850) and the Voronoi Diagram (1908), apparently had never been used in meteorology for interpolation of measurements. The synonyms Thiessen polygons or Thiessen method have become established for this application.

Extent

1 Box

Abstract

The Alfred H. Thiessen photograph collection contains personal photos of family history and travel. Some images relate to his work with the Weather Bureau or the Army.

Arrangement

By folder and subject.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Mrs. Hudson’s Fine Books and Paper in 2002.

Processing Information

Processed by Photo Archives Staff.
Title
Guide to the Alfred H. Thiessen photograph collection, 1920-1930
Author
Finding aid created by Sara Davis.
Date
2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863