Introduction

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

Descriptive Entry

The papers of Henry Helm Clayton document his career as a meteorologist and weather forecaster, and his research on solar variation. They consist of professional and personal correspondence, including a large amount with Charles G. Abbot concerning solar research. Also included are weather forecasts, meteorological data, photographs, newspaper clippings, manuscripts and related materials on meteorology. The small amount of correspondence and meteorological data that post-dates Clayton's death in 1946 was compiled by his daughter, Frances Lindley Clayton.

Historical Note

Henry Helm Clayton (1861-1946) was a meteorologist and weather forecaster. He began his career in 1884 as an assistant at the University of Michigan's Astronomical Observatory. In 1885, he was appointed assistant at Harvard University's Astronomical Observatory, and from 1886 to 1891 served as an observer at Harvard's Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory. From 1891 to 1893, he worked as a local forecast official with the United States Weather Bureau. In 1894, Clayton returned to the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, where he served as a meteorologist until 1909. Clayton became chief of the forecast division of the Argentine Weather Service in 1913. While in Argentina, Clayton pursued research on a system of weather forecasting based on solar heat changes and began corresponding with Charles G. Abbot of the Smithsonian Institution, who was also conducting research on solar variation. From 1923 to 1926 he conducted research, in cooperation with the Smithsonian, on the effect of solar variation on world weather patterns. Clayton directed a private weather forecasting service and served as a consulting meteorologist for business organizations from 1926 until his death.