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Margaret Osler Papers, 1912-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Osler, Margaret J., 1942-2010.
Title
Margaret Osler Papers
Dates
1912-2010 (inclusive)
1940-2010 (bulk)
Quantity
17.50 cubic feet, including 1036 photographs and 814 negatives, (52 boxes, including 1 oversize box)
Collection Number
MSS Osler
Summary
The Margaret Osler Papers document Osler's life and career as a historian of science and philosophy. Margaret Osler (1942-2010) was a historian of science and philosophy who published widely on the scientific revolution and on the connection between religion and early science. In her two books and more than 125 articles, Osler focused in particular on the work of Pierre Gassendi, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton. Osler was a member of the faculty at Oregon State University from 1968 to 1972, and a faculty member at the University of Calgary for thirty-five years.
Access to Margaret Osler's diary in Series 1 is restricted until January 1, 2030 due to provisions set by the donor. All requests for access to this material should be directed to the University Archivist.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Access to Margaret Osler's diary in Series 1 is restricted until January 1, 2030 due to provisions set by the donor. All requests for access to this material should be directed to the University Archivist. All other materials in this collection are open for research.

Languages
English, French, Latin
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Biographical Note

Margaret Jo Osler was born on November 27, 1942 in New York City, New York to Abraham G. and Sonia Fellner Osler. The son of Russian immigrants – whose surname was originally spelled Osofsky – Abraham Osler was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1911. He completed a Bachelor’s degree at the City College of New York in 1931, and a Master’s of Science (1933) and PhD (1948) in Bacteriology at Columbia University in New York City, New York. Osler married Sonia Fellner in 1938. Born in Poland in 1912, Sonia attended Hunter College in New York City, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933. She went on to complete a PhD in Psychology at Johns Hopkins University in 1954.

Both Abraham and Sonia fell under the scrutiny of the intermittent “Red Scares” of the 1930s through the 1950s. In the 1930s, Abraham was fired from a position at the Bronx Hospital for trying to organize a union among hospital personnel (the workers did eventually unionize as Service Employees International Union, Local 1199). Sonia was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1958 to testify regarding alleged Communists working for the New York City Housing Authority, by whom Sonia had been employed from the late 1930s until 1949.

Margaret Jo Osler – who preferred to go by Maggie, and who joked that her middle name, Jo, was a tribute to Joseph Stalin – graduated from Forest Park High School in Baltimore, Maryland in 1959. From 1959 to 1963, she attended Swarthmore College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. Osler went on her earn her M.A. and PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from Indiana University in 1966 and 1968, respectively. She completed her doctoral thesis, John Locke and Some Philosophical Problems in the Science of Boyle and Newton, under the supervision of historian of science Richard S. Westfall, best known for his biography of Isaac Newton, Never at Rest.

In 1968, immediately after completing her studies at Indiana, Osler was hired by Oregon State University (OSU) as an Assistant Professor in the History of Science, and General Science. She left OSU in 1972, and went on to teach at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California (1970-1974), and Wake Forest University (1974-1975) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before finding her permanent academic home at the University of Calgary in 1975, where she taught History of Science (1975-2010) and Philosophy (1998-2008).

A prolific author, Osler wrote two books – Divine Will and the Mechanical Philosophy: Gassendi and Descartes on Contingency and Necessity in the Created World, and Reconfiguring the World: Nature, God, and Human Understanding from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Europe – edited four others, and published over 125 articles, essays, and reviews in prominent journals including The British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Isis, and Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. In addition to her published works, Osler wrote at least as many unpublished papers and essays that she presented at various symposia and conferences. Much of her work focused on the scientific revolution - specifically on religion and its connection to early science, with an emphasis on the work of scientists and philosophers Pierre Gassendi, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton.

Osler was active in a number of academic societies, especially the History of Science Society, for which she served as Secretary from 2001 until her death. She also served as President of the Canadian Society of the History and Philosophy of Science from 1987 to 1990, and as editor for the Journal of the History of Philosophy.

Margaret Osler died of pancreatic cancer September 15, 2010 at the age of 69, just three months after the publication of her second book, Reconfiguring the World: Nature, God, and Human Understanding in Early Modern Europe. She was predeceased by both her parents, and her life companion, Dr. Betty Flagler.

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Content Description

The Margaret Osler Papers include biographical materials, correspondence, materials documenting her professional activities, publications, subject files and research materials, and photographs. A wide variety of keepsakes, personal documents, and other biographical records are organized into Series 1, Biographical Materials, including Osler’s Master’s and PhD diplomas from Indiana University, elementary school work, and the literary zine of the Forest Park High School’s Scribbler’s Club, The Inklings.

Osler's correspondence, found in Series 2, is arranged into three sub-series: Sub-series 1. General, 1968-2010; Sub-series 2. Professional, 1967-2009; and Sub-series 3. Personal, 1948-2003. Materials in these sub-series include thank you notes and holiday cards; letters of recommendation; correspondence with her publishers, employers, and fellow historians of science; and letters between Margaret and her parents, Abraham and Sonia.

Series 3, Professional Activities, documents Osler's institutional affiliations and professional academic activities and includes institutional records from the universities where Osler worked; lecture notes and syllabi that Osler prepared for her courses; and materials related to the professional conferences Osler attended.

Series 4, Subject Files and Research Materials, contains much of the raw data - typescripts, notes, publications, and a small amount of correspondence - that Osler used in developing her own research and writing. One highlight of the collection is Osler's extensive, though not complete, translation of French philosopher, priest, astronomer, and mathematician Pierre Gassendi's Syntagma Philosophicum (Philosophical Treatise), found in Series 5. Series 6 contains manuscripts of articles and speeches written by Margaret Osler, as well as reprints of her published papers, her reviews of the writings of other scholars, and materials related to the books that Osler wrote and edited.

The photographs in Series 7 include images of Osler, her family, friends, colleagues and travels. The extended family photos in this series primarily document Sonia Osler’s extended family, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Many of the photographs documenting international travel are of Abraham and Sonia Osler; many of the images of domestic trips document the Osler family in places such as Jasper, Wyoming; Troy, Montana; and the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Margaret Osler Papers (MSS Osler), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The Margaret J. Osler Papers are arranged in seven series: Series 1. Biographical Materials, 1942-2010; Series 2. Correspondence, 1948-2010; Series 3. Professional Activities, 1964-2009; Series 4. Subject Files and Research Materials, 1952-2009; Series 5. Pierre Gassendi: Translations and Research, 1957-2007; Series 6. Publications, 1961-2010; and Series 7. Photographs and Negatives, 1942-2002. Materials are organized either chronologically, or alphabetically by subject heading or name, as appropriate.

The Correspondence series, Series 2, is split into three sub-series: Sub-series 1. General, 1968-2010; Sub-series 2. Professional, 1967-2009; and Sub-series 3. Personal, 1948-2003.

Series 3, Professional Activities, is divided into three sub-series: Sub-series 1. Teaching Materials, 1968-2008; Sub-series 2. Lectures, 1964-2007; and Sub-series 3. Conferences, 1989-2009.

Series 5, Pierre Gassendi: Translations and Research, is divided into six sub-series: Sub-series 1. General Subject Files, 1961-2008; Sub-series 2. Translation of Syntagma Philosophicum, in Opera Omnia, Logic and Physics, Books 1 – 3, circa 1980-2000; Sub-series 3. Translation of Syntagma Philosophicum, in Opera Omnia, Physics, Books 4 – 7, circa 1980-2000; Sub-series 4. Translation of Syntagma Philosophicum, in Opera Omnia, Physics 2 and 3, Ethics, circa 1980-2000; Sub-series 5. Volume III and Volume VI Translations, circa 1980-2000; and Sub-series 6. Volume III Translations: Little Syntagma, Exercitationes, Disquisitio, circa 1980-2000.

The Publications series, Series 6, has been further divided into three sub-series: Sub-series 1. Articles, 1970-2007; Sub-series 2. Books, 1960-2010; and Sub-series 3. Manuscripts, 1961-2010.

Acquisition Information

Forty linear feet of assorted archival materials were accessioned from the estate of Margaret Osler by the OSU Libraries Special Collections on November 29, 2010. One folder of correspondence was accessioned from Paul Farber by the OSU Libraries Special Collections on January 5, 2011. Four linear feet of photographs and correspondence were accessioned from Francine Michaud, University of Calgary, by the OSU Libraries Special Collections on May 25, 2011.

Processing Note

Preliminary arrangement by Christy Turner and John Ngo. Final arrangement by Chris Petersen. Arrangement revised by Rachel Lilley.

Related Materials

Materials in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings pertaining to Margaret Osler's career at Oregon State University include Paul Lawrence Farber's interview in the Oregon State Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026), and the News and Communication Services Records (RG 203).

Additional collections and materials that document the teaching of History of Science at Oregon State University include the Paul Lawrence Farber Papers (MSS Farber), the Mary Jo Nye Papers (MSS Nye), and the J. Brookes Spencer Papers (MSS SpencerJ).

The papers of Abraham and Sonia Osler - including a summary of Sonia Osler's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1958 - are held by Johns Hopkins Libraries Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Religion and science.
  • Science--History--17th century.
  • Science--History.
  • Science--Philosophy--History.
  • Women historians of science
  • Women historians.

Personal Names

  • Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691.
  • Farber, Paul Lawrence, 1944-
  • Gassendi, Pierre, 1592-1655.
  • Newton, Isaac,1642-1727.
  • Osler, Margaret J., 1942-2010.
  • Westfall, Richard S.

Corporate Names

  • History of Science Society.
  • Indiana University.
  • Swarthmore College.
  • University of Calgary.

Finding Aid Authors: Chris Petersen, Christy Turner, John Ngo, and Rachel Lilley..
2019

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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