Founder and first Director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
John Stanley Plaskett (JSP) often complained about the Ottawa ‘meddlers’ and the idiosyncrasies of the bureaucracy. He was very protective of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and any attempts by individuals in Ottawa to control any aspect of the observatory.
One of his administrative tasks was the preparation of monthly work reports which were submitted to the Deputy Minister, Department of the Interior, Ottawa. The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Historical Collection contains copies of these monthly reports for the period from late 1921 through to 1933. These reports offer a unique glimpse into the work of the observatory and its staff members during this period. I have entered the text almost verbatim as it appeared in these reports but have added some additional material and links to flesh them out and provide the reader with more information.
This page contains links to summaries of many of these monthly reports with some of the details fleshed out with additional information. At some point scans of the original reports will be added.