Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler - NIST Virtual Library - National Institute ...

2. Hassler's Legacy Recognized: 1987, Before, and After
2.1 Overview
This section contains a collection of articles about F. R. Hassler from the years 1916 to 1995,
centering on the year 1987 when NOAA celebrated its 180 th Anniversary with a commemorative
symposium honoring the creation of the Survey of the Coast and Hassler's contributions. Together,
this collection of articles provides a thorough background about Hassler’s accomplishments both as a
geodesist and as a metrologist. The descriptions of Hassler’s works contained in this section explain
the continued interest in Hassler in recent years and why monuments to his achievements were later
installed at both NOAA and NIST headquarters, as described in Sections Four and Five.
The first article dates from an earlier anniversary — the centennial anniversary of the U.S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey (now called the National Ocean Service, a part of NOAA). This was celebrated in
1916, marking 100 years since the beginning of field work on the Coast Survey in 1816 by Hassler.
The Centennial Celebration was an extraordinary affair held in Washington, D.C., which included a
symposium held at the Smithsonian auditorium and a banquet at the Willard Hotel where speakers
included the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. Dr. Samuel W. Stratton, Director of the
Bureau of Standards, gave the speech, “The Bureau of Standards and its Relation to the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey” which is reprinted here. Prior to the creation of the Bureau of
Standards in 1901, its progenitor, the Office of Standard Weights and Measures, had resided within
the Department of Treasury as an office within the Coast Survey. Hassler was the first
superintendent of both Weights and Measures and the Coast Survey and so as a man embodies the
close tie of these two sibling organizations, joined together today within the Department of Commerce
as NIST and NOAA. Dr. Stratton’s remarks speak directly to this relationship, and are revealing about
the character of F.R. Hassler.
The second article, “Hassler’s Legacy,” was published in 1976, in NOAA Magazine, as part of that
agency’s celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. The author, Albert A. Stanley was a 47-year employee
of the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey and well-versed in the history of that organization and its origins
with Hassler.
The interest in Hassler carried through to 1987, when NOAA commemorated the 180 th Anniversary of
the Founding of the Survey of the Coast. Two pieces from this period, both by Captain Charles A.
Burroughs, are presented here, including Burroughs' remarks delivered at the commemorative
symposium held in February 1987. His article, “Hassler’s First Chart” is also reprinted from The
Portolan, journal of the Washington Map Society.
The final article in this section was published in 1995 a few months before the dedication of Hassler
Park at NOAA covered in Section Four. Part one of a four-part series on the “History of Geodetic
Surveying,” this installment details the Hassler years up to his death in 1843. The author, Joseph F.
Dracup, highlights Hassler’s contribution from the viewpoint of a geodesist.
In summary, this section speaks to the many specifics of F.R. Hassler's service to the United States.
These form the foundation of the Hassler legacy celebrated in later sections.
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