Raymond B. Montgomery (1910-1988) was born in Philadelphia, PA, and raised in Falmouth, MA, by his mother, Priscilla, who served as Librarian of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) library for many years. While attending Harvard University (A.B. 1932), he was one of 4 scientists of the first oceanographic cruise of the R/V Atlantis in 1931, the flagship of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), captained by Columbus Iselin. Montgomery earned his S.M. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1934 and his Sc. D. in oceanography from MIT in 1938. 

Montgomery’s career took him to many different institutions on the east coast but he consistently was affiliated with WHOI either on the staff, as an Associate, as an Honorary Staff member, and from 1970 onward, as a member of the WHOI Corporation. From 1938-1940 Montgomery was employed by WHOI as a junior oceanographer and from 1940-1942 as a physical oceanographer. He was a professor of meteorology at New York University with Athelstan Spilhaus from 1943-1944 before going back to MIT as a staff member studying the structure of the atmosphere. Montgomery became a visiting professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1948 before accepting a position with Brown University from 1949-1954.Johns Hopkins University, where he was professor of oceanography from 1954-1975, served as his base of operations, although he took various other positions at this time as well, including a Fulbright Scholar in Australia (1958) and visiting professor at the University of Hawaii (1971).

Correspondence File

This principal series, arranged alphabetically, consists of correspondence regarding Montgomery’s various scientific projects, formal and informal reviews, and project and paper proposals. One file of letters to congressmen reflects his political awareness (box 18).Other subjects of note include his files on Johns Hopkins University (box 8), MIT (box 9), New York University (box 13), and WHOI (boxes 19-20).Correspondents include Dean Bumpus, Townsend Cromwell, Nicholas Fofonoff, J. L. Reid, Henry Stommel, E. D. Stroup, Wilton Sturges, and Warren S. Wooster. Information regarding the discovery of the equatorial undercurrent in the Pacific may be found in the files concerning Townsend Cromwell (box 4), E. D.Stroup (box 16), Equatorial Currents of Pacific Ocean, Physics Club (talk), 1953 (box 22) and Pacific Equatorial Water, NYU (seminar), 1956 (box 23). 

Manuscripts, Lectures, and Class Notes

This chronological series contains drafts of manuscripts; very detailed files pertaining to courses that Montgomery taught throughout his career, including schedules, topics, quizzes, and tests; drafts and completed versions of lectures given by Montgomery, and extensive notes on various projects. Of note are diagrams, notes, and lectures on temperature and salinity; lectures on isentropic analysis; and files on Pacific equatorial currents. 

Data, Cruises, Maps, and Plots

Additional materials relating to Raymond B. Montgomery include data from R/V Atlantis cruise 1 and 30. 

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