Jon Lomberg papers
Scope and Contents
This small collection of personal papers includes project files and video cassette tapes from the 1980s and 1990s. Of note in the project files are Lomberg's work on a "galaxy mural" for a display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Files contain correspondence and artwork pertaining to the mural. Also of interest are files related to Carl Sagan's books Comet and Pale Blue Dot. The largest group of files relates to Lomberg's work with the SETI Institute on the Life in the Universe Series curriculum project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. Video cassettes include an episode of the popular PBS NOVA series, featuring Lily Tomlin as guest narrator, as well as a Life in the Universe Series video, History of Earth.
Dates
- Creation: 1980-1996
Creator
- Lomberg, Jon (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Digital surrogates may be provided to researchers, in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.
Biographical / Historical
Jon Lomberg, space artist and science journalist, was born in 1948 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut in 1969. While visiting Toronto, Canada after college, Lomberg met Canadian science-fiction writer Judith Merril, who invited Lomberg to display some of his artwork at a conference for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Lomberg moved to Toronto later that year and worked with Merril on a radio documentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio One Ideas program, the first of many documentaries that Lomberg would make for the CBC.
In 1972, Lomberg met scientist Carl Sagan, who hired Lomberg to illustrate his book, The Cosmic Connection. Sagan and Lomberg collaborated on many projects throughout the course of their friendship, which lasted until Sagan's death in 1996. These projects included the Cosmos television series and book; cover art for the novel Contact; sequencing work for the Contact film; Broca's Brain; and NASA's Voyager Golden Record. Lomberg also designed the sailing ship logo for the Planetary Society, at Sagan's request.
The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) hired Lomberg in the early 1990s to create a large-scale painting of the Milky Way galaxy to be featured in a permanent exhibition, "Where Next, Columbus?" On display from 1992-2002, the painting--named "A Portrait of the Milky Way"--remains part of the museum's permanent collection on aviation and space art.
Lomberg has won many awards for his work as an astronomical artist, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Creative Technical Crafts for his work on the Cosmos series. In 2002 Lomberg received the Klumpke-Roberts Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his "outstanding contribution to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy." In addition, Lomberg was a founding member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and a member of the Planetary Society advisory council.
Extent
1.5 Cubic Feet (1 records storage carton of letter size file folders and 1 legal size document box with 2 file folders and 11 video cassette tapes. Flat file storage for 6 oversize posters and 2 sketches. 1 set of rolled sketches (loose). ) ; 1 box (16.25 in. x 13 in. x 10.5 in.) equals 1 cubic foot ("cubic foot" defined in SAA Dictionary); 1 Legal size document box (10.25"H x 5"W x 15.5"D) equals 0.46 cubic feet (as defined by UNLV Archives Calculator)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series, alphabetically by folder title.
Series 1: Project Files
Series 2: Video cassette tapes
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers donated by Jon Lomberg (Trinity College class of 1969) on October 4, 1996.
Processing Information
The collection has been fairly thoroughly processed to the folder level. Files arrived to the Archives with most materials already sorted into folders with corresponding titles. Loose materials were placed into appropriate existing folders.
All materials were rehoused in acid-free folders and boxes, and rusty fasteners removed. Newspapers and newsclippings were isolated with acid-free paper and original artwork was placed in acid-free enclosures. Some large-scale artwork and posters were transferred to oversize storage.
- Title
- Guide to the Jon Lomberg papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Amy M. FitzGerald
- Date
- 2022-04-12
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Trinity College Archives Repository
Watkinson Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford CT 06106 USA