Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Search Results

Collections Search Center
585 documents - page 1 of 30

Julius G. Berger Collection

Creator:
Berger, Julius G., 1888- (electrical engineer)  Search this
Names:
General Electric Company  Search this
Stevens Institute of Technology  Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Electricity and Modern Physics  Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (5 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Notebooks
Manuscripts
Newsletters
Date:
1909-1952
Scope and Contents note:
This collection traces the training and employment of an early electrical engineer. It includes 4 manuals filled with Berger's lab training at Stevens and G.E., a lecture notebook, two business correspondence scrapbooks, an industrial power data reference book, and a group of G.E. technical newsletters.
Biographical/Historical note:
Berger served as a General Electric Company electrical engineer, a William Gordon Corporation contractor, and eventually began his own electrical design firm. He was educated in 1910 at the Stevens Institute, and enrolled in the General Electric continuing education program at Lynn, Mass.
Provenance:
The immediate source of acquisition for the materials transferred in 1983 is unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Electrical engineers  Search this
Electrical science and technology  Search this
Genre/Form:
Scrapbooks -- 1900-1950
Notebooks -- 1900-1950
Manuscripts -- 1900-1950
Newsletters -- 20th century
Citation:
Julius G. Berger Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0075
See more items in:
Julius G. Berger Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b725c551-e6e6-4690-b8ea-8088ffdb36d8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0075

Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records.

Author:
Parke, Davis Company  Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Medical Sciences  Search this
Names:
Pfizer Inc.  Search this
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis  Search this
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis. Pharmaceutical Research Division  Search this
Davis, George S.  Search this
Duffield, Samuel P., Dr. (physician, pharmacist)  Search this
Parke, Hervey Coke , 1827-1899  Search this
Extent:
365 Cubic feet (510 boxes, 43 map folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Annual reports
Blueprints
Brochures
Catalogs
Correspondence
Employee records
Formulae, chemical
Lantern slides
Newsletters
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks
Price lists
16mm films
Sound recordings
Tracings
Trade literature
Date:
1866-1992
Summary:
The collection documents Parke, Davis and Company, one of the largest and oldest pharmaceutical firms in America.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents Parke, Davis and Company, one of America's oldest and largest drug makers. Parke, Davis had the first research laboratory in the American pharmaceutical industry. The company played a major role in the development of some of the principle new drugs of the twentieth century and pioneered the field of drug standardization. They were one of the first American firms to produce antitoxins, hormones, and other biologicals. They introduced new and important drugs such as adrenalin, dilantin, chlorenpleniol, and other antibiotics. They also did important research on vitamins, disinfectants, and pencillin.

The collection contains complete documentaion of all the research activities done, including research laboratory notes, correspondence, and published papers. The collection also contains corporate, financial, advertising and sales materials, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The collection is important for those researchers interested in the history of public health, the history of biologicals, pharmaceutical manufacturing and business history.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into 13 series.

Series 1: Corporate Materials, 1887-1951

Series 2: Financial Materials, 1880-1970

Series 3: Employee/Personnel Materials, 1900-1989

Series 4: Advertising/Sales Materials, 1868-1980

Series 5: Photographs, 1866-1992

Series 6: Notebooks, 1908-1968

Series 7: Control Department Records, 1884-1931

Series 8: Formulas, 1882-1967

Series 9: Equipment Data Files, 1922-1978

Series 10: Publications, 1968-1988

Series 11: Research Materials, 1920-1978

Series 12: Drawings, 1911-1971

Series 13: Addenda, 1867-1970

Series 14: Audio Materials, 1956-1957
Historical:
Parke, Davis and Company traces it's origins to Samuel Pearce Duffield (1833-1916), a physician and pharmacist. Duffield was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and his family moved to Detroit when he was an infant. Duffield graduated from the University of Michigan in 1854 and he attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, latter leaving for Germany where he studied chemistry and sought treatment for his eyesight. He subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Ludwig University at Giessen in Germany. Duffield returned to Detroit in 1858 and established a retail drugstore with a strong interest in manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Duffield sought financial partners for his retail and manufacturing venture with A.L. Patrick and Francis C. Conant. Both men retracted their investments and Duffield met Hervey Coke Parke (1927-1899), a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Duffield and Parke formed a formal partnership in 1866. George S. Davis, a third partner and traveling salesman previously with Farrand, Sheley and Company, was added 1867. Augustus F. Jennings joined the company as a partner to head manufacturing. The company became known as Duffield, Parke, Davis, & Jennings Company. Duffield withdrew in 1869 and the name Parke, Davis & Company was adopted in 1871. The company incorporated in 1875 and began planning world-wide scientific expeditions to discover new vegetable drugs such as Guarana, Bearsfoot, Eucalyptus Globulus, and Coca. The company first showed a profit in 1876, and the first dividend paid to shareholders in 1878 and dividends paid until mid-1960s. Research was a major activity of the company.

In 1907, Parke, Davis and Company bought 340 acres in northeast Avon Township, Michigan, and called it Parkedale Farm. The farm was dedicated on October 8, 1908, and included sterilization rooms and a vaccine propagating building. By 1909 the farm included 200 horses, 25 to 50 cattle, 150 sheep, and employed 20 men. The horses produced the antitoxin for diphtheria and tetanus, the cattle produced a vaccine for smallpox preventatives, and the sheep made serum. Only the healthiest animals were used and all were well cared for. Exotic plants were also grown on the site and used for drugs. Parke-Davis' chief products were antitoxins and vaccines as well as farm crops for feeding the animals. The farm continued to produce vaccines for diphtheria, scarlet fever, tetanus, smallpox, anthrax, and in the 1950s, the Salk polio vaccine.

Due to a weakening financial position, the company became susceptible to take-over, and was purchased by Warner-Lambert in 1970. Warner Lambert, was then acquired by Pfizer in 2000. In 2007, Pfizer closed its research facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Source

Rochester Hills Museum at Voon Hoosen Farm (last accessed on September 29, 2021 https://www.rochesterhills.org/Museum/LocalHistory/ParkeDavisFarm.pdf)

Parke, Davis and Company. Parke-Davis At 100...progress in the past...promise for the future. Detroit, Michigan, 1966.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Alka-Seltzer Documentation and Oral History Project (NMAH.AC.0184)

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records (NMAH.AC.0059)

Cover Girl Advertising Oral History Documentation Project (NMAH.AC.0374)

Garfield and Company Records (NMAH.AC.0820)

Albert W. Hampson Commercial Artwork Collection (NMAH.AC.0561)

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection (NMAH.AC.0791)

Kiehl's Pharmacy Records (NMAH.AC.0819)

Alan and Elaine Levitt Advertisement Collection (NMAH.AC.0303)

Medical Sciences Film Collection (NMAH.AC.0222)

Norwich Eaton Pharmaceutical, Inc. Collection (NMAH.AC.0395)

Procter & Gamble Company Product Packaging Collection (NMAH.AC.0836)

Sterling Drug Company Records (NMAH.AC.772)

Syntex Collection of Pharmaceutical Advertising (NMAH.AC.0821)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Medicine (NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Medicine)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines (NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.PatentMedicines)

Materials at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collection

Trade catalogs related to Parke, Davis & Co.; Warner-Lambert; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; and Pfizer, Inc.

Materials at Other Organizations

Detroit Public Library, Special Collections

Parke, Davis & Company records, 1892-1959

Scrapbook of clippings, 1929-44; Excursions & Announcements, 1892-1902; and company newsletters.

University of California San Francisco

Drug Industry Documents was created by the University of California San Francisco Library in collaboration with faculty members C. Seth Landefeld, MD and Michael Steinman, MD. Originally established to house documents from an off-label marketing lawsuit against Parke-Davis (United States of America ex rel. David Franklin vs. Parke-Davis), the archive has grown to include documents from additional sources illustrating how the pharmaceutical industry, academic journals and institutions, continuing medical education organizations and regulatory/funding agencies operate in ways that are detrimental to public health.
Separated Materials:
Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History

The division holds objects related to Parke, Davis that primarily include containers (boxes and glass bottles) that held phamrmaceuticals, biologicals (vaccines), crude drugs, and herb packages. See accessions: 1978.0882; 1982.0043; 1982.0043; 1984.0351; 1985.0475; 1988.3152; 1991.0415; 1992.3127; 2001.3066; 2012.0165; and 2018.5001.
Provenance:
The initial collection of approximately 185 cubic feet was donated by the Warner-Lambert Company, through Jerry A. Weisbach, Vice-President and President of the Pharmaceutical Research Division, on February 3, 1982.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
advertising  Search this
Antibiotics  Search this
Architectural Blueprints  Search this
Biologicals  Search this
Chemistry  Search this
Diseases  Search this
Drugs -- 1900-1950  Search this
Drug factories  Search this
Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919  Search this
Laboratories  Search this
Medical scientists -- 1900-1950  Search this
Patents  Search this
Pharmaceutical industry -- 1900-1950  Search this
Pharmacology -- 1900-1950  Search this
Photographs  Search this
Vaccines  Search this
Genre/Form:
Annual reports -- 20th century
Blueprints -- 20th century
Brochures -- 20th century
Catalogs
Correspondence -- 19th-20th century
Employee records
Formulae, chemical
Lantern slides -- 1900-1950
Newsletters -- 20th century
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks -- 1900-1950
Price lists
16mm films
Sound recordings -- Audiotapes -- Open reel
Tracings
Trade literature
Citation:
Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0001
See more items in:
Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records.
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8869c518d-5cbd-42cf-b508-e688de3bf14d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0001
Online Media:

William R. Hutton Papers

Creator:
Hutton, William R., 1826-1901  Search this
Extent:
30 Cubic feet (33 boxes, 21 oversize folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Letterpress copybooks
Blueprints
Diaries
Drawings
Cashbooks
Business records
Business letters
Notebooks
Topographic maps
Tax records
Technical drawings
Stock certificates
Technical literature
Photoengravings
Notes
Maps
Microfilms
Linen tracings
Letter books
Letters
Land titles
Legal documents
Sketches
Salted paper prints
Reports
Receipts
Plans (drawings)
Photostats
Photographic prints
Architectural drawings
Administrative records
Albumen prints
Albums
Annual reports
Booklets
Account books
Books
Family papers
Financial records
Cyanotypes
Correspondence
Deeds
Printed material
Contracts
Photograph albums
Specifications
Christmas cards
Menus
Place:
France
Maryland
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Panama Canal (Panama)
New Jersey
New York (N.Y.)
Hudson River
Baltimore (Md.)
Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
New York
Washington Bridge
New Croton Aqueduct
Kanawha River Canal
Washington Aqueduct
Potomac River -- 19th century
Washington Memorial Bridge
Hudson River Tunnel
Date:
1830-1965
Summary:
The papers document the life and work of William R. Hutton, a civil engineer during the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include diaries, notebooks, correspondence, letterpress copy book, printed materials, publications, specifications, photographs, drawings, and maps that document the construction of several architectural and engineering projects during this period. Most notable are the records containing information related to the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Hudson River Tunnel, the Washington Aqueduct, the Kanawha River Canal, and the Washington/Harlem River Bridge. There are also several records about railroads in the state of Maryland, the District of Columbia and elsewhere, including the Western Maryland Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Colorado Midlands Railway, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, the Northern Adirondack Railroad, and the Pittsfield and Williamstown Railroad. The records can be used to track the progression of these projects, and engineering innovation during the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
Scope and Contents:
These papers document William R. Hutton's professional career as a civil engineer and his personal affairs. Although the personal materials in the collection provide insight into a man and a family that have been largely forgotten by biographers, it is the professional materials that are perhaps the most interesting to researchers. They provide a compelling narrative of the push to the West that occurred in 19th century America and the internal improvements movement typified by the American System plan proposed by Henry Clay. Perhaps best remembered for the high tariffs that accompanied it, the American System plan was also concerned with the advancement of internal improvements, such as canals, that would unite the East and West in communication, travel, and trade. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal can be seen as one of the products of this movement (1) and was in fact initially heralded as the first great work of national improvement (2).

The papers in this collection that are related to the construction and maintenance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal are an invaluable documentation of efforts during this turbulent time to unite the eastern and western United States. They provide details of the canal from its initial construction to its decline with the incline at Georgetown project. The canal also serves as an example, or perhaps a warning against, federal involvement in state improvement efforts as it was the first project to be directly funded and staffed by the federal government (3). The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by then President John Quincy Adams whose toast, "to the canal: perseverance," (4) became an ironic omen, as construction of the canal took over twenty-two years to be completed. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal materials can be used as a case study for the problems encountered during canal building (5). These problems are best typified in the collection by the papers relating to the Georgetown incline. This project was headed by Hutton and was plagued with construction problems, boating accidents, and obsolescence from the moment of its completion. Despite these issues, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal remains a structure of historical significance in America. As the third and last effort to construct an all-water route to the West (6), the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is an important artifact of 19th century attitudes and efforts towards commerce, trade, travel, and communication between the eastern and western United States. Other significant canals and water structures represented in the collection are the Kanawha Canal, the Washington Aqueduct, and a large collection of materials relating to the Kingston Water Supply (New York).

One of the most significant internal improvements made during this time was the railroad. The legal conflicts that arose between the canal companies and railroads is also represented in the materials relating to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. These materials specifically deal with the legal conflict's between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The development and construction of the railroads is also represented in the materials documenting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, the Northern Adirondack Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, the Mexican National Railroad, the Colorado Midlands Railroad, and the Columbia Railroad.

The collection also demonstrates the spirit of innovation and invention that was prevalent in the engineering field in the nineteenth century. Joseph Gies writes, "...one of the distinctive characteristics of the great nineteenth century engineering adventurers was their readiness to gamble on the translation of theory into practice" (7). In this quote, he is speaking of the civil engineer Dewitt Clinton Haskins and a project that truly encapsulates engineering invention in the nineteenth century, the Hudson River Tunnel. Responding to the increase in the population of the City of New York in the late nineteenth century from sixty thousand to three and a half million, the Hudson River Tunnel was originally devised as a way to alleviate traffic and to transport train passengers directly across the Hudson River (8). Beginning with records dating from 1881 to 1901, the Hutton papers can be used to document not only the advances in engineering during this time but also the costs of progress. Haskins' initial efforts to build the tunnel using submerged air pressurized caissons were marked by failure and in some cases fatalities. Workers on the tunnel often suffered from what came to be known as "caisson disease" or "the bends," caused by the immense forces of compression and decompression experienced while working in the tunnels (9). This problem was so prevalent that as construction progressed the rate of worker deaths caused by "the bends" rose to twenty-five percent (10). Materials in the collection document worker complaints and deaths resulting from this disease as well as providing a technical record of the construction of the tunnel. The highlight of the materials relating to the Hudson River Tunnel is an album that contains photographs of workers in the tunnel and a detailed daily report of the construction progress on the tunnel that was maintained by Hutton's assistant, Walton Aims. The first hand account in these reports provides insight not only into the construction of the tunnel, but also the problems encountered.

Another project featured in the Hutton collection that was devised in response to the population explosion in the City of New York in the nineteenth century is the Harlem River Bridge, or as it is now known, the Washington Bridge. Known as one of the longest steel arch bridges of its time, the Harlem River Bridge also represents that spirit of invention and innovation that was prevalent in the civil engineering field during the nineteenth century. The collection provides an invaluable resource for those wishing to track the construction of the bridge from early concept drawings and proposals to finalized plans. Also present are photographs of the construction and workers. Societal response to the bridge in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings help to create the narrative of the Washington Bridge, and these are supplemented by correspondence from the builders, suppliers, and planners.

This collection also includes diaries, 1866-1901; letterpress copybooks, 1858-1901; correspondence on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Hudson River Tunnel, Washington Bridge over the Harlem River, and Maryland and Colorado railroads, 1861-1901, and on Hutton's financial and real estate affairs, 1835-1921; construction photographs of the Harlem River, Cairo, Poughkeepsie, Niagara bridges and the Hudson River Tunnel, Washington Aqueduct, and Capitol Dome (in the form of albumen, cyanotype, salted paper print); data and drawings; rolled land profile drawings; canal notes, 1828-1892; Hudson River Tunnel construction reports, 1889-1891; publications, drawings, and maps of railroad routes; pamphlets and reprints on hydraulic works and water supply; road, railway, bridge, and hydraulic construction specifications, 1870-1900; drawings (linen, oil cloth, and heavy drawing paper), and blueprints; account books, 1891-1899; and plans, drawings, field notebooks, and publications on American and European construction projects, especially in Maryland, New York, and France; personal correspondence detailing his role as executor for the estates of Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Annie Theller, and the Countess H. De Moltke-Hvitfeldt and his relationships with his children, siblings, cousins, and colleagues, 1850-1942.

Materials are handwritten, typed, and printed.

Special note should be made that any materials dated after the year 1901 were added to the collection by another creator who is unidentified. It can be speculated that professional materials added after this date were contributed by his brother and colleague Nathanial Hutton or his son Frank Hutton. Personal materials contributed after this date may have been added by his wife, daughters, or other members of his extended family.

Series 1, Letterpress Copybooks, 1858-1901, consists of twenty seven letterpress copybooks containing correspondence between Hutton and other engineers, architects, and building suppliers. The letterpress copybooks in this series have been arranged chronologically. The books involve a process by which ink is transferred through direct contact with the original using moisture and pressure in a copy press. The majority of the correspondence is business- related. Some letterpress copybooks are devoted to specific projects such as the Washington/Harlem River Bridge, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The letterpress copybooks provide a record of correspondence written by Hutton, which makes it distinctive from the other correspondence in the collection. Most of the other correspondence has Hutton as recipient.

The letterpress copybooks also document Hutton's various residences throughout his life and provide a glimpse into the civil engineering profession at the time by demonstrating how engineers shared ideas and comments about projects. This can be supplemented with the printed materials in the collection as many of the authors also appear in the correspondence. Other topics covered in the letterpress copybooks include business reports (specifically the report of the president and directors of the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad), records of people and companies involved in projects, pasted in engineering sketches, engineering specifications and notes, travel expenses and estimates, construction histories and progress, legal issues with family estates, tax information, Colorado Railroad, payment certificate schedules, St. Paul Railroad, personal correspondence, title guarantees, Hudson River Tunnel, financial matters, real estate matters, insurance information, sketches and drawings, supply lists, cost estimates, the Memorial Bridge, Coffin Valve Company, engineering expenses, engineering calculations, payroll notes for Kingston Water Supply, proposals, account information, Hutton Park, reservoirs, contract drafts, French Society of Civil Engineers, inspection results (specifically Piedmont Bridge), land descriptions, damage reports, Morse Bridge, Illinois Central Railroad, North Sea Canal, moveable dams, iron works, site histories, Potomac Lock and Dock Company, Kanawha River canal (lock quantities, specifications, payroll information), Pennsylvania Canal, and bills for services.

Series 2, Professional Correspondence, 1861-1901, consists of correspondence that relates to Hutton's architectural and engineering projects. This series is further subdivided into two subseries: Project Correspondence and General Correspondence. Subseries 1, Project Correspondence, 1876-1899, correspondence is divided by project and arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2, General Correspondence, 1861-1901, is arranged chronologically. Both series contain handwritten and typed letters. Some letters are on letterpress copybook pages and are most likely copies. Some materials are in French and Spanish. Special note should be made that this series does not contain all of the professional correspondence in the collection. Some correspondence has been separated according to project and placed in Series 8, Professional Projects, 1830-1965, in order to make it easier for researchers to access materials related to those subjects.

Subseries 1, professional correspondence topics include comparisons between construction projects (specifically comparisons of the Kanawha River Canal to other canals), supply lists, location recommendations, sketches, construction plans and modifications, bills for supplies and works, leaks in the gates, cost estimates, Brooklyn Water Supply, use of lake storage (Ramapo Water Supply), water supply to states and counties, damages to water supply pipes, estimates of water quantities, responses to construction reports, legal issues related to projects, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and payment for services.

Subseries 2, general correspondence topics include employment opportunities, committee meetings and elections, land surveys, sketches, engineering plans and ideas, work on projects, dismissal from projects, notes on supplies, Washington Aqueduct, construction progress, land purchases, Civil War, Jones Falls, cost of water pumps, steam drills, lots divisions and prices, repairs, report of the engineering bureau, tidewater connection at Annapolis, bridge construction, construction costs, statement of vessels that entered and cleared Baltimore, technical questions from colleagues, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, supply costs, letters of introduction, requests for reference, changes to plans and designs, survey reports, St. Andrew's lot, Canal Coal Company, publication process, American Society of Civil Engineers and its members, responses to project inquiries, Graving Dock gross revenue, job offers, specifications, trade figures, contracts, water levels, appointment dates and times, moveable dams, proposals for membership, salaries, Piedmont Coal Lands, maps, land profiles, Washington Bridge, board payments, Nicaragua Canal, Grant Coal Company, statistics, engineering notes, Hartford Bridge, water pressures, coal deposits, Colorado Coal, pipe lines, reservoirs, boat costs for canals, floods, bridges, letters of resignation, engines, Ruxton Viaduct, Colorado and Midland Railroad, Morse Bridge, share values, railroad locations, membership invitations, call for submissions, structural tests, record of accounts for room and board, appointments, water rights (Putnam County), publications, blueprints, visitation programs, cotton compresses, street trenches, pressures in dams, level tests, Portland Transportation bureau, trade information, concrete steel, Chicago drainage canal, ship canals, Augusta Cotton and Compress Company, Sooysmith case, Consolidated Gas Company, masonry, book binding, Columbia Railway Company, jetties, land grades, Chesapeake and Delaware canal, water wheels, pneumatic lock, tunnel arches, rifton power, Hutton's health, elevators, Brooklyn Bridge Terminals, girder weights, legal issues and their results, rating table for the Potomac, land profiles, transmission lines, transformers, water turbines, and water power on the Potomac River.

Correspondents for this series include the following: Captain Montgomery C. Meigs, Captain T.W. Symons, William Bryan, Ernest Flagg, John Hurd, Jake Wolfe, J.C. Saunders, J.H. Dolph, Charles J. Allen, G.H. Mendell, Virgil S. Bogue, B.A. Mounnerlyn, Edward Burr, H.G. Prout, R. William, H. Dodge, C.R. Suter, M. Mink, W.R. King, John Lyons, Alex Brown and Sons, John G. Butler, D. Condon, Bernard Carter, R.P. McCormick, D.R. Magruder, Andrew Banks, Isaac Solomon, C.J. Mayer, C.W. Kern, John Herring, James S. Mackie, D.R. Magunde, D. Rittaguide, R.S. Stevens, J.L. Raudolph (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), J.M. Lane, W.D. Stuart, W.G.P. Palmer (Committee Church of the Ascension), C. Crozet, General W. Hughes, V.R. Maus, J.M. Hood (Western Maryland Railroad Company), Ernest Pontzen, M. Haus, William F. Craighill, Harry Hutton, John W. Pearce, Reverend James A. Harrald, William Watson, A.L. Rives, Thomas Monro, A.F. Croswan (Commander United States Navy), H.R. Garden, William McAlpine, James Forrest, Wm. Bloomsfield, Daniel Ammen, Linel Wells, A. and Otto Sibeth, Alfred Noble, Clemens Hershel, Sidney Warner, E.H. de Rheville, Theodore Cooper, William Findlay Shunk, Lewis S. Wolfe, Rufus Mead, Theodore F. Taylor, John Bogart, J. Whaler, B. Williamson, Colonel F.V. Greene, Robert H. Sayre (Lehigh Valley Railroad Company), Charles W. Pussey, Louis Q. Rissel, V.C. Bogue, H.C. Eckenberger, Melville E.G. Leston, Edwin Parson, Rudolph Hering, R.S. Hale, F.M. Turner, Thosl Martindale, Justus C. Strawbridge, William M. Ayresm, R.L. Austin, A.M. Miller, P. Livingston Dunn, T.J. Cleaver, C.S. Dutton, H.A. Carson, William Bainbridge Jaudon, H.A. Presset, Thomas H. McCann, Russel Sturgis, H.G. Prout, Alexis H. French, John K. Cowen, F.W. Williams, J. Waldorf, B.H. Byrant, B.H. Jones, M.H. Rogers, J.W. Ogden, General W. Cashing, William Longhudge, A.J. Cameron, T.L. Patterson, J.J. Hagerman, H. Wigglesworth, Charles B. Rowland, E. Bantz, W.G. Lathrop, Clarence King, George Rowland, George A. Tibbals (Continental Iron Works), George N. Vanderbilt, Eugene C. Lewis, F.P. Burt, Colonel John C. Clarke, Lieutenant Thomas Turtle, W.S.M. Scott, E. Bates Dorsey, Bernard Carter, George M. Shriver (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), Russel Sturgis, Macmillan Publishing, James Abernethy, B. Baker, J.G.W. Fynje, A. Mallet, Jean Hersuy, L.F. Vernon Horcourt, Robert Lilley, A.J. Johnson, F.M. Colby, Henry D. Loney, A.S. Cameron, James A. Harrald, William Watson, John B. Lervis, A.L. Rives, Edwin F. Bidell, Frank H. Stockett, E. McMahon, C.F. Elgin, Enrique Budge, G. Clayton Gardiner, Dwight Porter, William A. Chapman, T.E. Sickels, Theodore Cooper, C.J. Warner, Institution of Civil Engineers, Robert Gordon, United States Coast of Geodetic Survey Office, C.P. Pattun, J.N. Putnam, Sidney B. Warner, H.D. Fisher, Union Pacific Railway Company, Lewis S. Wolle, George E. Waring Junior, The American Exhibition, G.F. Swain, American Society of Civil Engineers, N.H. Whitten, U.S. Engineer Office, Government Works Committee, J.J. Hagerman, D. Jackson, Sterling Iron and Railway Company, E.P. Alexander, E. Williamson, Central Railway Company of New Jersey, William A. Underwood, F. Collingwood, James Dun (Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company), Henry F. Kilburn, Louis A. Bissell, Virgil G. Boque, H.C. Eckenberger, Melville Egleston, Charles Parson, George Swain, Continental Iron Works, Rudolph Hering, J.B. Gordon, Mayor's Office (Baltimore), Harry Robinson, Pennsylvania Railway Company, W.H. Gahagan, L. Luiggi, B.H. Bryant, T.J. Cleaver (Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company), H.A. Carson, H.A. Presset (Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey), John K. Cowen, Vernon H. Brown, J. Waldorf, B.H. Bryant, L.F. Root, P.W. White, Metropolitan Railroad Company, Charles F. Mayer (Consolidated Coal Company, Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company), J.M. Lane (Western Maryland Railroad), Dr. R.S. Stewart (Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad), Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad (John Lyons, John G. Butler, D. Candon, R.P. McCormick, Andrew Banks), Thomas F. Rowland, J.A. Bensel, Walton Aims, S.D. Coykendall, H.C. Rogers, John F. Ward, T.B. Jewell, H.A. Pressey, C.S. Armstrong, J. Nennett, V.G. Bague.

Series 3, Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942, contains correspondence with immediate and extended family, specifically the heirs to the Benjamin H. Hutton and Joseph Hutton estates and Adele Gorman. Correspondence is primarily arranged chronologically, but some files have been divided based on subject or author (the Deer Park and Adele Gorman files), or by form (the Telegrams, and Cablegrams file). Special note is made of the posthumous correspondence file, which includes correspondence both relating to Hutton's death and correspondence that was written by family members after the years of his death. The series contains both hand written and typed letters. Some correspondence is in French. The correspondence demonstrates his relationship with his children specifically Elizabeth (Bessie) Hutton, and illuminates his role in his family. This series also provides details about nineteenth century upper class society and activities. Special note should be made that this folder does not contain all of the personal correspondence contained in the collection. Some correspondence has been separated according to recipient, or subject in order to make researching these recipients or subjects easier.

Series 3 correspondence topics include: estate payments, distribution of assets, funds transfers, estate lines, conflicts with tenants, sketches, lot maintenance, real estate sales, deeds, real estate sales negotiations, congratulations wishes on new babies, family illnesses, family affairs and travels, traveling directions, personal investments, invitations for social occasions, family debts, professional interests, professional and personal appointments, family issues, requests for money, sketches, advice to children (specifically Frank Hutton), life insurance, books, letters of introduction, legal issues, funeral expenses, charity donations, advertisements, minutes from professional organizations, army enlistment, deaths of friends and family, recipes, estimates of personal expenses, renovations, stock certificates (Great Northern Railway Company, New York), food, social activities, the weather, marriages, real estate and construction plans, and loan agreements.

Correspondents include the following: Frank Hutton, Thomas B. Brookes, J.L. Marcauley, C.M. Matthews, Edward J. Hancy, John M. Wilson, H.A. Carson, William H. Wiley (of John Wiley and Sons Scientific Publishers, New York), Georgina Hutton, Pierre and Jane Casson, George McNaughlin, Henrietta Hutton, Aaron Pennington Whitehead, J.B. Wheeler, B. Williamson, Robert De Forest, Elizabeth (Bessie) Hutton, Grace Beukard, J.C. Saunders, Mary Hutton, William J. Pennington, C.S. Hurd, Henry C. Cooper, Henry J. Segers, S.F. Miller, Annie Theller, Alfred Noble, Maria Burton, Joseph Hobson, E. Lennon, F. Hulberg, Charles Gordon Hutton, Edward C. Ebert, A. William Lewin, E.R. Dunn, William P. Craighill, Theodore Cooper, P.I. Chapelle, Anita McAlpine, Clarence King, Victoria Raymond, and Adele Gorman.

Series 4, Personal Materials, 1835-1946, contains documentation about Hutton's personal finances, role as executor of the Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Annie Theller, and Countess H. De Moltke-Hvitfeldt estates, Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary Hutton (daughter), Frank Hutton, John Caulfield (son-in-law), and B.F. and C.H. Hutton. The series has been divided into four subseries: Financial Records, 1876-1901, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, Other Huttons, 1876-1936, and Personal Material, 1878-1946. Subseries 2, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, contains correspondence relating to specific family estates and family members. This correspondence was separated from Series 3, Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942, to make it easier for researchers to access all records relating to the family estates. This series includes hand written, typed, and printed materials. Some materials are in French. All material dated after 1901 has been added to the collection by other creators such as Hutton's wife and children.

Subseries 1, Financial Records, 1876-1901, includes account books, account records, correspondence related to bank accounts, bank statements, financial notes, bills and proofs of payment, rent receipts, tax bills (New York, Flatbush, Montgomery County), checks, money exchanges, receipts for tax payments, real estate receipts, stock and bond certificates, loan agreements, executor accounts, rebate calculation sheet, and tax and insurance payments.

Subseries 2, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, includes property maps and information (rent, mortgage costs, deeds), correspondence, notes on estate distribution, estate assets, value of estate and estate payments, account records, loan agreements, receipts, proof of payments, checks, financial records, legal documents, insurance documents, tax bills, auction receipts, and wills relating to the estates of Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Countess H. de Moltke-Hivtfeldt, Annie Theller, and William R. Hutton. Also included are correspondence, property maps and information, and deeds and mortgages on Hutton properties.

Subseries 2, the estate and real estate records correspondence topics include: Virginia state building codes, construction costs, construction notices, purchasing offers for property, real estate prices, receipts of payments, property lines, real estate purchases and sales, real estate sales negotiations, deeds insurance estimates and costs, loan costs, property estimates, renovation costs, mortgages, property damages and repairs, property tax payments, insurance rates and payments, rent payments, telephone installation, building permits, rental agreements, reports on property condition, contracts of sale, conflicts with tenants, changes of address, deeds, distribution of estate monies, details about the Countess' illness, estate arrangements, changes of address, problems arising out of estate distribution, payment of debts, will details, selling of mortgage shares, accounts, estate settlement, money cables and transfers, dealings with lawyers, rent on Hutton Park property, legal and accounting fees, power of attorney transfer, investments, property security, land appraisals, lists of assets, legacy taxes, mortgages transfers, property management, Flatbush property, property rent and values, and physicians bills.

Correspondents include the following: A.C. Weeks, Walter I. Green, John D. Probsh, A.G. Darwin, Thomas H. McCann, Allan Farguhar, Thomas Dawson, Potter and Crandall Real Estate and Insurance Brokers, George C. Tilyou, H.D. Olephant, F. Winston, Richard E. Calbraith, Frank P. Martin, Henry DeForest, Henry C. Cooper, Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company, John Ecker, C.K. Avevill, Georgina Hutton, Edward J. Hancy, Robert Graham, W.M. Bennett, Willis E. Merriman, Nathan L. Miller, Harry Hutton, Marquise de Portes (Adele Gorman), Annie Theller, Samuel L. Theller, Mrs. R. Locke, Frank Z. Adams, John Palmer (Secretary of State, New York), J.T. Cammeyer, Frank P. Martin, Florence Theller, Francis H. Seger, Henry C. Cooper, D.W.G. Cammeyer, Campbell W. Adams, Jane Casson, Elizabeth Hutton, Rene de Portes, H.G. Atkins, Grace Beukard, Aaron Pennington Muikhead, J.E. Delapalme, T.H. Powers, Egerton L. Winthrop Junior, George B. Glover, William Jay and Robert W. Candler, B. Williamson, J.E. Knaff, Cornelius C. Vermeule, S.V. Hayden, Charles G. Landon[?], H.A. Hurlbert, F.A. Black, John L. Calwalder, the Health Department of New York, A.G. Darwin, William Laue, Frederick Frelinghuysen, Charles S. Brown, Henrietta Hutton, Edward Gelon.

Subseries 3, Other Huttons, 1874-1936, includes professional drawings and proposals, checks, insurance information, correspondence, tax information, medical information, tax bills, relating to Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary Hutton (daughter), Henry and Harry Hutton, Frank Hutton (son), John Caulfield (son-in-law), B.F. Hutton, and C.H. Hutton.

Subseries 4, Personal Materials, 1878-1946, contains handwritten property notes, school notes, sermons, travel documents, menus, Christmas cards, jewelry box, postal guide, typed religious materials and flyers.

Series 5, Diaries, 1866-1901, contains twenty nine diary books that document both Hutton's personal and professional life. These diaries provide not only a record of Hutton's life, but were also used by Hutton himself as a reference tool. When working on projects he would refer to notes and observations he made in his diary (as evidenced by notes made in his diaries). The first pages of the diaries often list his height, weight and clothing sizes as they varied from year to year. A researcher could probably use the cashbooks (see Series 7) and the diaries in conjunction as both detail the purchases made by Hutton. Many of the diaries also include a short record of accounts in the back. The diaries are arranged chronologically.

Topics found in the diaries include short form accounts of daily activities and appointments, records of the weather, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, construction progress on projects, steam pumps, sketches and calculations, extension of Washington railroads, cost of food, work supplies, travel costs, costs of goods and food, work deadlines, home renovations, visits to family, cash accounts, accounts of household duties, produce on Woodlands property, records of deaths, debts owed, account of clearing Woodlands property, church visits, Hancock and Tonoloway Aqueduct, canals, Drum Point Railroad, Montgomery C. Meigs, Washington Aqueduct, Annapolis Water Works, telegram costs, wages for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, William Craighill, Morris Canal, Annapolis Railroad and Canal, professional duties (inspections), Kanawha River Canal, travel schedules, professional expenses, cash received from Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, John's Dam, cathedral construction (St. Patricks?), Piedmont Bridge, Cumberland, account of farm property belonging to Major Campbell Bruns, Cunard Pier, Marquise de Portes, rent costs, Baltimore Canal, Kingston Water Supply, Croton Orange Estate, Pierre Casson, Hudson River Tunnel, Washington/Harlem River Bridge, entertainment costs, Greenwood cemetery, train schedule, notes on illness, real estate sales, Hutton Park, Benjamin H. Hutton estate and heirs, estimates, accounts of correspondence received and sent, Central Railroad, rent on Orange properties, addresses, contracts and building supplies for projects, personal finances, Joseph Hutton property on Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, amounts paid and received, medical appointments, Ramapo Water Company, drawing progress of maps and diagrams, Harbor Board (New York), property repairs, inspection and test reports, reservoirs, lists of birthdays, Boston Tunnel, family financial issues, tax payments, and prayers.

Series 6, Notebooks, 1860-1900, document the engineering and architectural projects worked on by Hutton. The series has been divided into three subseries: Subseries 1, Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899; Subseries 2, Notebooks, 1871-1886; and Subseries 3, Notes, 1863-1900. Subseries 1, Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899, contains sixteen field notebooks used by Hutton. Subseries 2, Notebooks, 1871-1886, contains seven notebooks. Subseries three, Notes, 1863-1900, contains four documents.

Some notebooks correspond to specific projects such as the Kanawha River Canal (lockgate and Phoenix Waterline), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Buffalo Reservoir, Potomac Lock and Dock Company, Northern Adirondack Railroad account, Washington Aqueduct, Little Rock Bridge, Wilson-Adam Dock, Croten Brick Works, Hutton Park, Centennial Iron Works, Cumberland Canal, Williamsport Aqueduct, Catoctin Aqueduct, Alexandria Canal, Miller's Saw Mill, Seneca Dam, Union Tunnel, Cumberland Waterworks, Victoria Bridge, Welland Canal, North Sea Canal, Ramapo Water Company, Annapolis Water Company, Antietam Aqueduct, Interoceanic Canal, San Quentin Canal, Suez Canal, Amsterdam Canal, Harlem Bulkhead, Morris Canal, Blue Lake Canal, and Nicaragua Canal.

These notebooks should be used in conjunction with the other materials in the collection related to professional projects, as they often provide more detailed accounts of the construction and land surveys. Some of the notebooks contain entries from several different sources. The notebooks were probably shared among the engineers working on these projects. The notebooks also contain looseleaf ephemera such as hand written calculations, newspaper clippings, and blueprints. Languages found in this series are English and French.

Notebook topics include construction projects, supply needs, costs for labor, sketches (Woodland Mills, landscapes, dams, railway cars, Noland Tunnel), costs of crops, survey measurements, cost of livestock, aqueducts, inspections, canal bridges, seed prices, dams, measurements, coffer dam, canal maintenance, worker salaries, calculations, towpath sketches and measurements, shipping rates, worker accidents, water and coal used, geometrical sketches (Washington Aqueduct), locks, damage reports, interactions with other engineers (William Reading), coal shipments on the canal, travel expenses, land survey notes, drafts for correspondence, William Craighill, Victoria docks, lists of personal supplies used, construction time estimates, surveying expenses, telegram costs, sand pump, canal from Sherling to Tuxedo Bay, analysis of several artificial lakes and reservoirs, distances of reservoirs to main pipes, calculations for the Austin Wheel, engine construction, bridges, gauging water depth, results and observations of tests and performance, problems with construction, to-do lists, cost of land surrounding towpaths, Fawcett's Lock, Tarman's Lock, comparison of costs in transporting coal by water and by rail, inspection notes, iron work, drainages, leaks, cost of supplies, watergates, harbor ferries, railroad station distances, flood protection, Panama Canal via the Nicaraguan route, cost of jetties, water levels, pressure of steam, boilers, steam and water cycle, water depth, cement, Great Falls, Virginia, waterflow, soundings, time of floats, flow of currents, rain fall measurements, tunnel measurements, cost of trenching San Francisco water supply, record of livestock, cost of food, rates of sawing woods and mills, preliminary railroad line measurements, profile of final line, and railroad line profiles.

Series 7, Cash Books, 1856-1899, contains seven cashbooks which list prices for personal items purchased by Hutton. Topics include groceries, church dues, clothes, hygiene products, cigars, some short journal entries about his work (Williamstown), concerts, dinners, family addresses, cakes, meals, cars, stamps, office supplies (pencils and papers), valentines, glasses, gloves, fabric, medicine, needles, diapers, tobacco, shoes (adult and childrens), travel expenses, telegrams, candles, newspapers, liquor, coal oil, jewelry, allowances given to family members, bank deposits, monies paid and received, taxes, subscriptions, tailoring costs, deposits and payments into estate trusts, and notes about payments to Benjamin H. Hutton heirs. The cashbooks also contain some personal loose leaf ephemera such as prayers, sketches, and engineering notes collected by Hutton.

Series 8, Professional Projects, 1830-1965, contains documents about engineering and architectural projects throughout Hutton's career, including information about the professional organizations and the legal issues in which he was involved. This series has been divided into eight subseries based on project, document form, and document subject. Some materials are in French and Italian.

Series 8, Professional Projects, also includes correspondence related to specific projects, primarily the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Hudson River Tunnel, the Washington/Harlem River Bridge, and the Georgetown Incline.

Topics include construction and repair to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, engineering and use of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, worker contracts, supply and labor purchases, design plans and proposals, construction and repair costs, supply notes and costs of supplies, water pressure and power, shipping materials and routes (specifically the shipping of coal), inspections and their findings, condition of canal dam and locks, water supply, drainage, sketches, board proceedings, business meetings, deeds, cost comparisons to other shipping methods, hiring processes, wages, cost estimates, Hutton's consulting fees, measurements and calculations, funding issues, worker conflicts, negotiations with municipal governments, payment schedules, bills for services, air pressure in Hudson River Tunnel, permission for construction, specifications, mortality rate among workers on the Hudson River Tunnel, construction reports, outlet incline, proposals for construction, letters of introduction, railroad versus water for trade, controversy with Tiersey, construction contracts, construction schedules, construction issues, construction progress, construction damage, basis for estimates, supply requests, internal politics, changes to construction plans, contract and price adjustments, issues with suppliers, construction delays, work permits, bills, worker issues, engineering notes, construction excavations, expenses, construction instructions, Union Bridge Company, lighting installations, construction processes, hiring practices, electrical conductors, water proofing, hydraulics, cement, concrete, payment of contributors, processes of approval for construction, meeting dates of the Harlem River Bridge Commission, and contract restrictions.

Correspondents include the following: W.W.M. Kaig, Henry Dodge, E. Mulvany, John Shay, James Clarke, H.D. Whitcomb, Horace Benton, J. Rellan, J.R. Maus, W.E. Merrill, A.P. Gorman, J.H. Staats, Vernon H. Brown, Charles H. Fisher (New York Central and Hudson River Railway Company), B. Baker, John Fowler, Benjamin and John Dos Passos, Charles B. Colby, Charles B. Brush, S. Pearson, Stanford White, Horace E. Golding, R.H. Smith, Daniel Lord, A. Fteley, Herbert Hinds, J.R. Bartlett, D.M. Hirsch, M.H. Bartholomew, Thomas O. Driscoll, W.E. Porter, Thomas F. Rowland, George Edward Harding, R.H. Dames, William Watson, James B. Eads, J.D. Bright, H. Aston, Charles Suley, A.M. Maynard, W.R. Henton, G. Geddes, H.P. Gilbut, Malcolm W. Niver (Secretary of the Harlem River Bridge Commission), J.D. Patterson, George Devin (Assistant Engineer Washington/ Harlem River Bridge), J.B. Wheeler, John Bogart, Charles Burns, J. McClellon, Rob Bassee, B. Williamson, Theodore Cooper, Lewis Cass Ledyard, R.M. Hunt, John Cooper, Henry Wilson, A.A. Caille, Myles Tierney, W. Pentzen, L.B. Cantfield, George Q. Grumstaid Junior, M.J. Funton, George Pierce, W.O. Fayerweather, Noah S. Belthen, Herbert Steward, W.M. Habirsham. Subseries 1, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1828-1965, consists of plans, blueprints, land profiles, drawings, boat rates, contract forms, order forms, descriptions of the canal, design information, engineering data, sketches, cost estimates, land titles, microfilm, business papers, supply bills, patent bills, news clippings, reports, specifications, stockholder's reports, receipts, water leases, printed materials, and correspondence.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project was started in 1828 and completed twenty two years later in 1850. The canal's main objective was to connect Georgetown to the coal banks above Cumberland, Maryland, providing a short and cheap trade route between the eastern and western United States. It was also hoped that the canal would provide greater communication and travel between these two regions. Plagued by natural disasters, and construction setbacks, the canal was never completed in time to be useful and became obsolete shortly after its completion. Canal trade was eventually put out of business by the increase of railroads. Although it was an important development in engineering at its inception, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is no longer in use and has become what locals affectionately refer to as "the old ditch." The canal was designated a National Historical Park in 1971 and consists of 184.5 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Subseries 2, Hudson River Tunnel, 1887-1901, consists of agreements for construction, certificates, contracts, and cost estimates, construction reports, engineering notebooks, engineering notes, sketches, land profiles, maps, progress profiles, plans, proposals, printed material, statements of expenses, and correspondence.

The Hudson River Tunnel project was started in 1874, and the final tubes were opened in 1910 after several construction setbacks. The tunnel connects Weehawken, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, New York City. Today the Hudson River Tunnel, known as the North River Tunnels is used by Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Transit rail lines.

Subseries 3, Harlem River Bridge, 1878-1982, consists of blueprints, printed materials, photographs, engineer's estimates, schedules, costs, reports, proposals, contracts, specifications, and correspondence.

The Harlem River Bridge project was started in 1885 and was completed in 1889. It spans the Harlem River in New York City, New York and connects the Washington Heights section of Manhattan with the Bronx. It was later named and is still known as the Washington Bridge and has been adapted over time to carry highway traffic. These adaptations have allowed the bridge to remain in use today.

Subseries 4, Other Projects, 1858-1832, consists of drawings, maps, blueprints, plans, proposals, cost estimates, bills, correspondence, sketches, land profiles, dimensions, engineering notes, account records, photostats, supply lists, calculations, legal documents, surveys, inspection reports, financial data, and measurements on architectural and engineering projects. Highlights of this subseries include: Western Maryland Railroad, Washington Aqueduct, Panama Canal, Ramapo Water Company, Piedmont Bridge, Northern Adirondack Railroad, Columbia Railroad, Morris Canal, Pittsfield and Williamstown Railroad, Suez Canal, St. Gothard Canal, Tansa Dam, Colorado Midland Railroad Company, Memorial Bridge, Mersey Tunnel, Little Rock Bridge, Kingston Water Supply, Kanawha River Canal, Florida Ship Canal, East Jersey Water Company, Consolidated Coal Company, Dismal Swamp Canal, Boston and Baltimore Tunnels, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Annapolis Water Company, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad Company, and the Baltimore Beltline.

Subseries 5, Unidentified Project Files, 1872-1900, consists of bills of sale, engineering forms and regulations, cement test results and methods, census bulletin, contracts, cost estimates, correspondence, notes on publications, engineering data and notes, drawings, surveys, sketches, payrolls, photographs, and reports.

Subseries 6, Specifications, 1870-1900, consists of documents related to some of Hutton's projects, including specifications for bridges, reservoirs, canals, viaducts, docks, buildings, water works, and tunnels. Some specifications are more general, and some are blank proposal/specification forms. There are also proposals for estimates and a "call" or advertisement to contractors to bid on certain projects. Many of the specifications deal with projects in New York State, but projects in Pennsylvania, the City of Baltimore, and Europe are represented. The materials are arranged alphabetically by project name. There is one folder of documentation for the Potomac River Bridge (Arlington Memorial Bridge) in Washington, D.C. The Arlington Memorial Bridge was part of the 1901 McMillan Commission's plan for restoring Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's original plan for the capital. Two decades passed before construction was initiated by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White. The documentation for the Memorial Bridge consists of calculations and monetary figures for materials such as granite.

Subseries 7, Legal Documents, 1886, contains documents related to a patent infringement suit for moveable dams involving Alfred Pasqueau vs. the United States. This file contains both a printed version of the case and a handwritten statement from Hutton.

Subseries 8, Professional Organizations, 1870-1902, contains documents related to professional organizations where Hutton held membership. Specific organizations represented are American Institute of Architects, American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, Societe des Ingenieurs Civils de France, Librarie Polytechnique, American Agency of "Engineering" in London, Imperial Institute, League of Associated Engineers, Railroad Corporation, American Institute of Mining Engineers, and the Century Association. Material in the subseries includes correspondence, candidates for membership, membership payments, membership lists, meeting minutes, schedule of terms, professional practices, charges, articles of association, invitations for membership, and election notes. Some materials are in French.

Series 9, Printed Materials, 1850-1913, contains a variety of printed materials relating to engineering and architectural projects written by Hutton and fellow engineers. This series can be used to examine not only professional developments of the period and responses to those developments, but also to track how ideas were transferred between engineers across countries and continents. This series should be used in conjunction with the professional correspondence found in this collection, as many of the authors also appear there. Some materials are in French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Subseries 1, Printed Materials by Hutton, 1852-1900, includes printed papers on the Missouri flood wave, the Ravine du Sud, the Potomac waterfront, the Colorado midlands, and the application of water supply machinery.

Subseries 2, Printed Materials by Others, 1826-1913, includes printed materials on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canals, Tehuantec Ship Railway, Interoceanic canals and railways, jetties, Nicaragua Canal, uses of cements, mortars, concretes, steam power, harbors, Niagara Falls, Kanawha River canal, Mississippi River, Hudson River Bridge, sewage disposal, Washington Aqueduct, specifications, construction progress reports, hydraulic experiments, water supply, drainage, road surfacing, sea walls, water-cooling apparatus, pollution reports, bridges, pipes, channels, reservoirs, irrigation, water power, and sewers.

Subseries 2 contains an issue of The North American Review in which Hutton has specifically highlighted an article entitled, "The Inter-Oceanic Canal." Please see the container list for names of authors.

Subseries 3, Printed Materials with No Author, 1852-1903, includes printed materials on harbor reports, Annapolis Water Company, Ramapo Water Company, water departments and boards, maps, engineer's reports, sea walls, preservation of structures, annual reports, Coal and Iron Railway Company, sewers, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, contract specifications, proposals, social club life, Croton Water Supply, law suits, water supplies, moveable dams, reservoirs, East River Bridge, Eastern Canal, water filtration, Kingston New Water Supply, water pipes, locks, docks, contracts, construction reports, Croton Water Supply, and surveys. Also included are issues of journals such as Le Correspondant, Circular of the Office of Chief Engineers, The Club, VIII Congres International de Navigation, Journal of the Association of Engineering Studies, and Journal of the Franklin Institute.

Subseries 4, Newspaper, Journals and Magazine Clippings, 1873-1900, contains clippings from a variety of newspapers such as Scientific American, andRailroad Gazette. Subjects included are the Union Tunnel opening in Baltimore, Drum Point Railroad, railroad company conflicts, Washington/Harlem River Bridge, Metropolitan Railroad, Western Maryland Railroad, crop prospects, lumber trade, North Avenue Bridge, Nicaraguan Canal, harbors, river improvements, reactions to engineering projects, Belt tunnel, city transit, Washington, D.C. flood in 1880, tunnel shields, Springfield Bridge, railroad patents, Panama Canal, jetties, Hudson Tunnel, steel boilers, composition and use of cement, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Subseries 5, Oversized Printed Materials, 1889-1892, contains large printed materials related to the Washington Aqueduct, General Post Office Building, subway arches, cornices, Warwick's Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle, Renaissance paintings, botanical drawings, school buildings, church architecture, the Hospital for the Insane of the Army and Navy and the District of Columbia, the Panama Canal, Morningside Park, and the Mississippi Jetties. Also includes engravings of Hutton, T.N. Talfound, and F. Jeffrey and photographs of Montgomery C. Meigs, and Hutton. Some materials are in German and French.

References:

1. Ward, George Washington, "The Early Development of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Project," Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science Series XVII, no. 9-11 (1899): 8.

2. Ibid., 88.

3. Ibid., 55.

4. Ibid., 90.

5. Sanderlin, Walter S., "The Great National Project: A History of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal," Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science Series LXIV, no. 1 (1946): 21.

6. Ibid., 282.

7. Gies, Joseph, Adventure Underground (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1962): 134.

8. Ibid., 131-132.

9. Ibid., 135-136.

10. Ibid., 145.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series.

Series 1: Letterpress Copybooks, 1858-1901

Series 2: Professional Correspondence, 1861-1901

Subseries 2.1: Project Correspondence, 1876-1899

Subseries 2.2: General Correspondence, 1861-1901

Series 3: Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942

Series 4: Personal Materials, 1835-1946

Subseries 4.1: Financial Records, 1876-1901

Subseries 4.2: Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921

Subseries 4.3: Other Huttons, 1874-1936

Subseries 4.4: Personal Materials, 1878-1946

Series 5: Diaries, 1866-1901

Series 6: Notebooks, 1860-1900

Subseries 6.1: Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899

Subseries 6.2: Notebooks, 1871-1886

Subseries 6.3: Notes, 1863-1900

Series 7: Cashbooks, 1856-1899

Series 8: Professional Projects, 1830-1965

Subseries 8.1: Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1828-1965

Subseries 8.2: Hudson River Tunnel, 1887-1901

Subseries 8.3: Harlem River Bridge, 1878-1892

Subseries 8.4: Other Projects, 1858-1932

Subseries 8.5: Identified Project Files, 1872-1900

Subseries 8.6: Specifications, 1870-1900

Subseries 8.7: Legal Documents, 1886

Subseries 8.8: Professional Organizations, 1870-1902

Series 9: Printed Materials, 1826-1913

Subseries 9.1: Printed Materials by Hutton, 1852-1900

Subseries 9.2: Printed Materials by Others, 1826-1913

Subseries 9.3: Newspaper, Journals, and Magazine Clippings, 1855-1901

Subseries 9.4: Oversized Printed Material, 1889-1892

Series 10: Drawings, 1875, 1883
Biographical / Historical:
Not much is known about the history of William Rich Hutton outside of his role in architectural and engineering projects of the late 1800s and early 1900s. In many cases, he is spoken of only in reference to his projects, and the short biographies that have been written read more like a resume than a life story. Because of this lack of information, this note will focus on Hutton's professional accomplishments, but will attempt to make some comments on his personal life.

William Rich Hutton was born on March 21, 1826 in Washington, D.C., the eldest son of James Hutton (died 1843) and his wife, the former Salome Rich (1). He was educated at the Western Academy (Washington, D.C.) from 1837-1840 under George J. Abbot and then at Benjamin Hallowell's School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he received special training in mathematics, drawing, and surveying (2). Hutton began his professional career in California when he, along with his younger brother James, accompanied their uncle William Rich to work for the United States Army. His uncle was a paymaster for the army and Hutton became his clerk. They traveled around the new state paying the various platoons stationed there, but Hutton also occupied his time by drawing the landscapes and structures he saw in the settlements of Los Angeles, San Francisco, La Paz, Mazatlan, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Pedro, San Diego, and Cape San Lucas (3). These drawings are now held by the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Hutton held the position of clerk until the spring of 1849, and in July of that year he began working with Lieutenant Edward O.C. Ord and completed the first survey of Los Angeles and its surrounding pueblo lands and islands. Hutton continued surveying in California from 1850-1851. He was hired by William G. Dana to survey the Nipomo Ranch in San Luis Obispo County and also surveyed the ranches Santa Manuela and Huer-Huero, both owned by Francis Z. Branch. After his employment with Dana, he became the county surveyor for San Luis Obispo County, where he prepared the first survey and map of the region. He also continued to survey ranches for Captain John Wilson during this time. In August 1851, he resigned from his position as county surveyor and moved to Monterey where he worked as an assistant to Captain (later General) Henry W. Hallack, superintendent of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine in Santa Clara County (4). He remained in this position until March, 1853 when he returned to Washington, D.C. by way of Mexico (5).

Hutton began his career as a civil engineer in Washington, D.C. He was first assigned to the position of assistant engineer on a survey of the projected Metropolitan Railroad in 1853, which was chartered to connect Washington, D.C. with the mainline of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1855 he began his professional relationship with Montgomery C. Meigs when he was appointed to the position of assistant engineer on the Washington Aqueduct. He also served as division engineer on this project until construction was shut down in 1861 because of the outbreak of the Civil War. Fortunately for Hutton, the construction on the Aqueduct was resumed in 1862, and when Congress transferred the supervision of the aqueduct project from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, Hutton was made chief engineer. By the end of the Civil War, Hutton's reputation as a civil engineer was established (6).

During this decade Hutton also served as the chief engineer for the Annapolis Water Works (1866) and as chief engineer for one of his most famous projects, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (1869-1871). Although some historians minimize Hutton as just one of many engineers to work on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, he did make one major contribution to its construction: the Georgetown Canal Incline. Perhaps the final effort of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal company to compete with the emerging and fast expanding railroad, the Georgetown Incline was designed to allow canal boats to travel through the canal with low water levels and to alleviate canal congestion. Unfortunately, by the time the incline was completed use of the canal had decreased so significantly that it was no longer needed to help control traffic (7). Despite this, Hutton continued to work as a consulting engineer for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company until 1881, when he was let go because of the dwindling fortunes of the company (7).

In the 1870s and 1880s Hutton was busy with several engineering projects. During 1871-1873, he was the chief engineer in the completion of the Western Maryland Railroad to Hagerstown and Williamsport (9). He also practiced as an architect with his brother, the prominent Baltimore architect Nathanial Henry Hutton, during the years 1873-1880. He relocated to New York in 1880, serving as chief engineer for the Washington Bridge in 1888 and 1889 and the Hudson River Tunnel from 1889 to 1891. In 1886, he became the consulting engineer for the New Croton Aqueduct and served in the same position for the Colorado Midland Railway between the years of 1886-1889 (10).

As his personal and professional correspondence shows, Hutton continued to work on various engineering and architectural projects until his death on December 11, 1901. In addition to these projects, he also invented the innovative system of locks and moveable dams used in the Kanawha River Canal. He was awarded the Diplome d'Honneur for this featat the Paris Exposition in 1878 (11). His correspondence also demonstrates how Hutton was respected within his professional community. These letters refer to the accuracy of his work, his willingness to help other colleagues and supply them with reference materials and information, and, in addition to all this, his politeness. It seems that these qualities defined not only his personality but also his ideology. In one of the cashbooks in the collection, dated 1899, a hand written note contains a religious parable of "The Straw." The phrase in this parable that speaks most to Hutton's work ethic, and to the spirit of inventors everywhere, is this: "Even so however lowly may be the act, however little opportunities we may have of assisting others, we may still do something. Let us beg to fulfil our duty in this regards by making ourselves useful to others by some little act of thoughtful charity..." (12). Hutton, in his dedication to civil engineering, seems to have lived up to this virtue, and in his work he changed the landscape of Washington, D.C. and New York.

The Fairy Godfather: Hutton's Personal History

His professional records reveal a man who was fiercely dedicated to his work. His obituary references his professional life more than his personal life (13). Despite his reputation in the professional engineering community, his personal records demonstrate that Hutton was also dedicated to his family and children. In 1855, he married Montgomery County native Mary Augusta Clopper (died 1915). Together they lived on her family's estate known as the Woodlands, and had five children: Frank C. Hutton, Mary Hutton, Elizabeth Hutton (later Caulfield), Rosa Hutton, and Annie Salome Hutton (14). It is at this estate that Hutton died and was buried. The personal letters to his wife found in the Woodlands Collection held at the Montgomery County Historical Society show a man in love and willing to take time from his work to write to his wife. His letters to his children show a similar interest and compassion. In the many letters found in this collection from his daughter Elizabeth (Bessie) one can see a father who is interested in not only his daughter's activities abroad, but also in her opinion. This interest also extends to his son Frank Hutton, as their correspondence shows Hutton offering his son advice on his own engineering projects.

Hutton also served as executor to many of his extended family's estates. Many letters show the conflicts that Hutton had to mediate and the dependence of his cousins on him for advice and money. Although his family was wealthy (his cousin was Benjamin H. Hutton whose daughters married into the court of Napoleon III), they were volatile, and his records seem to indicate that he served as a mediator for many of their disputes. In addition to this, as his nickname of Fairy Godfather suggests, Hutton was always willing to lend his family either financial or moral support when needed. Unfortunately, little other documentation concerning Hutton's personal life exists outside of this collection and the one held at the Montgomery County Historical Society.

References:

1. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942).

2. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): ix.

3. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942). and Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): x-xi.

4. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942).

5. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): xvii.

6. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): xvii-xviii.

7. Skramstad, Harold, "The Georgetown Canal Incline," Technology and Culture, Vol. 10, no. 4 (Oct. 1969): 555.

8. Business Correspondence, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 22 February 1881, William R. Hutton Papers, 1830-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 27, folder number 29.

9. "William Rich Hutton," The Club: A Journal of Club Life for Men and Women,(July 1894):37

10. Ibid.

11. Monzione, Joseph, "William R. Hutton," A.P.W.A. Reporter (Sept. 1977): 7.

12. Cashbook, 1899, William R. Hutton Papers, 1830-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 23, folder number 5.

13. The Woodlands Collection, Montgomery County Historical Society.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

The Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, 1870-1890, (AC0987). Contains materials relating to the construction of the Washington Aqueduct including a book of drawings illustrating reservoirs, tunnels, culverts, and other structural elements, a Government Senate Document relating to construction progress, scrapbooks created by Meigs that include newspaper clippings about the Washington Aqueduct project, water supply, engineering projects, building construction, architecture and other subjects. Collection is currently unprocessed, but is available for research.

Materials in Other Organizations:

The William Rich Hutton Papers, 1840-1961, are located at the Huntington Library in California (see http://catalog.huntington.org).

The collection contains 95 drawings, 13 letters, and 39 facsimile copies of letters and manuscripts. The illustrative material includes both watercolor and pencil drawings of California (including Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, and the California missions), Baja California, Mexico, and Peru. There are also five pieces in the collection related to the author María Amparo Ruiz de Burton. In 1942, the Huntington Library published Glances at California 1847--853: Diaries and Letters of William Rich Hutton, Surveyor and California 1847--852: Drawings by William Rich Hutton.

The Hutton family papers are located at the Montgomery County Historical Society, Sween Library (see http://www.montgomeryhistory.org/sites/default/files/Family_Files.pdf).

The collection contains account books from the Woodlands estate, recipe books, livestock records, records of Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary and Rose Hutton (daughters), newspaper clippings (including his obituary), correspondence, record books, deeds, bills and receipts, engineering papers, religious momentos (funeral service cards), and insurance papers.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Mr. and Mrs. James J. Madine, a relative of Hutton's and last owners of the Woodlands estate; the Department of Forests and Parks, Maryland; Louis Fischer; and Mr. and Mrs. Mayo S. Stuntz, 1965-1966, 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Dams  Search this
Hydraulic engineering  Search this
Canals  Search this
Underwater tunnels  Search this
Railroad bridges  Search this
Railroad construction  Search this
Water-supply  Search this
Construction workers  Search this
Construction equipment  Search this
Concrete construction  Search this
Concrete  Search this
Coal -- Transportation  Search this
Civil engineers  Search this
Civil engineering  Search this
Canals -- Panama  Search this
Canals -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Canals -- Maryland  Search this
Canals -- Design and construction  Search this
Bridges -- United States  Search this
Waterworks  Search this
Tunnels  Search this
Tunnels -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this
Construction -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Underground construction  Search this
Locks and dams  Search this
Shipping  Search this
Iron and steel bridges  Search this
Sewage disposal  Search this
Railroads -- Maryland  Search this
Railroads -- 19th century  Search this
Railroad engineering  Search this
Railroad companies  Search this
Aqueducts  Search this
Arch bridges  Search this
Architects -- 19th century  Search this
Books  Search this
Bridges -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this
Bridges -- Design and construction  Search this
Bridge construction industry -- United States  Search this
Engineering notebooks  Search this
Docks  Search this
Domestic and family life  Search this
Architecture -- United States  Search this
Architecture -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Harlem River Bridge  Search this
Western Maryland Railroad  Search this
Annapolis Waterworks  Search this
Steam engineering  Search this
Harlem River Bridge Commission  Search this
Washington (D.C.) -- 19th century  Search this
Reservoirs  Search this
Patents  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Letterpress copybooks
Blueprints
Diaries
Drawings
Photographs -- 19th century
Cashbooks
Business records -- 19th century
Business letters
Notebooks
Topographic maps
Tax records
Technical drawings
Stock certificates
Technical literature
Photoengravings
Notes
Maps -- 19th century
Microfilms
Linen tracings
Letter books
Letters
Land titles
Legal documents
Sketches
Salted paper prints
Reports
Receipts
Plans (drawings)
Photostats
Photographic prints
Architectural drawings
Administrative records
Albumen prints
Albums
Annual reports
Booklets
Account books -- 19th century
Books -- 19th century
Family papers -- 18th century
Financial records -- 19th century
Diaries -- 19th century
Drawings -- 19th century
Cyanotypes
Correspondence -- 19th-20th century
Deeds
Printed material
Correspondence
Contracts
Photograph albums
Specifications
Christmas cards
Menus
Citation:
William R. Hutton Papers, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0987
See more items in:
William R. Hutton Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep84f6824ce-7291-4ac4-ab0f-abaa2071815e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0987
Online Media:

Frederick Douglass Patterson papers

Creator:
Patterson, Frederick D. (Frederick Douglass), 1901-1988  Search this
Names:
Phelps-Stokes Fund  Search this
Tuskegee Institute  Search this
United Negro College Fund  Search this
Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943  Search this
Moton, Robert Russa, 1867-1940  Search this
Patterson, Frederick D. (Frederick Douglass), 1901-1988  Search this
Extent:
18.66 Linear feet (21 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diplomas
Notebooks
Articles
Manuscripts
Photographic prints
Ephemera
Scrapbooks
Newsletters
Awards
Photographs
Invitations
Legal documents
Programs
Correspondence
Clippings
Date:
1882 - 1988
Summary:
President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (later Tukegee Institute; now Tuskegee University) from 1935 - 1953 and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944). Patterson was born on October 10, 1901. Orphaned at age two, he was raised by his eldest sister, Wilhelmina (Bess), a school teacher in Texas. He studied at Iowa State College, where he received a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1923 and a master of science degree in 1927. Five years later, he was awarded a second doctorate degree from Cornell University. Patterson taught veterinary science for four years at Virginia State College, where he was also Director of Agriculture. His tenure at Tuskegee University started in 1928 and spanned almost 25 years, first as head of the veterinary division, then as the director of the School of Agriculture and finally as Tuskegee's third president. He married Catherine Elizabeth Moton, daughter of Tuskegee University's second president, Dr. Robert R. Moton. Patterson also founded the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee in 1944, the same year he founded the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The UNCF continues today as a critical source of annual income for a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tuskegee University among them.
Scope and Content note:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson Collection comprises 18.66 linear feet of correspondence, manuscripts, research material, published writings, photographs, audiovisual material, scrapbooks, diplomas, awards, and other materials chronicling the personal life and professional career of Frederick D. Patterson.

The collection is comprised of glimpses into the life of Dr. Patterson. The little correspondece that survived is located in Series 2: Career, Series 3: Correspondence, and Series 4: Organizations. Some of the correspondence takes the form of congratulatory notes from 1953 during Patterson's transfer from Tuskegee Institute to the Phelps-Stokes Fund, located in Series 2. There is also a personal note sent to Patterson's wife, Catherine Patterson, from George Washington Carver in which he describes peanut oil as a good massage oil.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged by series and chronologically therein:

1. Biography: This series provides insight into Patterson's family life through primary documents. It is comprised of family wills, insurance policies, and his autobiography. Sub-series are arranged alphabetically by title.

2. Career: This series contains materials from Patterson's long professional career in the field of higher education, including his tenure as present of both the Tuskegee Institute and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Sub-series are arranged chronologically.

3. Correspondence: This series contains letters sent to Patterson (and his wife) of a personal and professional nature. Several letters relate to Patterson's personal business "Signs and Services," which was a small billboard advertising company. There are also letters from George Washington Carver. The series is arranged chronologically. 4. Organizations: This series contains material from the various foundations Patterson founded and to which he belonged, including the R.R. Moton Fund and the College Endowment Funding Plan. He is especially noted for developing the United Negro College Fund. The series is organized alphabetically by sub-series title.

5. Honors: This series contains the awards, citations, and resolutions Patterson received during his lifetime. Folders are organized chronologically. 6. Subject Files: This series comprises articles, employee vitas, and other documents collected and organized by Patterson. Among the subjects in the files are higher education, Negroes, segregation, civil rights, and employee records. There is no key to this system.

7. Photographs: The Photograph series mostly documents Patterson's tenure at Tuskegee University. The series includes images of Patterson and various other notable figures during formal functions at the university. Noteworthy personalities include George Washington Carver, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.

8. Printed Materials: This series contains books, programs, and other documents from Patterson's personal collection. The series is organized alphabetically by author's last name.
Biographical note:
Frederick Douglass Patterson was born on October 10, 1901 to parents William and Mamie Brooks Patterson, in the Buena Vista Heights area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C. The youngest of six children, Patterson's parents died of tuberculosis before he reached the age of two years, his mother when he was eleven months old and his father a year later. Following his parents' death, the Patterson children were split up and sent to live in the homes of family and friends as stipulated in his father's last will and testament until he was seven years old, Patterson lived in the Anacostia area with a family friend he called "Aunt Julia."

When he was seven years old, Patterson's older sister Bess (a recent graduate of the Washington Conservatory of Music) decided to seek employment in Texas and took him with her. Many of their parents' family still lived in the state, which allowed Patterson the opportunity to spend months with various aunts and uncles, while his sister taught music throughout the South. After completing eighth grade, Patterson joined his sister at the Prairie View Normal School, where she taught music and directed the choir. Patterson attended the school for four years, during which time he developed an interest in veterinary medicine.

In 1920, Patterson enrolled at Iowa State College as a veterinary student. He graduated in 1923 and moved to Columbus, Ohio, to join his brother John. While there, he took the Ohio State Board exam for Veterinary Medicine. Although he became certified, a lack of money prevented him from practicing. Four years later he received a teaching offer from Virginia State College (VSC) in Petersburg, Virginia, which afforded him the opportunity to work within his profession. While at VSC Patterson took a leave of absence and returned to Iowa, in 1926, to pursue a Master's degree in veterinary medicine.

After five years at VSC, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute offered Patterson a position running the veterinarian hospital and teaching veterinary science. He moved to Tuskegee, Alabama in 1928. While at Tuskegee, Patterson decided to pursue a Ph.D. in bacteriology at Cornell University. During his year and a half leave from Tuskegee, Patterson completed his coursework and wrote his dissertation. After he returned to Tuskegee, a serial killer murdered three people, including the head of the Department of Agriculture. Confronted with this tragedy, school officials quickly offered Patterson the vacant position, which he accepted in 1934.

Robert R. Moton, second president of Tuskegee, retired in 1935 and a search was soon commenced to find the next president for the school. Patterson, in the meantime, pursued more personal matters when he met and married Catherine Moton (with whom he would have a son) in June 1935. By then he was already hired to take his now, father-in-law's, position as President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.

As president of Tuskegee, Patterson made several changes and many additions to the institution. He increased faculty housing for professors; integrated the Board of Trustees' meeting meals and eventually arranged for both balck and white members to eat at one table; shortened the name to Tuskegee Institute; and established the Department of Commercial Dietetics in 1935, the veterinary medicine program in 1942, and the engineering program in 1948. While many considered Patterson's changes important achievements, it was his development of the Commercial/Military Aviation Program that would bring the school distinction and fame.

Patterson first attempted to develop the aviation program in 1939. The government fostered the development of such programs by subsiding the expenses. All a university had to do was present able-bodied instructors and willing pupils. Tuskegee had both. By 1940 the United States Air Force was interested in integrating its forces. In order to do this they needed trained black pilots. Tuskegee was the perfect place to provide the needed pilots since the school was situated in an all-black environment where students could concentrate on learning to fly without having to worry about racist reactions from their fellow classmates. To accommodate this program, the Tuskegee Army Air Base was created. Tuskegee pilots flew missions throughout World War II and would later be recognized for their bravery.

An important part of Patterson's duties as president was fund-raising. By 1943 he found it increasingly difficult to find ample sources of funds to run the Institute. He came to realize Tuskegee and similar black colleges would benefit if they pooled their funding resources and asked for larger amounts of money from philanthropic individuals and organizations as a collective. Working together would cut fund-raising expenses; this in turn would leave more money for the colleges to use as they wished. Patterson named his new creation the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); it would go on to raise millions of dollars for the nation's historically black colleges. He served as the first president of the organization.

During the fifteen years Patterson served as president of Tuskegee, he hosted many famous personalities, including W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, Pearl Buck, and Andre Segovia. He developed a lasting relationship with George Washington Carver, who had been a professor with Tuskegee since the days of Booker T. Washington.

Patterson served on many organizational boards in addition to his educational work. His involvement with the Phelps-Stokes Fund would ultimately lead Patterson to leave his beloved Tuskegee Institute to apply his educational philosophies on a broader scale. In 1953 the Fund approached Patterson and offered him the presidency of the organization. Patterson, feeling he needed a change, accepted the offer. He resigned from Tuskegee that same year and moved to New York to begin a new life.

Organized in 1911, the Phelps-Stokes Fund supported African, African American, and Native American education and worked on solving housing problems in New York City. Patterson's interest in African education began before he joined Phelps-Stokes. In 1950 the World Bank/International Bank Commission to Nigeria hired him to "evaluate the resources of Nigeria and…to study the educational programs and the organizational structure of advanced education." Through his work with the Fund he continued his efforts to improve the educational opportunities for Africans and help them move beyond colonialism. Patterson traveled extensively throughout the west coast of Africa in support of these goals.

In addition to forming the UNCF, Patterson created two other organizations (the Robert R. Moton Institute and the College Endowment Funding Plan), during the mid 1960s and 1970s. Each was designed to improve funding efforts for historically black colleges. The Robert R. Moton institute began as an off-shoot of the Phelps-Stokes as a site for conferences to address the Fund's primary concerns. Patterson's idea for the Institute came from a desire to put to use a piece of property inherited after Moton's death. Empathy with the frustrations of college presidents regarding the restricted funding for institutional expenses led Patterson to create the College Endowment Funding Plan. The Endowment was designed to alleviate this situation by providing matching funds to eligible colleges. The Endowment made its first payment in 1978. Unfortunately, by the 1980s, the Moton Institute lost most of its government funding due to federal cutbacks. This resulted in reductions to the Institute's programming.

It was not until Patterson was well into his eighties that he began to retire from his life of public service. On June 23, 1987, President Ronald Reagan presented Dr. Patterson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest possible honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian, for his service in higher education and his role in creating funding sources for the nation's historically black colleges. A year later Frederick Douglass Patterson died at the age of eighty-seven.

Honorary Degrees

undated -- Xavier University

1941 -- Virginia State College

1941 -- Wilberforce University

1953 -- Morehouse College

1956 -- Tuskegee Institute

1961 -- New York University

1966 -- Edward Waters College

1967 -- Atlanta University

1969 -- Franklin and Marshall College

1970 -- Virginia Union University

1975 -- Bishop College

1977 -- St. Augustine's College

1982 -- Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

1984 -- Stillman College

1985 -- Payne College

Distinctions

undated -- Association for the Study of Negro Life and History Carter

undated -- The Southern Education Foundation, Inc. Distinguished Service Citation

undated -- The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Texas Association of Developing Colleges Annual Leadership Awards

1950 -- Christian Education department, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Inc. Citation for Distinguished Service

1953 -- Bethune-Cookman College, the Mary McLeod Bethune Medallion

1953 -- John A. Andrew Clinical Society at Tuskegee Institute, Citation for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Humanity

1953 -- Tuskegee Institute, Certificate of Appreciation for 25 Years of Service

1957 -- Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Beta Lamda Sigma Chapter, Bigger and Better Business Award

1960 -- National Alumni Council of the UNCF, Inc. Award

1963 -- National Business League, Booker T. Washington Award

1965 -- Booker T. Washington Business Association, Certificate of Acknowledgement

1970 -- Moton Conference Center Award

1970 -- Tuskegee National Alumni Association, R.R. Moton Award

1972 -- American College Public Relations Association, 1972 Award for Distinguished Service to Higher Education

1972 -- UNCF F.D. Patterson 71st Birthday Award

1975 -- National Business League, Booker T. Washington Symbol of Service Award

1976 -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Continuous Creative and Courageous Leadership in the Cause of Higher Education for Blacks

1977 -- Yale Alumni Associates of Afro-America, Distinguished Service Award

1979 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation Inc., Distinguished Educator Award

1979 -- Tuskegee Institute Alumni Association Philadelphia Charter Award

1980 -- The Iowa State University Alumni Association, Distinguished Achievement Citation

1980 -- Gary Branch NAACP Life Membership Fight for Freedom Dinner 1980, Roy Wilkins Award

1980 -- State of Alabama Certificate of Appreciation

1982 -- St. Luke's United Methodist Church Achievement Award

1983 -- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., Distinguished Service Award

1984 -- Booker T. Washington Foundation, Booker T. Washington Distinguished Service Award

1984 -- The Ohio State University Office of Minority Affairs, Distinguished Humanitarian and Service Award

1985 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, Eta Zeta Lamda Chapter Civic Award

1985 -- United States, Private Sector Initiative Commendation

1987 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc of New York State, Founders Day Award

1987 -- Presidential Medal of Freedom

1987 -- Brag Business Achievement Award

1987 -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Aggrey Medal

Public Service

1941-1971 -- Southern Educational Foundation, Inc., Board Member

1943-1988 -- United Negro College Fund, Founder, President, and Member

1960s-1988 -- Robert R. Moton Memorial Institute, Founder

1970s-1988 -- The College Endowment Funding Plan, Founder

undated -- American National Red Cross, Board of Governors Member

undated -- Boys Scouts of America, National Council Member

undated -- Citizens Committee for the Hoover Report on Reorganization of Federal Government, Board Member

undated -- Institute of International Education, Advisory committee Member

undated -- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Life Member

undated -- National Business League, President and Board Member

undated -- National Urban League, National Committee Member

undated -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Board of Trustees Member

undated -- President's Commission on Higher Education for Negroes

undated -- Southern Regional Education, Board of Control Member
Related Materials:
Additional biographical materials in the Dale/Patterson Collection of the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.

This collection contains artifacts catalogued in the ACM Objects Collection.
Provenance:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson papers were donated to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2001 by Frederick Douglass Patterson, Jr.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.
Topic:
Universities and colleges -- Administration  Search this
African Americans -- Education (Higher)  Search this
African American universities and colleges  Search this
Genre/Form:
Diplomas
Notebooks
Articles
Manuscripts
Photographic prints
Ephemera
Scrapbooks
Newsletters
Awards
Photographs
Invitations
Legal documents
Programs
Correspondence
Clippings
Citation:
Frederick Douglass Patterson papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Frederick Douglass Patterson, Jr.
Identifier:
ACMA.06-010
See more items in:
Frederick Douglass Patterson papers
Archival Repository:
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7da84300b-c608-41af-b59a-1f44dce53a26
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-acma-06-010
Online Media:

"Tantalus" Synchrotron Radiation Source Collection

Creator:
Tantalus Project  Search this
Interviewee:
Rowe, Ednor "Ed"  Search this
Pruett, Charles  Search this
Olson, Cliff  Search this
Otte, Roger  Search this
Brown, Fred  Search this
Names:
Synchrotron Radiation Center  Search this
University of Wisconsin--Madison  Search this
Extent:
3.5 Cubic feet (11 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Notebooks
Videotapes
Date:
1940-1995
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists primarily of notebooks, manuals, and other data and operational logbooks documenting the creation, building, and maintenance of Tantalus, and the experiments performed on the machine. Tantalus was the first dedicated synchrotron radiation laboratory and source. Series 5 and Series 6 include oral and video histories with Ednor Rowe, Fred Brown, Cliff Olson, Charles Pruett, and Roger Otte.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.

Series 1, Notebooks and Logbooks, 1940-1986

Series 2, Data and Operational Logbooks, 1965-1995

Series 3, User Beam Schedule Sheets, 1968-1986

Series 4, Storage Ring Blueprints, 1966-1972

Series 5, Video Histories, 1995

Series 6, Oral History Cassettes, 1995
Biographical / Historical:
At the University of Wisconsin during 1965-1967, a team led by particle physicist Ednor Rowe built a machine designed to analyze what goes on inside high-energy particle accelerators. This was the big, exciting technology in physics at the time. But just as the apparatus neared completion, funding was cut off. Its creators, feeling teased by fate and their government backers, dubbed the machine "Tantalus."

Rowe knew, though, that a by-product of Tantalus's operation was intense "synchrotron radiation," a form of ultra violet light that is used to study the structure of matter. He quickly adapted the machine to make this radiation available for use and soon the facility was crowded with experimenters from all over the world. Tantalus not only pioneered the use of synchrotron radiation, but created a research facility where both scientists and graduate students could perform hands-on work.

Researchers shared information and the results of their experiments in a collegial environment. There was no "King of the Ring" among these goal-oriented scientists. Those working at the Synchrotron Radiation Center always sought ways to improve upon Tantalus, with the result that Tantalus remained an important research tool until 1987, when it was retired and replaced by a newer machine, "Aladdin."
Related Materials:
The Division of Information, Technology, and Society (now the Division of Medicine and Science) collected part of the Tantalus synchrotron radiation ring. See accession 1997.0078.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Ednor M. Rowe, Associate Director for Accelerator Development, Synchrotron Radiation Center, University of Wisconsin on November 20, 1995.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Physics -- Experiments -- 1940-2000  Search this
Synchrotron radiation  Search this
Physicists -- 1940-2000  Search this
Laboratories -- 1940-2000  Search this
Radiation -- 1960-1990  Search this
Genre/Form:
Notebooks
Videotapes
Citation:
"Tantalus" Synchrotron Radiation Source Collection, 1940-1995, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0532
See more items in:
"Tantalus" Synchrotron Radiation Source Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89dd7d79e-a4ee-4dc2-a5a3-1f2b20609c99
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0532

Allen Balcom Du Mont Collection

Creator:
Du Mont, Allen B. (Allen Balcom), 1901-1965  Search this
Names:
Du Mont Laboratories, Inc.  Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Electricity and Modern Physics  Search this
Extent:
46 Cubic feet (150 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Clippings
Newsletters
Scrapbooks
Notebooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Photographs
Date:
1884-1965
Scope and Contents:
While the collection is focused rather specifically on the development of television in America, including technical details, legal proceedings, marketing and advertisement, and manufacturing, it is also a rich source for the history of American advertising, work cultures, sales, and entertainment. There is also information about radio, mostly in periodicals collected by Du Mont. Information about Allen Du Mont is largely limited to his professional development and activities, except for a few travel photographs and information about and logbooks from his boat.

Materials date from 1884 to 1965, but the bulk come from the years 1931 1960; mostly scattered periodicals comprise the earlier years.

The collection includes correspondence, photographs, blueprints, films, videotapes, pamphlets, books, periodicals, newspaper and magazine clippings, annual reports, organization charts, stock records, ticker tape, legal documents, patent documents, bills, accountants' reports, meeting minutes, scrapbooks, technical drawings, advertisements, catalogs, and technical manuals. Processing included revising the previous series order, refoldering and reboxing all items, and completely revising the finding aid. Duplicates were weeded out; two copies were retained of any multiple item. Materials in binders were unbound. An example of each binder with the DuMont logo was retained, and the materials once contained therein refer to the appropriate binder in the container list. Plain office binders were discarded.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 16 series.

Series 1: Personal Files, 1920s-1965

Series 2: Executive Records, 1938-1964

Series 3: Stock Records, 1937-1962

Series 4: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Patents and Legal Proceedings, 1884-1960

Series 5: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Financial Records, 1931-1964

Series 6: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Operations, 1938-1958

Series 7: Radio Technical Planning Board, 1944-1946

Series 8: Federal Communications Commission, 1940-1959 and undated

Series 9: DuMont Laboratories, Marketing and Sales, 1939-1961 and undated

Series 10: Telecommunications for Venezuela, 1952-1957 and undated

Series 11: Du Mont Network, 1944-1952 and undated

Series 12: Du Mont Publications, 1933-1963 and undated

Series 13: Photographs, 1928-1960 and undated

Series 14: Clippings/Scrapbooks, 1933-1962

Series 15: Non-Du Mont Publications, 1892, 1907-1963 and undated

Series 16: Audiovisual Materials, 1948-1955

Series 17: Addenda, 1933-1959
Biographical / Historical:
Allen Balcom Du Mont was born Jan. 29, 1901, in Brooklyn, NY to S. William Henry Beaman and Lillian Felton Balcom Du Mont. He contracted poliomyelitis when he was eleven and was confined to bed for nearly a year. During his illness, he began to amuse himself with a crystal radio set; by year's end, he had built a receiving and transmitting set. He was licensed as a ship's wireless operator when he was fifteen, and took a job a year later as a radio operator on a passenger vessel that ran between New York and Providence, RI. He worked as a radio operator for the next seven years.

Du Mont graduated in 1924 from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, with a degree in electrical engineering. He had already begun his first invention for the Sound Operated Circuit Controller, a device that turns a switch on or off when it hears a sharp sound; he used it to turn off his radio during commercials with a hand clap. Du Mont began working for the Westinghouse Lamp Company (later a division of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation), raising their output of radio tubes from 500 a day to 5,000 an hour in four years. For this, he received the Westinghouse Achievement Award in 1927. He left Westinghouse to become chief engineer at the De Forest Radio Company in 1928; his inventions increased output there to 30,000 radio tubes a day, and he was promoted to vice president in charge of production. In 1929, he received his first patent, for a radio tube mounting device.

He also worked with television at De Forest, using mechanical receivers with a spinning "Nipkow disk" that scanned electrical impulses and gave the effect of a motion picture. The De Forest experimental transmitter, W2XCD, in Passaic, NJ, broadcast television programs in 1930. Du Mont quickly concluded that there was no future in scanning discs; they produced a small, dark picture, and were difficult to build correctly. Others had developed television pictures that were produced by an electronic beam scanning rapidly across a florescent screen at the end of a tube. However, those cathode ray tubes were still imported from Germany, were very expensive, and burned out after only twenty five to thirty hours.

Du Mont left his job at De Forest in 1931 and started a cathode ray manufacturing business in a garage laboratory at his home. He developed a tube that lasted a thousand hours and could be manufactured inexpensively. There was almost no market for his tubes; gross sales income the first year was only $70. However, the tubes were an integral part of the cathode ray oscillograph, an instrument widely used in physics laboratories that measures and records changes in electrical current over time. The business, incorporated in 1935 as DuMont Laboratories, Inc., prospered in the oscillograph market. DuMont Labs moved in 1933 into a series of empty stores, then to a plant in Passaic, NJ, in 1937. Du Mont also acted as consultant to manufacturers with cathode ray tube problems and served as an expert witness in patent litigations.

Du Mont used the money he made from oscillographs to develop television. His innovations in making precise, quickly manufactured, inexpensive, long lasting cathode ray tubes made commercial television possible. In 1938, Du Mont sold a half interest in his company to the Paramount Pictures Corporation to raise capital for broadcasting stations. In 1939, the company became the first to market a television receiver for homes, and was part of a major display at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Television development and sales were cut off by World War II, since DuMont Laboratories converted entirely to wartime production of oscillographs and to radar research. DuMont Laboratories returned to television production in 1946 and was the first company to market a postwar television set. By 1951 the company grossed $75 million a year and had four plants manufacturing television sending and receiving equipment in Passaic, Allwood, East Paterson, and Clifton, NJ. Du Mont had become the television industry's first millionaire. He was chosen in a Forbes magazine poll as one of the twelve foremost business leaders of America that same year, and was once characterized as "one of the very few inventors in the annals of American industry who have made more money from their inventions than anyone else has" (Rice, 36).

Du Mont began an experimental television station, W2XTV, in Passaic, NJ, in 1939. He added WABD (later WNEW TV) in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and WDTV (later KDKA) in Pittsburgh, PA. He concentrated on technology and business, leaving entertainment to others in the company. However, the DuMont Network "featured such names as Ernie Kovacs, Morey Amsterdam, Ted Mack, Ernest Borgnine, Jan Murray, and Dennis James. Its long running variety hour, Cavalcade of Stars, showcased not only Jackie Gleason but The Honeymooners, which made its debut as a Cavalcade sketch" (Krampner, 98). The 1950s superhero Captain Video became famous on the DuMont network, and Bishop Fulton Sheen's inspirational show, "Life is Worth Livinq," won surprisingly high ratings (Watson, 17). Ultimately, America's fourth network failed: in 1955, DuMont Broadcasting separated from Du Mont Laboratories, Inc., becoming the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company and, with the addition of other properties, Metromedia, Inc.

Du Mont testified frequently before the Federal Communications Commission to set technical standards for American television broadcast between 1945 and 1952. In 1946, Du Mont's company was one of several to oppose the Columbia Broadcasting System's petition to the FCC to establish color television standards; Du Mont preferred to wait for further research to develop all electronic color television, rather than the mechanical method CBS favored. He felt that method produced a picture far less than optimal, and would have required persons who did not own color sets to purchase adapters to receive broadcasts being produced in color. Standards were developed by the National Television Standards Committee in 1951 1953; the Federal Communications Commission accepted them in 1953, and regular transmission of color programs began on the major networks, including the DuMont Network, in 1954.

Sales of television receivers from DuMont Laboratories, Inc. peaked in 1954; by the late 1950s, the company was losing money. The Emerson Radio and Phonograph Company purchased the division that produced television sets, phonographs, and high fidelity and stereo equipment in 1958. In 1960 remaining Du Mont interests merged with the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation. Du Mont was president of DuMont Laboratories, Inc., until 1956, when he became chairman of the Board of Directors. His title changed to Chairman and General Manager in 1959. In 1961 he became Senior Technical Advisor, Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories, Division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.

Du Mont received many awards for his work, including honorary doctorates from Rennselaer (1944), Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (1949), Fairleigh Dickinson College (1955), and New York University (1955). He received the Marconi Memorial Medal for Achievement in 1945, and an American Television society award in 1943 for his contributions to the field. In 1949, he received the Horatio Alger Award, "a yearly prize bestowed by the American Schools and Colleges Association on the man whose rise to fortune most nearly parallels the virtuous careers of Ben the Luggage Boy and Tattered Tom" (Rice, 35). He held more than thirty patents for developments in cathode ray tubes and other television devices. His inventions included the "magic eye tube" once commonly seen on radios and the Duovision, a television that could receive two programs simultaneously. Du Mont was also noted for success in predicted log power boat racing; in his television equipped Hurricane III, he became the national champion of the power cruiser division of the American Power Boat Association in 1953 1955 and 1958. Du Mont died November 15, 1965; his obituary appeared on the front page of the New York Times. He was survived by Ethel Martha Steadman, whom he married in 1926, and their two children, Allen Balcom, Jr., and Yvonne.

Sources

Current Biography 1946, pp. 162 164. Krampner, Jon. "The Death of the DuMont [sic] Network: A Real TV Whodunit." Emmy Magazine (July August 1990): 96 103.

Obituary, New York Times, 16 November 1965, 1:3.

Rice, Robert. "The Prudent Pioneer." The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 1951.

Watson, Mary Ann. "And they Said 'Uncle Fultie Didn't Have a Prayer . . . "11 Television Quarterly 26, no. 3(1993): 16 21.

Who's Who in America, 1962.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Edward J. Orth Memorial Archives of the New York World's Fair, 1939-1940

Warshaw Collection, Worlds Expositions, New York World's Fair, 1939 (AC0060)

Larry Zim World's Fair Collection (AC0519)

George H. Clark "Radioana" Collection, ca. 1880-1950 (AC0055)

Division of Work and Industry

Related artifacts consist of cathode ray tubes, oscillographs, television receivers (including a Duoscope), and other instruments. See accession #:EM*315206, EM*315208, EM*315209, EM*327728, EM*327735, EM*327742, EM*327743, EM*327745, EM*327749, EM*327751, EM*327756, EM*327758, EM*327759, EM*327760, EM*327763, EM*327770, EM*328155, EM*328178, EM*328182, EM*328193, EM*328198, EM*328200, EM*328209, EM*328212, EM*328224, EM*328231, EM*328247, EM*328253, EM*328258, EM*328264, EM*328269, EM*328271, EM*328277, EM*328280, EM*328282, EM*328283, EM*328286, EM*328299, EM*328305, EM*328306, EM*328315, EM*328316, EM*328322, EM*328325, EM*328327, EM*328336, EM*328337, EM*328343, EM*328348, EM*328352, EM*328353, EM*328366, EM*328368, ZZ*RSN80323A74, ZZ*RSN80552U05, ZZ*RSN80748U09, ZZ*RSN80748U11, ZZ*RSN80844U09, and ZZ*RSN81576U01.

Library of Congress

Records of the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, Inc. 1930 1960 (bulk 1945 1960). 56 lin. ft. Consists of nine series: Administrative Files, 1935 1960; General Correspondence, ca. 1930 1960; Interoffice Correspondence, ca. 1935 1960; Financial Records, 1932 1960; Sales and Advertising File, 1936 1960; Production and Engineering File, 1932 1960; Television File, ca. 1935 1960; Hearings File, 1935 1957; and General Miscellany, ca. 1937 1960. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections number 68 2021; National Inventory of Documentary Sources number 2.1.243.

Wayne State University, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs

John H. Zieger Papers, 1942 1980. 1 box (type not specified). Correspondence, clippings, leaflets, and memoranda, related to Zieger's union activities with Western Electric Employees Association and Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections number 91 2872.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view materials in cold storage. Using cold room materials requires a three hour waiting period. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials may be used. Contact the Archives Center for more information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Electricity  Search this
Television broadcasting  Search this
Televisions -- advertising  Search this
Television  Search this
Genre/Form:
Clippings -- 20th century
Newsletters
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Notebooks
Motion pictures (visual works)
Photographs -- 20th century
Citation:
Allen Balcom Du Mont Collection, 1929-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0018
See more items in:
Allen Balcom Du Mont Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8bb80f3a9-4b1e-4430-8c1e-48a78cab60d3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0018
Online Media:

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection

Creator:
Vogel, Robert M.  Search this
Shayt, David H.  Search this
Worthington, Bill  Search this
Names:
Historic American Buildings Survey  Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.)  Search this
Extent:
45 Cubic feet (114 boxes, 23 map folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Articles
Color slides
Contracts
Copy prints
Correspondence
Illustrations
Letterheads
Maps
Negatives (photographic)
Newsclippings
Notebooks
Photographs
Picture postcards
Pocket notebooks
Postage stamps
Press releases
Reports
Specifications
Stereographs
Date:
1755-2000
Summary:
The collection consists of a wide range of materials--ephemera, trade literature, correpsondence, photographs, maps, plans, schematics, pamplets, brochures, postcards, calendars--documenting the subject of bridges.
Scope and Contents:
This collection was assembled by the Division of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (now the Division of Work and Industry) curators over the course of several decades. The collection consists of a wide range of materials documenting the subject of bridges broadly in terms of planning, construction, geography, aesthetics, cost, and failures. Well-known bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge and its bridge builders and engineers is also documented.

The materials consist of photographs, negatives, copy prints, illustrations, correspondence, newsclippings, journal articles, HABS/HAER drawings, engineeeing reports, contracts and specifications for building bridges, blueprints, and notebooks. Throughout the files is curatorial correspondence, principally with curator Robert Vogel and historians of the history of technology, bridge enthusiasts, and civil engineers. There is a mixture of primary, secondary and tertiary materials found throughout the collection.

Some of the materials related to the Brooklyn Bridge are photocopies or copy prints from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Roebling Collection and other archives and libraries. These materials were assembled for the exhibit "Building Brooklyn Bridge--The Engineering and Construction, 1867-1883" staged in 1983 at the National Museum of American History. These materials are filed under the title "Building Brooklyn Bridge."

Many of the photographs and other items are from collections at the National Museum of American History: Llewellyn Nathaniel Edwards, Henry Grattan Tyrrell, Samuel E. Reed Collection, and the T.F. Healy Collection.

Publications vary widely, but some titles include American Contract Journal, American Railroad Journal, Harpers Weekly, Scientific American, Engineers and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering News-Record, Engineering Record, and others.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series, then alphabetically.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Horatio Allen Papers, NMAH.AC.1447

American Public Works Association "Top Ten Public Works Projects of the Century--1900-2000" Nominations, NMAH.AC.0983

American Petroleum Institute Photograph and Film Collection, NMAH.AC.0711

Archives Center Business Americana Collection, NMAH.AC.0404

Archives Center Lantern Slide Collection, NMAH.AC.0686

Archives Center Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0483

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1086

Benjamin Franklin Bridge Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1029

Berlin Construction Company Records, NMAH.AC.1032

Victor Blenkle Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0200

Bollman Truss Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1064

Donald M. Burmister Paper, NMAH.AC.1068

Canadian Bridges Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1025

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Collection, NMAH.AC.0930

Robert Covington Stereograph Portfolio, NMAH.AC.1201

Cummings Structural Concrete Company Records, NMAH.AC.0218

Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, NMAH.AC.0314

Victor C. Darnell Bridge Construction Photographs, NMAH.AC.1018

William E. Dean Papers, NMAH.AC.0230

Robert Dearborn Panama Canal Glass negatives, NMAH.AC.1111

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1074

Beata Drake Covered Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.0998

Llewellyn N. Edwards Papers, NMAH.AC.0959

W.J. Eney Collection, NMAH.AC.1062

Erie Railroad Collection, NMAH.AC.1082

Joseph C. Farber Papers and Photographs, NMAH.AC.0520

Foundation Company Records, NMAH.AC.0974

James Forgie Papers, NMAH.AC.0986

James Gallagher Collection, NMAH.AC.0228

Grand Central Terminal Collection, NMAH.AC.1071

Henry Grattan Tyrrell and Mary Maude Knox Tyrrell Papers, NMAH.AC.0948

Hartford, Connecticut Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1066

William R. Hutton Papers, NMAH.AC.0987

Kahn Family Film Collection, NMAH.AC.0722

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Bridge Profiles, NMAH.AC.1073

Beatrice Lizinger Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0530

Nicholas C. Mandragos Papers, NMAH.AC.0484

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Glass Plate Negatives, NMAH.AC.1089

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, NMAH.AC.0984

Richard H. Miller Bridge Collection of Postcards and Slides, NMAH.AC.0950

Minnesota Railroads Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1023

George S. Morison Collection, NMAH.AC.0978

Modjeski and Masters Company Records, NMAH.AC.0976

Nathan W. Morgan Papers, NMAH.AC.0965

Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Records, NMAH.AC.1060

Thomas Norrell Railroad Photographs Collection, NMAH.AC.1174

Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Construction Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1030

Panama Canal Commission Photonegatives, NMAH.AC.1116

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records, NMAH.AC.0969

David Plowden North American Bridge Photographs, NMAH.AC.1019

David Plowden Steel Manufacturing Photographs, NMAH.AC.1020

Samuel E. Reed Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1001

Lili Rethi Papers, NMAH.AC.0749

John A. Roebling Collection, NMAH.AC.0981

Lucinda Rudell Covered Bridges Collection, NMAH.AC.1028

Edwin G. Rust Papers, NMAH.AC.1070

Jean W. Seele Rural Photographs, NMAH.AC.0759

Lester Shanks Collection of Bridge Photographs and Ephemera, NMAH.AC.1244

J. Parker Snow Collection, NMAH.AC.1000

Society for Industrial Archaeology Records, NMAH.AC.0688

Quebec Bridge Photograph Collection, NMAH.AC.1026

Railroad Bridges Construction Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1024

Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, NMAH.AC.0963

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.Ac.0143

U.S. Steel Corporation Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1037

Rip Van Winkle Bridge Photographs, NMAH.AC.1027

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Railroads, NMAH.AC.0060

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series 2: Other Collection Divisions, NMAH.AC.0060

Washington, D.C. Bridges Collection, NMAH.AC.1095

Raymond W. Wilson Covered Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.0999
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Bridges  Search this
Civil engineers  Search this
Railroads -- 19th century  Search this
Railroads -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Articles
Color slides -- 20th century
Contracts -- 20th century
Copy prints
Correspondence -- 19th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Illustrations
Letterheads
Maps -- 20th century
Negatives (photographic)
Newsclippings
Notebooks
Photographs -- 20th century
Picture postcards -- 20th century
Pocket notebooks
Postage stamps
Press releases
Reports -- 19th century
Reports -- 20th century
Specifications
Stereographs
Citation:
Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1577
See more items in:
Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8f3912776-c575-41af-a27e-338800e96007
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1577

Celluloid Corporation Records

Creator:
Hyatt, John Wesley (inventor)  Search this
Celluloid Corporation.  Search this
Names:
Celluloid Manufacturing Company.  Search this
Nepera Chemical Company.  Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (3 boxes )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Catalogs
Notebooks
Price lists
Patents
Date:
1883 - 1943
Summary:
The collection consists of trade catalogs, price lists, notebooks, promotional literature, patents, a salesman's kit (including samples), photographs and prints of plant buildings, personnel, celluloid molds and by-products documenting the Celluloid Corporation.
Scope and Contents:
These records are divided into four separate series: Series 1: Publications, 1891-1935, including news clippings, notebooks, promotional literature, and patents; Series 2: Trade Catalogs, 1883-1928, including price lists; Series 3: Salesman's Kits, 1937-1943, including samples; and Series 4: Photographs, undated, including photo prints of plant buildings, personnel, celluloid molds and other by-products.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into four series.

Series 1: Publications, 1891-1935

Series 2: Trade Catalogs, 1883-1928

Series 3: Salesman's Kits, 1937-1943

Series 4: Photographs, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Celluloid Manufacturing Company is the original corporate name of the present Celluloid Corporation. It was founded in 1872 to present celluloid to the world. The word "celluloid" was registered as a trademark in 1873 by its inventor, John Wesley Hyatt. This registration marked the beginnings of the plastic industry. The first efforts were directed to supplying the dental trade with plates for artificial teeth. In 1882 the corporation began to use amyl acetate as a nitro cellulose solvent, which paved the way for the development of the lacquer industry. In 1910 non flammable "safety film" was made from cellulose acetate. In 1912 the corporation invented Lumarith, a true thermoplastic, meaning it could be molded or cast into any conceivable form without undergoing a chemical change. It came in powder form (granules) for the new injection molding processes. It was injected into the mold and in a matter of seconds the finished article was ejected.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Celluloid  Search this
Chemistry  Search this
Plastics -- Molding  Search this
Physical sciences  Search this
Genre/Form:
Catalogs
Notebooks
Price lists
Patents
Citation:
Celluloid Corporation Records, 1883-1943, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0009
See more items in:
Celluloid Corporation Records
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b053a43d-6b28-4cc9-832a-8b3eb24eeb4f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0009
Online Media:

Serge A. Scherbatskoy Papers

Creator:
Scherbatskoy, Serge A., 1908-2002  Search this
Names:
Neufeld, Jacob, 1906-2000  Search this
Extent:
17 Cubic feet (39 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Contracts
Agreements
Notebooks
Correspondence
Diazo prints
Laboratory notebooks
Patent applications
Reports
Date:
1925-2002
Summary:
Collection documents the professional career and business interests of inventor Serge A. Scherbatskoy, who specialized in petroleum geophysics. Papers include laboratory notebooks, license agreements, correspondence, blue line prints, patent litigation files, newspaper clippings, reference files, patents, promotional literature, and audio-visual materials.
Scope and Contents:
The Scherbatskoy papers provide insight into the relationship between inventors and the United States oil industry between the 1930s and 1990s, the evolution of the history of applied geophysics, and the development of technological innovation in oil prospecting, specifically applied and geophysics. One of the strengths of the collection is the patents Scherbatskoy pursued, renewed, or impeded. As sole proprietor of his own company, Geophysical Measurements Corp., Scherbatskoy meticulously constructed an international patenting program which made him a successful player among the giants of the oil industry. Another highlight of the collection is Scherbatskoy's fifteen laboratory notebooks that include his well logging work notes and drawings. Legal files illustrating litigation over the infringement of Scherbatskoy's patents are also found in the collection. The papers demonstrate how the oil prospecting industry worked from scientific, commercial and legal perspectives. The bulk of the papers are arranged chronologically to reflect the timeline of Scherbatskoy's career. Due to the limited number of personal materials, Scherbatskoy's personal papers are placed at the end of the series list.

Series 1, World War II Work, 1935-2002, is divided into three subseries and includes information on Scherbatskoy's relationship with physicists Bruno Pontecorvo (1913-1993) and Jacob Neufeld (1906-2000). Neufeld and Scherbatskoy worked on the application of nuclear physics to geophysical prospecting. Neufeld would later join the staff of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Materials include a file about Pontecorvo, Neufeld's laboratory notebook, and some correspondence between Neufeld and Scherbatskoy. This series also includes materials on Scherbatskoy's well logging projects during and after World War II.

Series 2, Invention Laboratory Journals and Drawings, 1958-1992, is further divided into two subseries and includes fifteen laboratory journals and a folder of drawings related to Scherbatskoy's well logging work. The journals are arranged numerically by journal number. In some instances, journal numbers repeat. Journals are paginated and include drawings, tipped-in graphs and charts, and notes relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging work. Some of the notebooks include pages signed by a witness, which Scherbatskoy could use as evidence to prove his ownership of a particular well logging invention idea.

Series 3, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 1946, 1948, is comprised of one folder with a license agreement between Scherbatskoy and Radio Corporation of America for magnetic recording systems.

Series 4, Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC), 1957-2002, is divided into three subseries and provides information on Scherbatskoy's company Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation. Materials include license agreements, correspondence, and Canadian Geophysical Measurements vs. Computalog Gearhart, Ltd litigation files.

Series 5, ARPS Corporation (Jan J. Arps), 1960-1995, includes information on Arps Corporation, organized by Scherbatskoy, Jacob Neufeld, and Jan J. Arps in Dallas, TX to develop and practice measurement while drilling. The Arps Corporation materials are comprised of administrative and financial records, business correspondence, contracts of consultation, patents, license agreements, and Scherbatskoy's stock information.

Series 6, Gearhart-Owen Industries (GOI) (Gearhart Industries, Inc., (GII)), 1961-1996, is divided into seven subseries and consists of records generated during Scherbatskoy's measurement while drilling (MWD™) work with Gearhart-Owen Industries, Inc. One of the largest series in the collection, the Gearhart-Owen materials include license agreements, correspondence, litigation files, measurement while drilling reports and blue line prints of measurement while drilling equipment, signal extraction measurement while drilling study reports, reference materials, and United States, United Kingdom, and Canadian patent assignments between Scherbatskoy, Gearhart-Owen, and the Scherbatskoy Family Trust. Included in the litigation subseries is the Scherbatskoy Family Trust vs. Gearhart Industries, Inc., case. The Scherbatskoy Family Trust in 1975 sued for royalty payments due Scherbatskoy under the Scherbatskoy Gearhart-Owen Agreement on nuclear well logging technology and measurement while drilling. The case was settled in the late 1980s, and Gearhart Industries, Inc., paid royalties to the Scherbatskoy Family Trust. Gearhart materials are also present in Series 7, 8 and 9.

Series 7, Halliburton Company, 1978-1999, is divided into four subseries and includes license agreements, lawsuits and patent infringements, patents, and company acquisitions. This series documents Scherbatskoy's relationship with the Halliburton Company pre-and post-Halliburton's acquisition of Gearhart Industries in the 1980s. Halliburton materials are also in Series 8 and 10.

Series 8, Other Professional Work, 1964-1999, is divided into twelve subseries: McCullough Tool Company, Exploration Logging, Inc., Eastman Whipstock, Schlumberger, Ltd., Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Company, Christensen, Inc., Gunn and Kuffner (attorneys), NL Industries, Inc., Baker Oil Tools, Inc., AMF Scientific Drilling International, Inc., Geolink (UK) Ltd., Technolink (Cyprus), Ltd., and Computalog Gearhart, Ltd. In addition to providing information on oil prospecting companies that Scherbatskoy consulted with during his career, materials also include correspondence between Scherbatskoy and attorneys Gunn and Kuffner relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging patent rights.

Series 9, Well Logging Research Materials, 1937-2002, includes correspondence, papers, reports, promotional literature, and general research files relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging research.

Series 10, Licensing Agreements, 1961-1989, contains four folders documenting the nuclear well logging agreement between oil prospecting companies such as Gearhart Owen, Halliburton, Geophysical Measurements, Inc., and Welex Jet Services. Both Marvin Gearhart and Harold Owen of Gearhart-Owen had been employees of Welex before founding Gearhart-Owen Industries.

Series 11, Patents, 1937-1998, includes copies of patents issued to, among others, Scherbatskoy, Robert E. Fearon (inventor), James Upchurch (inventor), John Westlake (inventor), Mobil Oil Corp and Exxon. Materials also include patent applications, patent protests, patent annuities, and correspondence with the United States Patent Trademark Organization and the German Trademark Office.

Series 12, Personal Materials, 1925-1983, includes materials on Scherbatskoy's immigration to the United States, school diplomas, and memorial book. Visual materials include original photographs, and color copies of original photographs of Scherbatskoy as an adult, his family, and his inventions. Also included is a 1944 submarine training 16mm reel-to-reel film and an audio cassette tape of Scherbatskoy discussing his World War II work with his daughter Mary Scherbatskoy.
Arrangement:
Collection arranged into twelve series.

Series 1, World War II Work, 1935-2002

Subseries 1, Relationship with Bruno Pontecorvo, 1940-2002

Subseries 2, Relationship with Jacob Neufeld, 1935-1954

Subseries 3, Scherbatskoy Well Logging Project, 1940-1951

Series 2, Invention Journals and Drawings, 1958-1992

Subseries 1, Lab Journals, 1963-1992

Subseries 2, Scherbatskoy Invention Drawings, 1958, 1966

Series 3, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 1946, 1948

Series 4, Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC), 1957-2002

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1957-2002

Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1967-2002

Subseries 3, Canadian Geophysical Measurements vs. Computalog Gearhart, Ltd., 1986-1996

Series 5, ARPS Corporation (Jan J. Arps), 1960-1995

Series 6, Gearhart-Owen Industries, Inc., (GOI), (Gearhart Industries Inc., (GII), 1961-1996

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1961-1996

Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1974-1988

Subseries 3, Scherbatskoy Family Trust (SFT) vs. Gearhart Industries, Inc., 1975-1988

Subseries 4, Measurement While Drilling (MWD) Development Reports and Blue Line Prints, 1973-1984

Subseries 5, Gearhart-Owen Signal Extraction (MWD) Study, 1979-1981

Subseries 6, Reference Materials, 1977-1990

Subseries 7, Patent Assignments, 1961-1987

Series 7, Halliburton Company, 1978-1999

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1979-1999

Subseries 2, Lawsuits and Patent Infringements, 1989-1996

Subseries 3, Patents, 1978-1997, undated

Subseries 4, Halliburton Acquisitions, 1988-1999

Series 8, Other Professional Work, 1964-1999

Subseries 1, McCullough Tool Company, 1964-1996

Subseries 2, Exploration Logging, Inc., 1966-1998

Subseries 3, Eastman Whipstock, (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftungz-(GmbH)), 1978-1995

Subseries 4, Schlumberger, Ltd., 1967-1999

Subseries 5, Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Company, 1971-1996

Subseries 6, Christensen Diamond Products, Inc., 1977-1988

Subseries 7, Gunn and Kuffner (Attorneys), 1977-1999

Subseries 8, NL Industries, Inc., 1978-1994

Subseries 9, Baker Oil Tools, Inc., 1980-1999

Subseries 10, AMF Scientific Drilling International, Inc., 1984-1987

Subseries 11, Geolink (UK), Ltd., /Technolink (Cyprus) Ltd., 1985-2002

Subseries 12, Computalog Gearhart, Ltd., 1990-2002

Series 9, Well Logging Research Materials, 1937-2002

Subseries 1, Correspondence, 1967-2002

Subseries 2, Papers and Reports, 1960-1990

Subseries 3, Promotional Literature, 1978, undated

Subseries 4, General, 1937-1996

Series 10, Licensing Agreements, 1961-1989

Series 11, Patents, 1937-1998

Subseries 1, Well Logging Patents, 1937-1998

Subseries 2, John E. Westlake (Inventor) Patents, 1972-1996

Subseries 3, James M. Upchurch (Inventor) Patents, 1990-1998

Subseries 4, Other, 1943-1997

Series 12, Personal Materials, 1925-1983

Subseries 1, Personal Papers, 1925-1966

Subseries 2, Photographs, circa 1950s, undated

Subseries 3, Audio Visual Materials, 1944, 1983
Biographical / Historical:
Serge Alexander Scherbatskoy (1908-2002), a petroleum geophysical engineer, held more than 200 patents worldwide in petroleum exploration. Scherbatskoy was born July 18, 1908, in Buyuk Dere, Turkey, a suburb of Constantinople where his father, Alexander Ippolitovich Scherbatskoy, was Third Secretary to the Russian Embassy. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Alexander Ippolitovich planned to accept a post in the Kerensky government. When that fell, he joined the League of Nations offices in Berlin. Later, he moved the family to Paris where he was employed by Yokohama Specie Bank. Young Serge completed his education at the Sorbonne, earning a degree in physics in 1926.

In 1929, only months before the stock market crash, Scherbatskoy immigrated to the United States. He worked for Bell Labs in New York City from 1929 to 1932. While there, Scherbatskoy worked on the Type C Carrier telephone system, assisted in the Reproduction of Music in Auditory Perspective (the first Hi Fi) and invented an automatic volume control using copper oxide semiconductors, for which the patent was denied. About this time, he met Mary Ellen Dunham; they married in 1938 and had four children: Mary, Serge, Timothy, and Jonathan.

After being laid off from Bell Labs in 1932, Scherbatskoy held a number of odd jobs. He organized the "Bureau of Radio Engineering" to repair radios house-to-house. In 1933, he went to the University of Pennsylvania under a grant from the Works Progress Administration (later Work Projects Administration; WPA) and assisted with developing a "sound prism" (i.e., spectrometer). He worked for PHILCO Radio and Television Corporation from 1933 to 1934 where he developed a "sweeping frequency" oscillator for testing radios. About 1936, Scherbatskoy headed west to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined Seismograph Services Corporation. While at Seismograph, he developed the "Expander" and the "Automatic Signal Control" for use in seismographic exploration.

Scherbatskoy left Seismograph Corp. and, with Bill Green and Jerry Westby, started Well Surveys Incorporated in 1937 to develop his idea of nuclear logging of cased wells. In nuclear logging, logs are obtained by using radiation sources in the logging tool. Well Surveys was one of the first American companies that applied nuclear physics to oil prospecting. Standard Oil of New York financed the project, but various parties could not agree and they dissolved the Well Surveys Incorporated.

According to an audiotaped interview conducted by Scherbatskoy's daughter Mary, during World War II Serge Scherbatskoy worked for the U.S. Navy as an independent prime contractor to develop the lethal probability integrator (aircraft gunner training simulator) and other projects. Scherbatskoy also was involved tangentially with the Manhattan Project. As part of the Project, Scherbatskoy was recruited by Gilbert LaBine (1890-1977), a Canadian prospector who discovered radium and uranium deposits at Port Radium, Northwest Territories in 1930. Known as the father of Canada's uranium industry, LaBine was president of Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited from its start in the late 1920s to 1947. Scherbatskoy developed a portable radiation detector and headed a team pioneering this form of uranium exploration near Great Bear Lake, Canada, during 1944, locating deposits used in atomic weapons production.

In 1948, Scherbatskoy formed Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During this time, Scherbatskoy worked on the development of well logging technology. "Well logging is the process of exploring systematically the entire length of a drill hole by means of an instrument capable of measuring physical factors associated with the rocks traversed and producing a graph."1 In December 1960, Scherbatskoy, Jan J. Arps (physicist), and Jacob Neufeld (physicist) joined together with Reinholdt & Gardner (a brokerage firm) to form a limited partnership named Arps Corp. to assign, sell and license patents. The purpose was to lease to the oil industry, equipment utilizing the patented Arps process for continuous telemetering to the earth's surface of measurements made at the bottom of a borehole while drilling.

In 1964, GMC conducted a stock swap with McCullough Tool which then went bankrupt in 1968. During the 1970s, Scherbatskoy's activities included consulting with Jacob Neufeld of Oak Ridge National Laboratories. In 1973 he began a relationship with Marvin Gearhart of Gearhart-Owen Industries of Dallas, Texas. Gearhart-Owen was an instrument and oil services firm originally founded by Marvin Gearhart and Harold Owen in 1955. In 1980, Marvin Gearhart changed the name from Gearhart -Owen to Gearhart Industries, Inc., "The GO Company." Scherbatskoy was named Director of Special Projects and continued his own patent program which developed "Measurement While Drilling" and directional drilling patents.

"Measurement While Drilling" (MWD) refers to measurements acquired down hole while drilling that specifically describe directional surveying and drilling-related measurements. "Logging While Drilling" (LWD) refers to petrophysical measurements, similar to open hole wireline logs, acquired while drilling. Wireline logs are a cabling technology used by operators of oil and gas wells to lower equipment into the well. Directional drilling is the science of drilling non-vertical wells. These systems—MWD and LWD—are based on mud telemetry which is the transmission of encoded data through a drilling rig's drilling mud system using rapid fluctuations in the pressure of a closed loop circulating system.

When Gearhart-Owen went bankrupt in 1986, it was acquired by Halliburton. Scherbatskoy worked at Gearhart-Owen until 1988, when he opened his own office in Fort Worth developing Measurement While Drilling patents. Scherbatskoy died on November 25, 2002 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Source

Oil and Gas Journal, February 22, 1940, p. 62.
Related Materials:
The Scherbatskoy Papers complement the Philip Bishop Collection documenting petroleum prospecting and extraction in the Museum's Modern Physics Collection and the American Petroleum Institute (API) Photograph and Film Collection (AC0711) in the Archives Center. The API Collection documents all aspects of the production of oil, including exploration, drilling, cracking, refineries, pipelines, tankers, storage tanks, service stations, and the numerous products other than gasoline produced by the petroleum industry.

The Division of Science, Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science) holds three prototypes related to this collection. See accession 2007.0212.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Serge A. Scherbatskoy's daughter, Mary Scherbatskoy, and three sons, Serge Scherbatskoy, Jr., Timothy Scherbatskoy, and Jonathan Scherbatskoy, on 2007
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Seismology  Search this
Physicists  Search this
Seismic prospecting  Search this
Physics  Search this
Petroleum -- Prospecting  Search this
Petroleum industry  Search this
Patents  Search this
Licenses  Search this
Inventors  Search this
Inventions  Search this
Geophysics  Search this
Genre/Form:
Contracts
Agreements
Notebooks
Correspondence
Diazo prints
Laboratory notebooks
Patent applications
Reports
Citation:
Serge Scherbatskoy Papers, 1925-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0936
See more items in:
Serge A. Scherbatskoy Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89b764f08-a2f7-4c09-8931-30a6ce15499f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0936
Online Media:

Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria Field Notes Collection

Photographer:
Houlberg, Marilyn  Search this
Extent:
1,615 Color slides (color, 35 mm)
circa 400 Photographic prints (3 x 5 inches, 5 x 7 inches)
1 box Manuscripts (document genre)
52 Cassettes (Audiocassettes- music, lectures, field records, interviews)
1 Videocassette
1 CD-R (CD-ROM)
1 Notebook
Culture:
Yoruba (African people)  Search this
Ibibio (African people)  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Color slides
Photographic prints
Manuscripts (document genre)
Cassettes
Videocassettes
Cd-rs
Notebooks
Place:
Africa, West
Nigeria
Lagos (Nigeria)
Date:
circa 1973-circa mid-1980s
Summary:
This collection contains a variety of materials including 1,615 color slides, circa 400 photographic prints, 1 box of manuscript materials, 1 notebook, 52 audio and 1 video cassettes, and 1 CD-ROM. Many of the slides and photographs were taken during Houlberg's field work in Nigeria (1973-1975) and depict Ibeji figures, wood carvings, Egungun masquerades and masks, twins, portraits, hairstyles, festivals, shrines, textiles, and peoples including the Yoruba, Ekoi, Ibibio, and Ogoni. The audiocassettes consist of lectures, music, field records, and interviews.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 1,615 color slides, circa 400 photographic prints, 1 box of manuscript materials, 1 notebook, 52 audio and 1 video cassettes, and 1 CD-ROM. The slides item-level finding aid has been added to Houlberg's previous accession, EEPA 2005-002. Many of the slides were taken during Houlberg's field work in Nigeria (1973-1975) and depict Ibeji figures, wood carvings, textiles, portraits, and peoples including the Yoruba, Ekoi, Ibibio, and Ogoni. The photographic prints include images of wooden figures, Ibeji figures, hair styles, masquerade masks, twins, portraits, and carvings by Awenke of Ketu, Yesufu Ejiboye, Ogunyomi Sona, and Awolowo Adelaku of Ikenne. Events documented include age grade processions, market scenes, the Agemo festival, and both Egungun masquerades and Gelede at Otu. There are also photographs of shrines which include the Abiku, Shango, Dada, Shoponu, and Odudua shrines. The photographs were primarily taken in Ilishan, Balufon, Ikenne, Lagos, the Field Museum (Chicago), and Akio, Ijebu.

The manuscript materials date to the 1980s and include correspondence related to Nigerian museum objects, correspondence with Susan Vogel about an Edan Ogboni photograph, articles about African art, exhibit catalogues, business cards, Nigerian and Haitian studio photography, travel brochures, and essays about styles of carving.

A few of the photographs were taken by Mark Schiltz.
Biographical / Historical:
Artist, anthropologist, and art historian Dr. Marilyn Hammersley Houlberg was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1939. Houlberg received an Associate of Arts degree from Wright Junior College (1959) and a BFA from the University of Chicago (1963). After graduating, she traveled to North Africa and explored Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. In 1964, Houlberg researched Haitian art, religion, and indigenous photography in Haiti and in 1965 was awarded a scholarship for graduate study from the University of Chicago. There she completed her MAT in Art History in 1967. Following graduation, Houlberg worked at the Nigerian Museum in Lagos, where she documented Yoruba sculpture, masquerades, religion, body art, and indigenous photography. She began her teaching career at the University of Chicago as a lecturer on African art and African civilization, working there from 1971 to 1973. At the University of London, Houlberg earned a Masters in Anthropology, producing the thesis Yoruba Twin Sculpture and Ritual (1973). She also extensively photographed her travels abroad in Yorubaland. Between 1974 and 1990, Houlberg taught at the University of Chicago, Columbia College, Kalamazoo College, and Northwestern University. From 1974 to 2008 she continued teaching at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, lecturing on Yoruba art and ritual in West Africa and the New World, and the art and ritual of Vodou in Haiti. Houlberg has lectured worldwide at numerous museums and symposiums since 1972, including in Lagos, Nigeria; Jacmel, Haiti; Toronto, Canada; Salvador, Bahia, Brazil; and Cologne, Germany. Her essays have been published in several issues of African Arts. Some of Houlberg's significant publications include Arts of the Water Spirits of Haitian Vodou, in Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and Other Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora (2008) and Water Spirits of Haitian Vodou: Lasiren, Queen of Mermaids, in Mami-Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and the African-Atlantic World (2008). The exhibition Mami-Wata at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (2009) featured her photographs.
Related Materials:
The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives also holds several other collections by Marilyn Houlberg: one collection documents Nigeria (EEPA 2005-002) and two others document Haiti (EEPA 2012-004 and EEPA 2015-016).
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Topic:
Egúngún (Cult)  Search this
Ere ibeji  Search this
Shrines  Search this
Hairstyles -- Africa  Search this
Fashion  Search this
Citation:
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria Collection, EEPA 2015-015, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
EEPA.2015-015
See more items in:
Marilyn Houlberg Nigeria Field Notes Collection
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7ed67a8df-efd6-4a3e-ac4f-51015fd6258c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-eepa-2015-015

Henry John Drewal Collection

Photographer:
Drewal, Henry John  Search this
Kinnoudo, Martin  Search this
Extent:
1425 Slides (photographs) (color, 35mm)
20 Notebooks (2 Boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Notebooks
Newspaper clippings
Place:
Nigeria
Benin
Senegal
Côte d'Ivoire
Ife (Nigeria)
Date:
1970s - 1990s
Content Description:
Collection contains 35mm slides from the Republic of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal as well as 20 original field notebooks from Nigeria and various miscellaneous documents, newspaper articles, and photographs from Nigeria.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. Copyright held by John and Margaret Drewal. To publish images from this collection, permission must be given by Henry and Margaret Drewal. Contact Archives staff for further information. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Topic:
Anthropologists  Search this
Art -- History  Search this
Art -- African  Search this
Festivals  Search this
Yoruba (African people) -- Nigeria -- Music.  Search this
Gelede (Yoruba rite)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Notebooks
Newspaper clippings
Identifier:
EEPA.2011-012
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7403f23e1-8267-4f6c-a207-5d632092696b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-eepa-2011-012

Wedge Innovations Records

Interviewer:
Shayt, David H.  Search this
Creator:
Wedge Innovations  Search this
Extent:
13 Cubic feet (28 boxes, 5 map folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Notebooks
Oral histories (document genres)
Audiotapes
Financial records
Financial statements
Interviews
Correspondence
Photographs
Drawings
Advertisements
Black-and-white photographic prints
Date:
1985-1996
Summary:
The records of Wedge Innovations document the invention and development of a new hand tool, the SmartLevel, an electronic builder's level; also included are company management and policies.
Scope and Contents:
The SmartLevel story gives excellent insight into the life cycle of a small Silicon valley start-up in the 1980s. SmartLevel's creator, Wedge Innovations, established a market for a new product, achieved national distribution, off-shore manufacturing, and product licensing, before going out of business due to pressure from profit-hungry venture capitalists.

The records of Wedge Innovations is a "tool biography" that documents the invention and development of a new hand tool, the SmartLevel, an electronic builder's level first conceived in 1985 by Andrew Butler. The SmartLevel Collection is divided into seven series: Corporate Records, Engineering Records, Financial Records, Marketing Records, Operations Records, Product Development Records, and Corporate Culture, reflecting both the organizational structure of Wedge Innovations and the company's working environment.

Series 1, Corporate Records, 1985-1993, address the overall management of Wedge Innovations and document its policies, especially through the company's annual business plans, 1986-1992, and the monthly reports prepared for the Board of Directors' meetings, 1989-1992. This series also details the workings of each department through weekly departmental reports. The staff meetings files, July-November 1989, February 1990-November 1992, are particularly useful for understanding the day-to-day operation of the company.

Series 2, Engineering Records, 1985-1993, document the design and development of the SmartLevel from its conception in 1985 as the WedgeLevel, through its production as the SmartLevel in 1989, and through its refinement into the Pro SmartLevel and the Series 200 SmartLevel in 1991. The design process is particularly well documented through Andrew Butler's and Kevin Reeder's design notebooks and through the detailed technical drawings done by Butler, Reeder, and Ronald Wisnia. Also well documented are the efforts made to solve the many problems associated with the development and quality control of the electronic sensor module that was the heart of the SmartLevel.

Series 3, Financial Records, 1985-1992, include Wedge's summary financial statements from 1985 to 1992.

Series 4, Marketing Records, 1986-1992, document customer and dealer relations through marketing department correspondence, operational records, and advertising campaigns. This series is particularly rich in promotional material (1988-1992), such as advertisements, advertising copy, photographs, product promotion plans, and videotapes that demonstrate the varied features and uses of the products.

Series 5, Operations Records, 1990-1993, document the manufacturing process and the Company's offshore operations.

Series 6, Product Development Records, 1986-1993, document the company's intended development of an entire "Smart Tools" line.

Series 7, Corporate Culture, 1985-1996, contains employee photographs and oral history interviews with key Wedge personnel conducted in 1995 and 1996 by David Shayt, Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History. The interviews discuss the background of the participants, the company's origins and history, product development, the Silicon Valley context, and the efforts of Wedge Innovations successor firm, SmartTool Technologies.
Arrangement:
The collection organized into seven series.

Series 1, Corporate Records, 1985-1993

Series 2, Engineering Records, 1985-1993

Series 3, Financial Records, 1985-1992

Series 4, Marketing Records, 1986-1992

Series 5, Operations Records, 1990-1993

Series 6, Product Development Records, 1986-1993

Series 7, Corporate Culture, 1985-1996
Biographical / Historical:
Andrew G. Butler (b. 1955), the founder of Wedge Innovations exhibited an interest in building construction and an entrepreneurial spirit early in life. From age 12 to 17 he built a boat that he then sailed alone from California to Tahiti, where he spent several years as an independent carpenter and building contractor. After returning to the United States, he earned a B.S. degree in electromechanical engineering from Stanford University (1983) and became a software specialist for Bechtel Construction. In 1985, he conceived of an idea for an electronic carpenter's level that could read a range of angles. Butler formed Wedge Innovations in 1986. He worked in the basement of his home in order to develop and market this level, selling his boat to finance the venture. He hired Marilyn Crowell as his secretary and Robert Nagle and Dan Kellogg as engineers. This company developed the sensor technology and software necessary to build the company's first product, the WedgeLevel. The heart of this tool was an electronic sensor circuit connected to a microprocessor capable of measuring the tool's orientation. This sensor module fit into an ergonomically-designed teak rail with anodized aluminum edges jointly developed by Butler, engineering design consultant Kevin Reeder, and engineer Ronald Wisnia.

In 1987, Wedge moved to Santa Clara to begin manufacturing the WedgeLevel. The transition from a research and development concern to a manufacturing company proved difficult, due to manufacturing and financial difficulties. It was difficult to obtain a reliable yet inexpensive source of teak for the rails, designs for a plastic composite and aluminum rail were developed, while offshore manufacturing of the sensor components was established. Overarching all concerns was the persistent difficulty of obtaining sufficient investment capital. While managing his growing company, Butler also began planning for a line of hand tools that combined microelectronics and user-oriented, ergonomic design. In 1988, the company changed the name of its product to SmartLevel in order to emphasize the company's proposed line of Smart Tools. That same year, the company adopted a new corporate logo, a stylized W with a red wedge, signaling its growing maturity. Promotion of the product also began through demonstrations of the prototype done by consultant building contractor, Rick Feffer.

In January 1989, the SmartLevel prototype was launched at the National Association of Home Builders Show in Atlanta, Georgia. The favorable publicity generated by this launch and by the company's media campaign generated many orders. To supply these orders, Wedge moved to larger quarters in Sunnyvale on April 1, 1989. In June 1989, Wedge gained further publicity by donating several SmartLevels to a Habitat for Humanity project in Milwaukee, where former president Jimmy Carter used one. Although Wedge expected to ship the first SmartLevels in July 1989, there were considerable delays in manufacturing. In particular, there were stability and performance problems with the sensor, which engineer Ken Gunderson was brought in to remedy. The sensor module was re-engineered to be more rugged and the level was redesigned with a plastic composite and aluminum rail. The new level, known as the Pro SmartLevel, was intended for the professional construction market. The first SmartLevels were shipped on September 5, 1989.

In 1990, patents were granted to Andrew Butler, Donald G. Green, and Robert E. Nagle for an inclinometer sensor circuit and to Butler and Ronald Wisnia for a carpenter's level design. That same year, Brian Bayley joined Wedge as Vice-president for Engineering, and Edwin "Win" Seipp joined as Project Manager - DIY SmartLevel. Seipp's responsibility was to develop a low-cost, "do-it-yourself" version of the SmartLevel, which was eventually called the Series 200 SmartLevel. This level had an all-aluminum rail and a non-removable sensor.

In September 1990, the company moved to San Jose and by 1991 had over 60 employees. Although sales continued to grow and name recognition of the product was quite strong, Wedge had difficulty meeting the expectations of its investors. Butler entered into financial negotiations with the Macklanburg-Duncan Corporation, a large-scale manufacturer of hand tools, to seek investment in his company. These negotiations led in November 1992 to the acquisition of Wedge by Macklanburg-Duncan, which dissolved all but Wedge's engineering section. Macklanburg-Duncan today manufactures a "SmartTool" level, while Butler co-owns D2M (Design To Market), a company that develops new product ideas for the market.

SmartLevel Chronology

1992 -- Butler negotiates with Macklanburg-Duncan for a merger to save Wedge. In the midst of the negotiations, Butler is fired by his Board of Directors. Butler regains control of Wedge three months later, fires the replacement president, and sells Wedge outright to Macklanburg-Duncan, which dissolves all but the engineering functions of Wedge.

1991 -- Wedge sponsors a "New Product Development Conference," where numerous designs for new hand tools are worked on. SmartLevel sales and name recognition grows but not quickly enough to meet overhead expenses of new facility or investors' demands.

1990 -- Yet more redesign work, both in-house and with Kevin Reeder, who also develops idea for "SmartTube" carrying case (not built). Patents granted to Andy Butler et al. for inclinometer sensor circuit and carpenter's level design. Wedge hires Brian Bayley as vice-president for engineering to develop a low-cost model of the SmartLevel. The all-aluminum Series 200 SmartLevel is born. Wedge moves to larger facilities in San Jose.

1989 -- SmartLevel launched at National Association of Home Builders show in January. Good press coverage, but cannot meet orders. More publicity from Habitat for Humanity project when former President Jimmy Carter uses a SmartLevel. But stability and performance problems plague sensor. More redesign work results in more rugged Pro SmartLevel. The first SmartLevels shipped on September 5, 1989.

1987-1988 -- Wedge moves to Santa Clara; intends to begin manufacturing and todevelop an entire line of "Smart Tools" but encounters financial and engineering difficulties; Wedge consults with independent design engineer, Kevin Reeder, on level design. Intensive redesign effort develops the SmartLevel, made of plastic and aluminum rail.

1986 -- Wedge Innovations founded in the basement of Butler's house; basic sensor design worked out; teak & aluminum WedgeLevel developed.

1985 -- Idea for electronic carpenter's level formulated by Andy Butler.
Related Materials:
Materials at the National Museum of American History

The Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History contains artifacts related to the SmartLevel Collection. These include five SmartLevels (Accession #1991.0823; 1996.0284; 1996.0285; 1996.0288; and 1996.0289). They are an original teak WedgeLevel, a Pro SmartLevel, a Series 200 SmartLevel, a Bosch version of the SmartLevel, and a Macklanburg-Duncan SmartTool level. There are also four sensor modules (torpedo levels), two sensors, two carrying cases, one cap, one tee shirt, and one wooden puzzle with the inscription "The World Isn't Just Level and Plumb."
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Andrew Butler, SmartLevel inventor and company founder, Brian Bayley, Vice-President for engineering at Wedge Innovations from 1989-1992, and Kevin Reeder, an independent industrial designer, 1995-1997.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Product demonstrations -- 1980-2000  Search this
Technological innovations -- Hand tools -- 1980-2000  Search this
Electronics -- Tools and implements -- 1980-2000  Search this
Industrial design -- 1980-2000  Search this
Leveling -- 1980-2000  Search this
Teak -- Use of -- 1980-2000  Search this
Level indicators -- 1980-2000  Search this
Venture capital -- 1980-2000 -- United States  Search this
Silicon Valley -- 1980-2000  Search this
Tools -- 1980-2000 -- United States  Search this
Small business -- Management -- 1980-2000  Search this
Investors -- 1980-2000  Search this
Inventors -- 1980-2000  Search this
Engineers -- 1980-2000  Search this
Industrial designers -- 1980-2000  Search this
advertising -- Tools -- 1980-2000  Search this
Carpenters -- 1980-2000  Search this
Carpentry -- Tools -- 1980-2000  Search this
Merchandise displays  Search this
Genre/Form:
Videotapes
Notebooks -- 1980-2000
Oral histories (document genres) -- 1990-2000
Audiotapes
Financial records -- 1980-2000
Financial statements -- 1980-2000
Interviews -- 1980-2000
Correspondence -- 1970-2000
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1980-2000
Drawings -- 1980-2000
Advertisements -- 1980-2000
Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000
Citation:
The Records of Wedge Innovations, 1985-1996, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0534
See more items in:
Wedge Innovations Records
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep895b7b396-3a34-4459-9d3f-83d3003a1cf8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0534
Online Media:

Irving Naxon Papers

Inventor:
Naxon, Irving , 1902-1989  Search this
Names:
Naxon Telesign, Inc. (Chicago, Illinois)  Search this
Manufacturer:
Naxon Utilities Corporation (Chicago, Illinois)  Search this
Donor:
Eisenberg, Eileen  Search this
Klein, Jewel N.  Search this
Naxon, Lenore D.  Search this
Extent:
.75 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Advertisements
Correspondence
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks
Patents
Photographs
Trademarks
Date:
1925-2019
Summary:
Papers document Irving Naxon (1902-1989), an inventor best known for the Crock-Pot. Papers include photographs, patents, trademarks, correspondence, drawings and notes for many of Naxon's inventions.
Scope and Contents:
This collection documents a portion of the long and productive career of inventor Irving Naxon (1902-1989). Best known for inventing the slow-cooker that became the ubiquitous Crock-Pot, he was awarded many patents for various kitchen and household devices including an electric frying pan, a lidded turkey roaster, and a tabletop tub with an agitator for washing cloth diapers a Naxon also invented an electronic billboard system (the "telesign"), first used in Times Square. The archival materials offer insights into Naxon's business and advertising acumen, while also providing rich contextual material for understanding the revolution in countertop appliances for the home kitchen at a time when many more American women were employed outside of the home.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into four series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1925-2019

Series 2: Naxon Utilities Corporation, 1920s-1970s

Series 3: Naxon Telesign, Inc., 1938-1973

Series 4: Patent and Trademark Materials, 1932-1968
Biographical:
Irving Naxon was born Irving Nachumsohn (1902-1989) in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Julius Nachumsohn (1870-1905) and Tamora "Mary" Kassloski Nachumsohn (1874-1966), Jewish immigrants with roots in Germany and Lithuania. His father died when Irving was two years old, and the family moved to North Dakota and Canada, finally settling in Chicago. Naxon had two siblings, Meyer Nachumsohn (1898-1980) and Sadie Nachumsohn (1899-1963).

An electrical engineer by training, Naxon worked for Western Electric and was the company's first Jewish engineer. He was an inveterate tinkerer and inventor, and passed the patent bar exam himself, thereby eliminating the need to hire a patent lawyer. Naxon filed US Patent 2,187,888 on May 21, 1936, for a "Cooking Apparatus," or slow cooker. The patent was awarded on January 23, 1940, but the device wasn't put into commercial production until the 1950s. The idea for an electric slow cooker relates to stories about the inventor's great grandmother, who observed the labor restrictions of Shabbat by taking her cholent, a traditional stew of meat, potatoes, and beans, to the local bakery before sundown on Friday so it would cook slowly overnight in the residual heat of the bakery's oven.

By the time the slow cooker was brought to market, it was called the "The Boston Beanery," or "Naxon Beanery" and consisted of a ceramic crock fitted with a heating element that wrapped around an inner chamber, promoting even heat for cooking. Naxon advertised his slow cooker as "the All-Purpose Cooker," and even made a model that sported names of international dishes that could be made in the device. Naxon founded two companies, Naxon Utilities Corporation to manufacture his precision electrical devices, and Naxon Telesign, Inc., to focus on the telesign, an electronic sign that showed moving text resembling a news ticker and which Naxon leased to other companies.

Naxon retired in 1970 and sold his business to the Rival Manufacturing Company in Kansas City. Rival rebranded the Beanery as the "Crock Pot" and provided updated recipes developed by the company's home economists. Rival introduced the Crock Pot at the 1971 National Housewares Show in Chicago and sales took off. The Crock Pot appealed to consumers who wanted to come home at the end of a long day to a home-cooked meal without having to do much actual cooking. Crock Pot sales remain strong, despite a plethora of other kitchen appliances like the Insta-Pot which also minimize the amount of time and cooking technique required to turn out a home-cooked meal.

Naxon married Fern Dubin (1915-2008) in 1940 and, in 1945, changed the family name from Nachumsohn to Naxon due to anti-German sentiment in the United States. The Naxons had three daughters, Lenore Naxon, Jewel N. Klein, and Eileen Eisenberg.

Sources

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/brief-history-crock-pot-180973643/

https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/from-humble-to-high-tech-a-slow-cookerhistory/

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/food/articles/jewish-inventor-of-slow-cooker-irving-naxon
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Edgecraft Corporation Records (NMAH.AC.1382)

Goya Foods, Inc. Collection (NMAH.AC.0694)

Kubla Kahn Frozen Food Company Records (NMAH.AC.1316)

Paul Ma Papers (NMAH.AC.1469)

Virginia Mericle Menu Collection (NMAH.AC.1212)

Nordic Ware Company Records (NMAH.AC.0980) Product Cookbook Collection (NMAH.AC.0396)

Charlotte Cramer Sachs Papers (NMAH.AC.0878)

Jane and Michael Stern Collection (NMAH.AC.1392)

Warshaw Collection of Business American Series: Food (NMAH.AC.0060)

Warshaw Collection of Business American Series: Kitchen Appliances and Utensils (NMAH.AC.0060)

A. Bernie Woods Papers (NMAH.AC.0962)

Division of Work & Industry

The Division of Work & Industry holds artifacts related to this collection. See accession 2023.0089 which includes the Naxon Boston Beanery, Naxon Flavor Crock, Turkey Roaster, and Automatic Chicken Fryer.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Lenore Naxon, Jewel N. Klein, and Eileen Eisenberg, 2023.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Cooking  Search this
Inventions -- 20th century  Search this
Inventors -- 20th century  Search this
Kitchen appliances  Search this
Genre/Form:
Advertisements -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks -- 20th century
Patents -- 20th century
Photographs
Trademarks
Citation:
Irving Naxon Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1592
See more items in:
Irving Naxon Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c8d1ed65-e39f-48dc-8846-e44d4966ad28
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1592
Online Media:

Joseph Blinder Medical Notebooks and Notes

Creator:
Hirschkovitz, Jacob  Search this
Blinder, Joseph, 1884-1973  Search this
Names:
New York University  Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Notebooks
Date:
Circa 1908-circa 1911
Summary:
Dr. Joseph Blinder was born in Russia in 1884 and immigrated to the United States in 1908. He attended Bellevue Medical College (New York University) and graduated in 1911. The collection consists of Blinder's bound medical notebooks, class notes, lab notes, and miscellaneous papers during his medical education at Bellevue from 1908-1911. The notebooks cover the following topics: pharmacology, anatomy, obstetrics, physiology, chemistry, and pathology. There are some loose handouts in the notebooks from professors Dr. Brooks and Dr. Smith.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of Blinder's bound medical notebooks, class notes, lab notes, and miscellaneous papers from his medical studies at Bellevue College, New York University (1908-1911). In one instance, a notebook was written by another student, Jacob Hirschkowitz. Most of the notebooks contain drawings as well as loose handouts from professors, Dr. Brooks and Dr. Smith. The notebooks cover the following topics: pharmacology, anatomy, obstetrics, physiology, chemistry, and pathology. The notebook in Box 1, Folder 7, is fragile.
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Joseph Blinder was born in Russia in 1884 and immigrated to the United States in 1908. He attended Bellevue Medical College (New York University) and graduated in 1911. He established a family medical practice in 1915 in Brooklyn, New York, which he continued for 48 years, except for an interruption for U.S. Army service during World War I.

Reference Note

This information was gathered from a letter written by Dr. Blinder's son, Dr. Ted Blinder, that was given to the Smithsonian when he inquired about donating the collection in 1973.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History

Artifacts from Dr. Joseph Blinder's office, including objects and furnishings (Accession #309903).
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Harold S. and Theodor J. Blinder on October 7, 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but framed items are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Copyright status unknown. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Reproduction permission from the Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
Topic:
Medicine  Search this
Medical colleges  Search this
Medical education  Search this
Physicians  Search this
Genre/Form:
Drawings -- 20th century
Notebooks -- 1900-1950
Citation:
Joseph Blinder Papers, circa 1908- circa 1911, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0831
See more items in:
Joseph Blinder Medical Notebooks and Notes
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89ed8a87c-97ac-4d42-8a43-9792f4af80b8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0831

Jean Borgatti Collection

Photographer:
Borgatti, Jean  Search this
Artist:
Ajanaku, Lawrence  Search this
Obamina, Achetu, b. 1897 -  Search this
Omogbai, Pius Isah  Search this
Onobrakpeya, Bruce, 1932-  Search this
Names:
Erediauwa, King of Benin, 1923-2016  Search this
Extent:
3617 Slides (photographs) (color, 35 mm)
166 Contact sheets ((2 binders))
3555 Negatives (photographic) (black and white, 35 mm)
4 Notebooks ((1 box))
1 Cassette tape ((2 boxes))
25 Film reels (Super 8)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Contact sheets
Negatives (photographic)
Notebooks
Cassette tapes
Film reels
Place:
Nigeria
Nigeria -- Osun State -- Ilesha
Nigeria -- Kaduna -- Zaria
Lagos (Nigeria)
Benin (Nigeria)
Nigeria -- Federal Capital Territory -- Abuja
Nigeria -- Plateau -- Jos Plateau (Bauchi Plateau)
Oshogbo (Nigeria)
Kumasi (Ghana)
Cape Coast (Ghana)
Niamey (Niger)
Abomey (Benin)
Benin -- Atlantique -- Ouidah
Nigeria -- Benue State
Bida (Nigeria)
Kano (Nigeria)
Date:
1971-2003
Summary:
Jean Borgatti's collection dates from 1971 to 2003 and was created primarily in Nigeria but with some images from Ghana (Kumase, Cape Coast), Niger (Niamey), and the Benin Republic (Road to Abomey, near Ouidah). Much of the collection documents masquerades, shrines, festivals, market scenes, and ceremonies in the then Bendel State (now Edo and Delta States), and includes images from Etsako (specifically, Auchi, Avianwu, Ekperi, North Ibie/Ivie, South Ibie/Ivie) Okpella, Okhu, and Weppa-Wano peoples), Akoko Edo (Urhurhun Uneme, Igarra), and Owan (Otuo and Ikao peoples), as well as some images from Ishan (Ekpoma-Illeh, Ubiaja, Ugboha), Urhobo (Ughelli, Ohoro, Okpedomu, Emadaja) and Benin City as well as other parts of Nigeria including the then Western State (Oshogbo, Ibadan, Oyo, Ilesha), Benue Plateau State (Oturkpo-Makurdi Road, Tiv country, Jos), Northeastern State (Yankari Game Preserve, Gombe, Tula, Yola), Northwest Stateb (Bida), East Central State (Owerri), and Kano.
Scope and Contents:
Jean Borgatti's collection dates from 1971 to 2003-4 and is comprised of 3,617 slides, 3,625 negatives, 4 negative books, contact prints, an audio cassette, 25 Super 8 film reels, and 23,425 digital images. The 1971-2004 collection includes photographs made between 1971-1974, 1979, and (mostly born digital) 2002-2004.

The materials from 1971-1974 include research-oriented images taken at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, as well as field photographs in Edo North. Initially a survey of material culture was carried out in Etsako Local Government Area of the then Bendel, now Edo, State. This included visiting some 43 villages across 9 ethnic groups (Auchi, Avianwu, Ekperi, North Ibie/Ivie, South Ibie/Ivie, Okpella/Ukpila, Okhu, Uzairue, Weppa-Wano [Uwepa-Uwao], and Uneme/Ineme in Akoko-Edo LGA) as well as Otuo and Ikao in Owan LGA. The Etsako communities included Auchi, Avianwu's Afashio, Fugar, and Iraokhor; Ekperi's Azukhala, Okpenada, Osomegbe, Ugbekpe, Udaba Weppa-Wano's Agenebode, Aigyere, Amugbe, and Edegbe; North Ibie included Itsukwi and Okpekpe; South Ibie; Eastern Okpella made up of Afokpella including numerous quarters (Iyeluwa, Imiomoka, Imiamune, Kalaba, Imigbai, Imioko), Ogiriga, and Iddo I (old Iddo) and Iddo II (new Iddo); and western Okpella made up of Awuyemi, Imiegiele, Ogute, Imiaguese, Imiekuri, Ilewi, Ithurogbe, Ogute, and the affiliated Okhu I and Okhu II; Weppa Wano's Agenebode, Aigyere, Amugbe, Edegbe, Iviabua, Iviukhua, Emokhueme, and Iviukhwe; and Uzairue's Ogbido, Iluoke, Afowa, Ayogiri, Apana, Ikabigbo, Iyora, and Jattu.

ShapeMuch of the collection depicts festivals, masquerades, and ceremonies, including Okpella's Olimi Festival, Ekperi's Otsa Festival, Weppa Wano's Ake festival, the Aimhi or Okakagbe masquerade, Otuo and Ikao's Igugu or Eliminia Festival, a Gelede masquerade performance, Okpella's Aminague masquerade, and many individually named masquerades in Edo North. There are also images of title-taking ceremonies, paraphernalia, and shrines, including the Okpella men's Atsogwa title ceremony Oghalo and a comparable one for an Ogbidegua, a titled woman; Avianwu's Aziza, Ekperi's Okailopokai shrine, the Yoruba Oshun shrine at Oshogbo, and Okpella's Okula, a forest shrine associated with Olimi Festival. The most intensive photography is associated with Okpella, Ekperi, Weppa-Wano, Otuo and Ikao masquerades.

The 1979 photographs comprise portraits of individuals responding to a survey on Aesthetic Preference carried out in the Eastern Okpella communities of Ogiriga, Afokpella (Iyeluwa, Kalaba, Imioko, Imiomoka, Imiamune, Imigbai). Iddo I and II, and in Western Okpella the communities of Imiakiu, Imiokewa, Imiedemi, Imiomoh, Udiegwa, Okhu Afokha, Okhu Owu, Imienegwe, and Imiekuri. Olimi Festival research was conducted in Afokpella, Ogiriga, Iddo II, and Ogute.

The 2002-2004 digital images were taken during a panel study based on 1979 Survey on Aesthetic Preference. Portraits of respondents from the communities of Ogiriga, Afokpella, Iyeluwa, Imigbai, Imiamune, Kalaba, Ogute Oke, Imiakiu, Imikhese, Imionoh, Imiokewa, Udiegwa, Imiediemi, Imiagbese, Imiekuri, Awuyemi, Imiegiele, Iddo I, and Iddo II.
Arrangement:
Arranged into 4 series by format. Series 1, 2 and 4 are arranged chronologically and Series 3 is arranged alphabetically.

Series 1: Field Slides, 1971-2003

Series 2: Negatives, 1971-circa 1979

Series 3: Audio and Film Reels, circa 1970s-1982

Series 4: Digital Files, circa 1971-2015
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian and photographer Jean Borgatti's research focuses on cross cultural concepts of art and aesthetics, masquerades and festivals, portraiture, the Black Atlantic, and the continuities and discontinuities in African, African Diaspora, Oceanic and Native American art. An active photographer since at least 1971, she has worked primarily in Benin City, Nigeria and areas in northern Edo State, photographing the Okpella people and other Edo North groups.

Borgatti received her B.A. in Art History from Wellesley College (1966) and both her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Art History from UCLA. Since then, she has received fellowships, grants, and awards for research including a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities (1979-1980), a Sainsbury Institute Fellowship at the University of East Anglia (2005), and two Fulbright fellowships (2002-2004, 2014-2016) for lecturing and conducting research in Nigeria. She was also presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (2014) for her contributions to the field. She taught African and Native American Art History at Clark University for twenty years and has continued her affiliation with Clark as a visiting scholar and research fellow. Additionally, Borgatti has been a visiting scholar of art history and African studies at Boston University (2010-2016).

Borgatti has curated a number of exhibitions, including From the Hands of Lawrence Ajanaku (Museum of Cultural History Gallery UCLA and the African American Institute New York, 1979); Likeness and Beyond: Portraits in Africa and the World (with Richard Brilliant and Alan Wardwell), Center for African Art, New York, and the Kimbell Museum, Fort Worth, 1990); Global Africa: Creativity, Continuity and Change in African Art, 2014-2017, and several museum shows in which African works were placed "in conversation" or "face to face" with works from Asia, Europe, and America throughout the Fitchburg Art Museum (2011-2012). Borgatti has published more than twenty articles on African art with such varied topics as masquerades in Edo North (Nigeria), portraiture in world art, the art market, and individual African artists.

Dr. Borgatti is a consulting curator on African and Oceanic Art at the Fitchburg Art Museum (Massachusetts, 2010-present) and a Professor of Art History, Department of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Benin (Nigeria, 2013-2017).
Provenance:
Donated by Jean Borgatti in 2016.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Collection contains images of art and museum objects and exhibitions with copyright restrictions.
Topic:
Ekperi (African people)  Search this
Urhobo (African people)  Search this
Ghana  Search this
Masquerades  Search this
Festivals  Search this
Coronations  Search this
Workshops  Search this
Portraits  Search this
Okpe (Urhobo people)  Search this
Shrines  Search this
Gelede -- Photographs  Search this
Marketplaces  Search this
Citation:
Jean Borgatti Collection, EEPA 2016-007, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
EEPA.2016-007
See more items in:
Jean Borgatti Collection
Archival Repository:
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo7cd1b395d-e452-4ecd-b5e2-b5c021e807c4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-eepa-2016-007
Online Media:

Walter Guyton Cady Papers

Creator:
Cady, Walter Guyton, 1874-1973 (physicist)  Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Electricity and Modern Physics  Search this
Extent:
22.5 Cubic feet (73 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Notebooks
Date:
1903-1974
Scope and Contents:
Consists chiefly of Cady's research notebooks on various subjects in physics and a considerable technical reprint file; some records of Cady's consultant work and patents granted.
Arrangement:
Divided into 11 series.

Series 1: Research Notebooks, 1896 1972

Series 2: Chapter Drafts for Piezoelectricity An Introduction To The Theory And Applications Of Electromechanical Phenomena In Crystals, 1945

Series 3: Technical Reprint Files, 1900s-1960s

Series 4: Walter G. Cady's Writings and Reviews, 1950s-1960s

Series 5: Consultant Work, 1931-1967

Series 6: Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), 1945-1963

Series 7: Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 1932-1973

Series 8: Patent Records, 1914-1974

Series 9: Books, 1887-1960

Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1949-1973

Series 11: Card Indexes, 1940s-1960s.
Biographical / Historical:
Walter Guyton Cady (1874 1973) was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Brown University (Bachelors 1895 and Masters 1897) and from the University of Berlin (Ph. D. Physics, 1900). Cady worked at a magnetic observatory of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1900-1902. In 1902, Cady joined the faculty of Wesleyan University as a professor of physics where he remained until 1946. During WW I, Cady used piezoelectricity—electricity or electric polarity due to pressure especially in a crystalline substance as quartz—and underwater sound to make devices that would locate enemy submarines. From this work evolved the crystal resonator and oscillator. Piezoelectricity is utilized in microphones, phonograph pickups, and telephone communications systems.

During World War II, Cady worked on military applications of piezoelectricity. Among the applications were supersonic trainers for radar operators, which employed piezoelectric transducers in liquid tanks to generate realistic echoes on radar indicators. In 1946, Cady published a book titled Piezoelectricity An Introduction To The Theory And Applications Of Electromechanical Phenomena In Crystals, 1946. After his retirement in 1951 to Pasadena, California, Cady returned to Providence, Rhode Island in 1963 and was active in consulting work for industry and the Federal government. Cady was an active member of Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), becoming a fellow of the institute in 1927 and receiving the Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award in 1928. He also received the Dudell Medal from the Physics Society of Great Britain in 1936. Cady also served as an editor for the PROCEDDINGS OF IRE and as president of IRE, was Editor of the Physical Review from 1924-1926, a member of the national Research Committee, 1935-1938, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Cady's principal interests included the study of electrical discharges in gases, detection of wireless waves, piezoelectricity, ultrasonics, piezoelectric resonators and oscillators, and crystal devices.

Cady married Kathrin Olive Miller (1883-1909) and they had one son, Willoughby Miller Cady (1907-1953), also a physicist.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Scientists  Search this
Resonators  Search this
Ultrasonics  Search this
Piezoelectric resonators  Search this
Physics  Search this
Professors  Search this
Piezoelectricity  Search this
Crystal devices  Search this
Physicists  Search this
Electrical science and technology  Search this
Genre/Form:
Notebooks
Citation:
Walter Guyton Cady Papers, 1903-1974, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0046
See more items in:
Walter Guyton Cady Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8cad9103e-9ab5-4197-9bf7-62f351aecde7
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0046
Online Media:

Robert W. Kearns Papers

Creator:
Brown, Brian Ivan  Search this
Kearns, Robert W.  Search this
Kearns, Timothy  Search this
Quan, John  Search this
Names:
Kearns and Law  Search this
Tann Company  Search this
United States. Bureau of Standards.  Search this
Extent:
8.5 Cubic feet (24 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reports
Trade literature
Patents
Photographs
Drawings
Notebooks
Correspondence
Memorandums
Date:
1963 - 1999
Summary:
The collection documents the inventive career of physicist and engineer Robert W. Kearns. Kearns invented and patented in 1967 the windshield wiper system with intermittent operation (US 3,351,836), among other inventions. The papers include notebooks, correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, patents, drawings, and trade literature.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes notebooks, correspondence, reports, memoranda, photographs, patents, drawings, and trade literature. Kearns held patents related to circuitry which are integral to electronic intermittent windshield wipers. The windshield wiper documentation consists of patents, correspondence, and a set of drawings from November 16, 1967 for Tann Company. Other documentation includes Kearns's work with the engineering firm Kearns and Law (brochures, shop orders, agreements); his National Bureau of Standards work, which consists of his personnel file and notebooks detailing his highway skid resistance research; and subject files that cover a range of topics that interested Kearns, such as radar, speed control, and electric cars. At the heart of the collection are 32 invention notebooks (1963-1986) belonging to Kearns as well as engineers he worked with including John Quan, Brian Ivan Brown, and Timothy Kearns, son of Robert Kearns. Bound, paginated, and dated, the notebooks contain sketches, schematics, calculations, data, telephone numbers, and details about materials, costs, testing data, and descriptions for many of Kearns's projects. The notebooks present a comprehensive overview of his ideas and are significant to understanding his creative process and how his ideas changed or did not change over time. The majority of the notebooks are arranged in chronological order and therefore researchers can see Kearns's work unfold. Many of the notebooks are stamped with a "PO" to indicate a "protective order" followed by a number, and many of the notebooks were used during court proceedings. The protective order restricted access to notebooks which were filed with the court, or to be filed with the court at a future date.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1957-1991

Series 2: Notebooks, 1954-1994

Series 3: Patents, 1957-1985

Series 4: Kearns and Law Engineers, 1957-1962

Series 5: Kearns Engineers, 1967-1985

Series 6: National Bureau of Standards, 1967-1972

Series 7: Ford Motor Company (Engineering Technical Education Program), 1964-1966

Series 8: Windshield Wiper Materials (Kearns vs. Ford Motor Company), 1962-1993

Series 9: Subject Files, 1965-1999

Series 10: Correspondence, 1989-1999
Biographical / Historical:
Robert William Kearns was born in Gary, Indiana on March 10, 1927 to Martin W. Kearns and Mary E. Kearns. One of three children, Kearns grewup in the Detroit area, graduating from the University of Detroit, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (1952); Wayne State University, Masters of Science in Engineering Mechanics (1957); and Case Western Reserve University, Ph.D. in engineering (1964). Kearns also earned certificates in nuclear reactor control from Argonne National Laboratories (1958 and 1959). He was a Corporal in the United States Army, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Strategic Services Unit (SSU); the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA.) from July 31, 1945 to November 29, 1946.

Prior to joining the military in 1945, Kearns worked at Mercury Engineering Company (1943-1945) in Detroit as a draftsman preparing engineering shop drawings. After the war, Kearns joined the H & A Tool and Die Company (1946-1947), also in Detroit, as a draftsman preparing engineering shop drawings for the manufacture of the individual parts for machinery and special dies. Through the University of Detroit Cooperative Program with the National Bureau of Standards, he participated in an engineer in training program (1949-1952) where he executed a variety of standardized tests on engineering materials. He held a variety of engineering positions: designer/draftsman with Peerless Design Company, Detroit (1952); junior engineer with Burroughs Corporation Research Laboratories, Philadelphia (1952-1953); and engineer with Bendix Aviation Corporation, Detroit (1953-1957) where Kearns supervised and directed of a group of engineers responsible for the design of computer components, servomechanisms, control systems and related devices. Other duties included planning, liaison with other Bendix divisions, establishing test equipment requirements, as well as technical specifications and reports. In 1957, Kearns joined the faculty of Wayne State University, Department of Engineering Mechanics, as an assistant professor (1957-1963), later becoming an associate professor (1963-1967).

Kearns also established two independent businesses, the engineering firms of Kearns and Law (1963-1976) and Computer Central (1965-1976). Founded with partner Kenneth J. Law, an electrical engineer, Kearns and Law provided industry with consultation, research, design, and development services in the fields of computers, automatic controls and instrumentation. Computer Central manufactured a series of control components such as the Linear Range Comparator, Sign or Equality Binary Comparator, Identity Comparator, Dual Brush V-Scan Encoder Electronics, Gray Code to Binary Code Encoder Electronics, and Digital Difference to Analog Converters. Kearns served as Detroit's Commissioner of Buildings and Safety Engineering (1967-1971), where he acted as an administrator, overseeing professional engineering activities such as building inspections. Kearns moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1971 to become principal investigator for the highway skid resistance program at the National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (1971-1976).

In 1967, Kearns invented and patented an electronic windshield wiper system with intermittent operation (US 3,351,836). Previous wiper systems were controlled by vacuum tubes. He installed his device on his 1962 Ford Galaxy and met with Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation in 1963 with the goal of manufacturing his idea and being a supplier to the auto industry. Kearns tried to commercialize the wiper through the Tann Corporation. In 1969, Kearns's intermittent windshield wiper was installed on Ford cars without his knowledge. He ultimately filed suit against Ford for patent infringement in 1978 (representing himself as Kearns Associates), seeking $141 million in damages (a figure eventually raised to $325 million). Kearns's purpose in pursuing litigation was not a cash award. Rather, he wanted the rightful ownership. In all, he filed lawsuits against 26 car manufacturers and other companies concerning the same patent (US 3,351,836). In July 1990, a federal jury ruled that Ford had unintentionally infringed on Kearns's patent and awarded him $10.2 million. In June 1992, Kearns was awarded $11 million from Chrysler. Kearns held over 30 patents, with the majority relating to windshield wipers.

Kearns died in 2005. He married Phyllis Hall (1932-2013) in 1953, divorcing in 1989. The couple had six children: Dennis Kearns (b.1954); Timothy Kearns (b.1956); Patrick Kearns (b.1958); Kathleen Corsetty (b. 1961); Maureen Kearns (b. 1964); and Bob Kearns (b. 1967).
Provenance:
Collection donated by the Estate of Robert W. Kearns, through Dennis Kearns and Maureen Kearns, 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Occupation:
Inventors  Search this
Topic:
Inventions -- 20th century  Search this
Windshield wipers  Search this
Automobiles -- Design and construction  Search this
Genre/Form:
Reports -- 20th century
Trade literature -- 20th century
Patents -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Drawings -- 20th century
Notebooks -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Memorandums -- 20th century
Citation:
Robert W. Kearns Papers, 1963-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1406
See more items in:
Robert W. Kearns Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep83c37ebc7-5f04-40bc-bd53-98f10a2b4809
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1406
Online Media:

Alibamu field notes, miscellaneous subjects (Series 1)

Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Informant:
Battise, Betty  Search this
Battise, Billy  Search this
Battise, Fanny  Search this
Sylestine, Cooper  Search this
Sylestine, Sissie  Search this
Thomspon, Josie  Search this
Williams, Betty  Search this
Collection Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Extent:
3 Notebooks (342 items)
Culture:
Alibamu  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Notebooks
Date:
July 2 - August 27, 1940
Arrangement:
(1) Notebook 1940-Alabama #1 89 items
(2) Notebook 1940-Alabama #2 94 items
(3) Notebook 1940-Alabama #3 56 items
(4) Field Notes 103 items
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4658 (1)
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southern states  Search this
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4658, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
MS 4658 Field notes and ethnographic material on Alabama, Choctaw, and Koasati (latter incomplete), plus a partial Southeast comparative ethnology of southeastern U.S.
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3dee4a7e6-7eac-4561-8466-5ab32e1ccc38
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-ms4658-ref1
Online Media:

Alibamu field notes, miscellaneous subjects (Series 2)

Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Informant:
Boatman, Charlie  Search this
Battise, Betty  Search this
Battise, Fanny  Search this
Macconico  Search this
Thomspon, Josie  Search this
Collection Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Extent:
1 Notebook (134 items, 7 x 8 1/4 in.)
Culture:
Alibamu  Search this
Alabama Indians  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Notebooks
Date:
June 7 - July 28, not year given
Arrangement:
(1) Notebook
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4658 (2)
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southern states  Search this
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4658, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
MS 4658 Field notes and ethnographic material on Alabama, Choctaw, and Koasati (latter incomplete), plus a partial Southeast comparative ethnology of southeastern U.S.
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3ce95442c-35b6-42ec-b593-fce65d793848
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-ms4658-ref2
Online Media:

Choctaw field notes on native medicinal practices (Series 3). July 12 - July 17, no year given

Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Informant:
Langley, Jackson  Search this
Collection Creator:
Taylor, Lyda Averill  Search this
Extent:
20 Pages
1 Notebook (40 items, 7 x 8 1/4 in.)
Culture:
Choctaw  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Pages
Notebooks
Notes
Arrangement:
(1) Loose Papers 6 items
(1) Notebook 34 items
Local Numbers:
NAA MS 4658 (3)
Genre/Form:
Notes
Collection Citation:
Manuscript 4658, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
MS 4658 Field notes and ethnographic material on Alabama, Choctaw, and Koasati (latter incomplete), plus a partial Southeast comparative ethnology of southeastern U.S.
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw36dc456fe-8766-4b24-944b-d95541e4f011
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-ms4658-ref3
Online Media:

Modify Your Search







or


Narrow By