Ann Moore is the inventor of the Snugli baby carrier and Air Lift oxygen carrier. The collection contains original, master, and reference videos, audiocassette recordings, and transcripts documenting Moore's inventive career.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 5.5 hours of original BetaCam SP recordings, 5.5 hours of master video copies, 5.5 hours of reference copies, 5.5 hours of audiocassette recordings, transcripts, and articles documenting the life and work of Ann Moore, inventor of the Snugli baby carrier and Air Lift oxygen carrier. The recordings include a presentation by Ann and Mike Moore for the Lemelson Center's Innovative Lives Program. Audience participants include students from Seven Locks Elementary School in Bethesda, Maryland; Burrville Elementary School in Washington, D.C.; Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia; and Jefferson Junior High School in Washington, D.C. Ann Moore's interview includes footage of her home in Colorado and discussions with users of the Air Lift oxygen carrier and Weego baby carrier.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Original videos, 1999
Series 2: Master videos, 1999
Series 3: Audiocassettes, 1999
Series 4: Reference videos, 1999
Series 5: Supplemental documentation, 1999
Biographical / Historical:
Ann Moore was born in 1940 in a small Ohio farming community and studied pediatric nursing at the University of Cincinnati. She joined the Peace Corps in 1962 as part of a medical team and was sent to Togo. She met her husband Mike Moore during training. While in Togo, Ann Moore noticed that most women tied their babies onto their backs with a long piece of fabric, which made the babies more content. Back in Colorado, Moore wanted to carry her newborn daughter Mandela in the same way. With the assistance of her mother, Lucy Aukerman, Moore designed the first Snugli baby carrier in 1969 (US Patent 3,481,517). She patented the Snugli in 1984 (US Patent 4,434,920). Snugli, Inc. grew from a small company where each Snugli was handmade by Aukerman and her neighbors to a large company with an international presence and a factory in Colorado. In 1985 Ann and Mike Moore sold Snugli, Inc. to Gerico, a Huffy Company. In 1986 Ann invented Air Lift, a soft mesh backpack oxygen carrier so people on oxygen could be more mobile (US Patent 4,739,913).
Ann and Mike Moore became disappointed in how Gerico had simplified the Snugli design so it could be manufactured less expensively so in 1999 the Moores launched Weego, a soft baby carrier similar to the original Snugli. The Weego has some modern improvements, including an adjustable buckle around the top of the carrier instead of pin tucks.
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. The Center's mission is to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; to encourage inventive creativity in young people; and to foster an appreciation for the central role invention and innovation plays in the history of the United States. The Innovative Lives series brings together Museum visitors and especially school age children, and American inventors to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product. This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
Provenance:
This collection was recorded by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 15, 1999.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply.
The collection documents the inventing and design work of Benjamin Stansbury.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the inventing and design work of Benjamin Stansbury. It contains correspondence; photographs and slides; memoranda, manuals and other internal company documents; design drawings; clippings; and trade literature. The bulk of the material relates to Stansbury's work at the Stansbury Company and the PULSAR electric toothbrush.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into ten series.
Series 1: Personal Materials, 1954-1983
Series 2: Walter Dorwin Teague and Associates Records, 1959-1971
Series 3: Dymo, 1961, 1966
Series 4: Mattel Toymakers, Inc., 1962-1966
Series 5: Product Specialists, 1962-1971
Series 6: Innovation, undated
Series 7: Industrial Design Affiliates, 1964-1973
Series 8: The Stansbury Company, 1966-1994 (bulk 1978-1990)
Series 9: Ronco Teleproducts, Inc., 1978-1980
Series 10: Pulse Innovations, Inc., 1990-1995
Biographical / Historical:
Benjamin H. Stansbury, Jr. (September 26, 1934-March 11, 1996) was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and graduated high school from the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (founded in 1883 as an engineering school). He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture, earning a BS in Engineering in 1957. From 1957 to 1961, Stansbury worked for Walter Dorwin Teague Associates in New York as an industrial designer. At Teague, Stansbury worked on a variety of products and missile components. In 1960, he won the Industrial Design Institute Design Award Citation for the Euphorian dental chair (for Ritter Dental). While at Teague, Stansbury met Helen Marie Beheney (December 5, 1935-July 27, 2014) who was a secretary. The couple married in 1961 in California and had two children, Claude and Jacqueline.
Stansbury left New York for Berkeley, California where he joined Dymo Industries, Inc. as Director of New Product Planning from 1961 to 1965. At Dymo, Stansbury crafted a new corporate image and supervised plant and office construction. From 1965 to 1966 he worked for Mattel Toymakers in Hawthorne, California as Director of Corporate Planning and Acquisitions. In 1966, Stansbury, along with John Pylant, formed Product Specialists in Santa Monica. Rudy Hurwich later invested in the company as a three-way partner. Product Specialists focused on product development, manufacturing and marketing. While at Product Specialists, Stansbury developed and built a folding polypropylene boat called the Stowboat (US Patent 4,556,009) available in three sizes (seven, eight and nine feet). His marketing included the phrase, "Let's Go Stowboating!" Stansbury obtained approximately thirty-five patents, many of which were design patents. Almost all of the patents issued to him were assigned to the company who contracted his services. In 1969, Stansbury founded Innovation, a company to take conceptual ideas to the point of commercialization and to then license or sell them.
In 1969, Stansbury was hired by Industrial Design Affiliates (IDA) of Beverly Hills to help turn around the faltering design practice. After years of creative frustration working for someone else, Stansbury left IDA and founded his own design firm, the Stansbury Company, in 1973. Stansbury believed in giving creative people as much freedom as possible and all of his employees were encouraged to be part of the creative process. His company provided full service product development--concept, design, appearance models, engineering development, prototype construction and testing, tool patterns, and pre-production models. A strong emphasis was placed on engineering and manufacturability. Some of the diverse products created included: an exercise bike, roller skates, a smokeless ashtray, a sewage treatment device for boats, cosmetic bottles, surgical rubber gloves, musical toys, a dental chair, packaging (Elvis concert album), and special effects (twenty-four foot alligator) for the film Alligator and miniature sets for the disaster film Meteor. In 1978, The Stansbury Company was awarded the Western Plastics Art and Design Award for the toy category (sun runner roller skates) and the rotational molding category (La Chair). Some of his clients included: Honda Motor Car, Mansfield Sanitary, Procter and Gamble, Max Factor & Company, Mattel Toys, Schlage Lock, Technicolor, Tomy Toys, Redkin, Jaybee Manufacturing, American Hospital Supply Company and Ronco Teleproducts, Inc.
Stansbury was also a senior consultant to the Bender Corporation, which advised large manufacturing facilities about air quality issues and engineering improvements. He worked with the company on matters related to fluid dynamic modeling and to devise optimal air movements/clearance within a structure.
Stansbury was heavily involved in local politics in Beverly Hills, California. He served as traffic commissioner (1973-1977) and as a planning commissioner (1977-1980). In 1980, Stansbury was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council serving as mayor in 1983 and 1988. After leaving politics, Stansbury continued to invent and in 1992, moved to King City, Ontario, Canada to pursue his invention of the PULSAR Electric Toothbrush (US Patent 5,259,083). The patent was later reissued (RE 35,941) on November 3, 1998. Stansbury was an initial shareholder in Pulse Innovations, Inc., a Canadian corporation formed to develop, market, and license the Pulse toothbrush. The other shareholders in Pulse Innovations included Spark Innovations, Inc. (SPI), a Canadian venture capital incubator and other investors. At SPI, Stansbury was Vice-President of technical services and acted as an engineering consultant and technical advisor on other products under development. In 1995, Procter & Gamble was given an exclusive development option for the Pulse toothbrush, but ultimately Procter & Gamble underwent a restructuring and returned its focus to core products which did not include electric toothbrushes. In 1996, Pulse entered into an agreement with Butler Gum, Canada's largest consumer oral care product company. Stansbury's children, Claude and Jacqueline sold their parents' shares in Pulse Innovations to other shareholders.
Stansbury returned to the United States in 1995 and died on March 16, 1996, in Alexandria, Virginia.
Separated Materials:
Artifacts related to the Ronco Egg Scrambler are located in the Division of Work and Industry.
Artifacts related to The Mr. Dentist, Pulse toothbrushes, Hayes School Publishing Co. posters for ""Good Manners"" (1957) and Safety (1957), a Sesame Street learning kit and parent guides (1970) are located in the Division of Cultural and Community Life.
A Hayes School Publishing Company poster for ""Good Habit Check Charts"" (1959) is located in the Division of Medicine and Science.
Materials related to Helen Stansbury's volunteer work for the Democratic Party, especially a George McGovern Handbook, 1972 and Mike Dukakis materials, 1988 are in the Division of Political History (now Division of Political and Military History).
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center by Benjamin H. Stansbury's daughter, Jacquelyn Stansbury in 2015.
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.
Videotaped interview with Charles Townes, inventor of the MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). The interview was part of the "Innovative Lives" public program series. Videotapes include VHS and Beta Cam SP formats.
Arrangement:
Divided into four series.
Series 1: Original videos
Series 2: Master videos
Series 3: Reference videos
Series 4; Digital images
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Townes was born in Greenville, S.C., July 28, 1915. Graduated from Furman University (1935), Duke University (1936), and the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1939). Appointed to faculty of Columbia University, 1948, where he conceived the idea for the maser. Received Nobel Prize for physics for advances in quantum electronics, 1964.
Provenance:
Created by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, 1998.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos 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:
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. Signed oral history releases on file.
1 Item (Newspaper clipping on paper., 3.5 cm x 8 cm.)
Type:
Archival materials
Advertisements
Clippings
Date:
July 26, 1965
Scope and Contents:
Advertisement for engineers and scientists by Del Mar Engineering Laboratories.
Local Numbers:
AC1249-0000001.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection 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.
Collection 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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Engineering and Industry Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Patents
Charts
Technical notes
Photographs
Technical reports
Lectures
Correspondence
Diagrams
Date:
1952-1984
Summary:
Papers, mostly technical, relating to Caruthers' development of automated machine tools. The papers include technical reports and notes; schematics for specific inventions including diagrams, graphs, photographs and plans bound together; patents and related correspondence; operators' manuals; copies of papers delivered by Caruthers at engineering events; and assorted trade literature.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection consists largely of bound copies of technical manuals, providing information on automatic machine control equipment, including its operation, servicing and parts. The papers include technical reports and notes; schematics for specific inventions including diagrams, graphs, photographs and plans bound together; patents and related correspondence; operators' manuals; copies of papers delivered by Caruthers at engineering events; and assorted trade literature. Published materials include a book co-authored by Caruthers. A partial personnel history of F. P. Caruthers is included together with his hand-written notebooks.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical/Historical note:
Felix P. (Phil) Caruthers was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. (ca. 1915) and took an early interest in radio, constructing his own transmitter at age nine. He continued this interest, obtaining an advanced-class amateur license. After graduating Princeton University (BSEE 1938) Caruthers joined EBASCO Services, specializing in long-distance high-voltage utility systems.
After Pearl Harbor, Caruthers enrolled in a course at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute specializing in radio wave analysis and pulse techniques which predated radar. When the instructor was called to a government assignment, Caruthers took over his place and completed the course. He then volunteered in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to a program under Sperry Gyroscope Co. which was developing night fighter aircraft and radar. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, Caruthers was put in charge of all plants producing this equipment. Later, he was assigned to work on antennas and other components of radar equipment.
On his return to civilian life, Caruthers joined Thomson Equipment Co. as vice president and chief engineer, producing precision machined products and metal toys. Later, the firm's output shifted to machine tools, which Thomson not only manufactured but also designed, introducing new concepts of machine control.
In 1968 Caruthers organized Caruthers & Associates, Inc., consultants to various industrial firms, and also served as Director of Engineering of Industrial Control Equipment for the Bendix Corporation.
Provenance:
Collection transferred by Division of the History of Technology, National Museum of American History, Engineering and Industry Collections.,12th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560.,Transfer.,ACNMAH 812; Nonacc. No. 2002.3050.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Register by Robert S. Harding and Don Darroch, 2 pp., avaiable in repository.
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.
The records document the development of the first commercial atomic clocks by the National Company, Inc., (NATCO) of Malden, Massachusetts, a company known for producing specialized electronic equipment. The records include blueprints, technical drawings and schematics, technical and research reports, instruction manuals, photographs, and marketing materials.
Scope and Contents:
The National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records, 1955-1968, documents the development of the first commercial atomic clocks. Materials were generated by the National Company, Inc. (NATCO) of Malden, Massachusetts which produced the clocks under contract for military branches of the U.S. government and also marketed them on a retail basis. The collection consists of blueprints, technical drawings and schematics, technical and research reports, instruction manuals, photographs, marketing materials, and a stock offering prospectus for NATCO. If one blueprint, drawing or parts list had two or more models listed, it is included under the first model cited.
Series 1, National Company, Inc., (NATCO), 1957-1959, consists of a stock offering prospectus, 1959, which describes the organization of NATCO, its executives and Board of Directors, financial condition, and products. Located in this series is a bound volume of photographs which accompanied NATCO's contract bids. This volume contains photographs of a state-of-the-art machine shop and electronics laboratory of the late 1950s and early 1960s. A blueprint for a radio receiver— the product on which NATCO had built its reputation—is here.
Series 2, Atomichrons, 1955-1968, contains blueprints, original technical drawings and schematics, instruction manuals for setup and operation, technical and research reports, photographs and marketing materials arranged by Atomichron model from the National Atomic Frequency System (NAFS) prototype through the NC3701 and NC3702. The NC1001, the first commercial atomic clock, is fully documented. Technical Memoranda and proposals (TM-) related to particular models have been included with them. Other Technical Memoranda and proposals are in Series 3, Components, 1955-1957, and Series 5, Technical Memoranda and Reports, 1956-1957.
Series 3, Components, 1955-1967, contains materials related to the development of NATCo's Cesium Beam Tube and other parts of the Atomichrons. It includes Technical Memoranda (TM-), blueprints and original drawings, original notes and computations, parts lists, and photographs. Also included in this series is material related to the Production Engineering Measure (PEM), 1962-1967. This was a piece of equipment designed and built by NATCO to measure the accuracy of each Cesium Beam Tube as it was produced.
Series 4, Collision Avoidance System, 1962-1967, consists of material related to James J. Bagnall's patented Collision Avoidance System, using the Cesium Beam Frequency Standard. It includes his research report, the patent assigned to NATCO, and proposals and reports from NATCO representatives to Air Transportation Association conferences and meetings for 1967.
Series 5, Technical Memoranda and Reports, 1956-1967, consists of bound and numbered (TM-) technical memoranda. These are research reports and proposals for future research or products. Other technical memoranda are in Series 2, Atomichrons and Series 3, Components, 1955-1967.
Series 6, Reprints from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1953-1955, contains a bound volume of reprinted or photocopied papers which document research developments in Cesium Beam Frequency Standards at the time NATCO was establishing itself as a commercial producer.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1: National Company, Inc., (NATCO), 1957-1959
Series 2: Atomichrons, 1955-1968
Subseries 2.1, National Atomic Frequency System (NAF), 1956
Subseries 2.2, NC1001, 1955-circa 1959
Subseries 2.3, NC1001, Polaris, 1956-1958
Subseries 2.4, NC2001, Militarized, 1956-1961
Subseries 2.5, NC3001, Airborne, 1956-1961
Subseries 2.6, NC1200, 1959
Subseries 2.7, Missileborne Atomichron, 1959-1960
Subseries 2,8, NC1501, 1958-1964
Subseries 2.9, NC1601, Economy, 1958-1964
Subseries 2.10, Tactical Frequency Standard Drawings, 1959
Subseries 2.11, Tri-Service CBFS, circa 1965
Subseries 2.12, NC3501, circa 1965, 1967
Subseries 2.13, NC3601, Aerospace, circa 1965
Subseries 2.14, NC3701, Commercial, 1964-1968
Series 3: Components, 1955-1967
Series 4: Collision Avoidance System, 1962-1967
Series 5: Technical Memoranda and Reports, 1956-1967
Patents covering NATCO's frequency standards include: 2,960,663, 2,972,115, 2,991,389, 3,258,713, 3,305,290. In 1965, James J. Bagnall was assigned patent 3,167,772 for a Collision Avoidance System to NATCO. It never reached production.
Although supported by research contracts by all three military branches, especially the Army Signal Corps, NATCO failed to achieve a lasting profitability. It was liquidated, and its patents were acquired by Frequency Electronics in 1969.
Sources
1. PEM Drawing C43767, 1967, PEM Drawings (C38037-C43767), 1964-1967, Series 3, Components, 1955-1967, Atomic Clock Collection, Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History.
2. Forman, Paul. "Atomichron: The Atomic Clock from Concept to Commercial Product," in Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 73, p. 1181-1204, 1985.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Industry on Parade (NMAH.AC.0507)
Reel #247, Making atomic clocks. National COmpany, Incorporated, Mauldin, Massachusetts.
Materials at the National Museum of American History
Artifacts related to this collection are located in the Division of Work and Industry.
Materials at Other Organizations
Materials related to MIT staff and departments who were involved in NATCO's Atomic Clock projects also can be found in the Historical Collections at the MIT Museum (http://web.mit.edu/museum/) and in the Institute Archives and Special Collections (http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/) of the MIT Libraries in Cambridge, Mass.
Provenance:
Materials in this collection were donated to the Division of Electricity and Modern Physics by Louis C. Lerner in December 1984. The bulk of the blueprints were purchased from Robert Reeves in August, 1991.
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.
The collection documents S. Newman Darby's development of the sailboard, which became known as the windsurfer through sketches, mechanical drawings, plans, patent specifications, legal documents, photographs, correspondence, notebooks, clippings, periodicals, and an 8mm film.
Scope and Contents:
The S. Newman Darby Windsurfing Collection, 1946-1998, documents the body of Newman Darby's inventive output as well as the development of the windsurfing industry. It consists of sketches, mechanical drawings, plans, patent specifications, legal documents, photographs, correspondence, notebooks, clippings, periodicals, an 8mm film and a videocassette. The collection is particularly rich in the material related to the development of the sailboard, including Darby's personal memoirs. It contains U.S. and foreign patents related to windsurfing as well as records and reports related to Darby's testimony in litigation and the recognition of the priority of his invention. the collections research value lies in the documentation of the invention of the windsurfer and the industry and culture it spawned. It documents the processes of invention and marketing of new devices. It is evidence of the full range of S. Newman Darby's imagination, life and career.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1: Biographical materials, 1969-1982
Series 2: Inventions and designs, 1953-1990
Series 3: Darby Industries, 1982-1983
Series 4: History of windsurfing, 1944-1998
Series 5: Photographs, 1946-1997
Series 6: Audio-Visual materials, 1965-1997
Biographical / Historical:
S. Newman Darby is recognized as the first person in the United States to conceive of connecting a hand-held sail rig fastened with a universal joint to a floating platform for recreational use. He called it sail boarding in 1965, when he published his designs in Popular Science Monthly magazine. Although he and his brothers Ronald and Kenneth began manufacturing the boards through their company Darby Industries, they never applied for a patent.
S. Newman Darby (1928-2016) was born in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Pittston High School in 1946. A sign painter and artist, like his father Sidney Darby, he studied drafting at the Pennsylvania State University extension school where he took chemistry, business, art, and photography courses for one year. His first invention, the Darby Dory, a folding rowboat dates from 1953. The sailboard developed out of Darby's experiments with a personal pontoon catamaran, each hull being big enough for one foot and designed to be operated with a hand-held sail and no rudder. By 1964 he had designed a universal joint that connected a mast to a flat bottom sailing scow. This board had a centerboard, tail fin and kite shaped free sail. Early tests were conducted on Trailwood Lake and the Susquehanna River, near West Pittston.
Today sail boarding is known as windsurfing. It adopted its name from Windsurfer International, a company Hoyle Schweitzer and Jim Drake established on the basis of a patent granted to them in 1970 for a "wind-propelled apparatus." In all essential qualities, their claims duplicated Newman Darby's earlier work.
After Schweitzer bought out Drake's share in 1973, he energetically promoted the sport and licensed manufacturing rights to more than 20 companies around the world. Schweitzer forcefully prosecuted patent infringements he perceived among windsurfer manufacturers and he threatened to sue the 1984 Olympic Committee should it authorize a board produced by a manufacturer not licensed by Windsurfer International.
Although he was aware of the growth of the sport and the profits flowing into Windsurfer International through its licensing activities, Darby was unable to mount a legal challenge to Schweitzer. His priority in the invention of the sport was overlooked and almost forgotten.
In the late 1970's, Mistral, a Swiss manufacturer sued by Windsurfer International in Germany, located Darby and presented his "prior art" as a defense. In the early 1980's, courts in the United States were asked to rule on the validity of the Windsurfer International patent. Newman Darby's prior art was at the center of the controversies. The court voided Windsurfer's original patent and Schweitzer was forced to apply for a reissue based on severely limited claims. He lost the use of "windsurfer" as a trademark. Schweitzer retained the reissued patent through further challenges until it expired in 1987. The example of Newman Darby has become a textbook case of the importance of thorough searches for "prior art" for patent attorneys.
Following completion of the patent litigation Darby designed original sail rigs for Mistral in Europe and Horizon in the United States. In 1982 Newman entered into a new partnership with his brothers Ronald and Kenneth and formed NRK, Inc., to design and manufacture windsurfing boards, training devices and to produce written and video documentaries of his contributions to the history of the sport.
Naomi Albrecht Darby, Newman's wife, sewed the first sails for the boards and participated in their testing and marketing. She documented Darby's inventions through the years in photographs and moving images. Over the years, Darby has worked on numerous inventions--most of them related to wind propulsion. Like many independent inventors, Newman Darby conceives of his ideas, executes all of the mechanical plans, builds his own prototypes and tests them. Darby continues to research improvements in windsurfing and to teach courses in boat building and design.
Related Materials:
An original sailboard, rig, mast and daggerboard from the same period are also housed in the Pennsylvania State Museum at Harrisburg.
Separated Materials:
The Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds artifacts relating to S. Newman Darby and his invention of the windsurfer, including an original board, boom and mast, and sail dating from 1964. See accessions #1998.0086 and #1998.0323.
Provenance:
Most of the collection was donated to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History by S. Newman Darby and his wife Naomi on February 3, 1998.
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.
This collection contains original, master, and reference videos documentingSubhendu Guha, inventor of the solar shingle.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains original, master, and reference videos and photographs and transcripts for select footage from the Subhendu Guha Innovatibve Lives Presentation.
Arrangement:
Collection divided into three series.
Series 1: Original videos, 1998
Series 2: Master videos, 1998
Series 3: Reference videos, 1998
Series 4: Photographs, 1998
Biographical / Historical:
Subhendu Guha was born in Calcutta, India. He studied physics at Presidency College and later did graduate work at the University of Calcutta. Guha earned his Ph.D from the University of Calcutta in 1968 and joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay, India. At the Tata Institute, Guha investigated certain properties of semiconductors. He became interested in the use of semiconductors to convert sunlight into electricity. The conversion of sunlight to electricity is known as photovoltaics. Guha's concern for environmental and societal problems led him to focus on amorphous silicon, an element found in sand that can be applied as a thin film to produce photovoltaic material. This research led Guha to add hydrogen in the production process, which made a more useful amorphous silicon . Practical applications for Guha's work led him to Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) in the United States. ECD promoted the use of solar energy for a variety of applications. Ultimately, Guha joined an ECD joint company, United Solar Systems to manufacture solar cells. His research led him to produce a photovoltaic panel that is seven feet long and a foot wide, is lightweight, flexible, rugged, durable, and is easy to install with conventional panels. The panels were innovative because of their design, materials, and production process. Manufacturing begins with stainless steel that is washed to remove surface dirt. Two layers of reflective coating are then applied followed by layers of amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon-germanium alloys. Each layer absorbs a different photon-energy wave length. The panels can be mounted on a roof with nails. Wires are then dropped from the panels into a building where they are hooked to the buildings electrical boxes to channel energy to circuits. The flexible solar shingle is manufactured by United Solar Systems Corporation of Troy, Michigan.
Provenance:
This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 21, 1998. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos 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:
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.
This collection contains original and master videos documenting Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the Cardiac Pacemaker. Greatbatch demonstrates the circuitry of his implantable pacemaker and discusses his life as an inventor.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection consists of approximately 2 hours of original (BetaCam SP) video recordings and reference (viewing) copies (VHS) documenting Wilson Greatbatch's presentation about the invention of the cardiac pacemaker. Dr. Greatbatch demonstrates the circuitry of his implantable pacemaker and discusses his life as an inventor.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1: Original Videos
Series 2: Master Videos
Series 3: Reference Videos
Series 4: Photographs and Slides
Biographical/Historical note:
Wilson Greatbatch was born in Buffalo, New York in 1919. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1950 and his master's degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo in 1957. Greatbatch first learned of heart block in 1951. He knew that a pacemaker could cure it, but he couldn't build one small enough to be implanted with the materials then available. Conducting research and experiments in a workshop in the barn behind his house in upstate New York, Greatbatch invented in 1958, the device that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives over the years. In 1970, he founded Wilson Greatbatch, Ltd. (WGL), to develop and manufacture reliable, long lived batteries for the implantable pacemaker. WGL produced the first lithium iodine battery for implantable pacemakers in 1972. In addition to numerous honors and awards, Greatbatch was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1986.
Provenance:
This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on October 8, 1996. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos 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.
