The Radar Collection [Blom] consists of approximately 9 cubic feet of maintenance guides for radar systems, wartime equipment catalogs and guides, periodicals, photographs and audio/visual materials.
Scope and Contents:
This collection conists of approximately 9 cubic feet consists of Western Electric maintenance guides for radar systems, wartime equipment catalogs and guides, periodicals, photographs and audio/visual materials.
Arrangement:
This collection is organized into five series according to material type:
Series 1: Technical Manuals, Handbooks and Catalogs, 1942-1995
Series 2: Other Publications and Miscellaneous, 1940-2006
Series 3: Photographs and Negatives, 1940s, 1950s and undated
Series 4: Oversize, 1945
Series 5: Audiovisual, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Jacob Michael Blom (1944--2023) was born in Amsterdam and emigrated to the United States in 1952. From an early age, Blom had a keen interest in science and attended the Neward College of Engineering. In 1966, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. According to his family, he spent countless happy hours in his 3,500 square foot workshop, which was filled with radar sets, navigation equipment, countermeasures equipment, radar test equipment, many spare parts and over a thousand original equipment manuals and other reference materials which he began collecting in 1960. He was also a Senior Vice President of the Mitre Corporation. Mr. Blom passed away in 2023.
Provenance:
Heather Ramos, Gift, 2023, NASM.2024.0005
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mathematics Search this
Extent:
10.3 Cubic feet (31 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reports
Papers
Date:
1945-1959
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of over 2,516 items, housed in 31 document boxes. The material is arranged into chronological order and covers the project dates of l945- l959. The items were originally classified secret, confidential, and unclassified.
The collection is arranged into four series:
Series 1: Summary Reports
Series 2: Bi-weekly Reports
Series 3: Correspondence, Memoranda, and Reports
Series 4: Indexes
The summary reports include originals of "Summary Report #1, April, 1946" and "Summary Report #2," in twenty-two volumes, and photocopies of summary reports #3 through #40. The bi-weekly reports, covering the period December, l947 to May, l953, are arranged chronologically. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, notes, memos, and reports. These date from August, 1945 to January, 1959 and are arranged chronologically. A 210 page index to the reports and correspondence (prepared by Whirlwind project personnel) is located in box 31. This guide has a table of contents and lists topic, author, date, and identification number for all items in the collection. Other indexes are located in boxes 30 and 31.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Summary Reports, 1946-1954
Series 2: Bi-weekly Reports, 1947-1953
Series 3: Correspondence, Memoranda, and Reports, 1945-1959
Series 4: Indices, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Project Whirlwind was sponsored by the Special Devices Center of the Office of Naval Research from 1945 to 1952. The original objective of the project was the development of a device that would simulate airplanes in flight. As the project progressed, other applications of the computer evolved.
The project was centered in the Servomechanisms Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). In the course of the research, Whirlwind evolved from an aircraft simulator into a high speed digital computer and finally into a key element of the United States' early air defense system. In 1948, M.I.T., believing that it was inappropriate for an educational institution to be so heavily involved in air defense research, transferred Whirlwind responsibility to the new M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory in 1952. There, under the direction of Jay Forrester, pioneering work was done on magnetic core memory. MITRE's Whirlwind group spun off from Lincoln Laboratory to the new MITRE Corporation in 1958. Whirlwind served SAGE (Semiautomatic Ground Environment) air defense activities until being retired in May of 1959.
Whirlwind I was of the high-speed electronic digital type, in which quantities were represented as discrete numbers, and complex problems were solved by the repeated use of fundamental arithmetic and logical operations. Computations were executed by fractional microsecond pulses in electronic circuits, of which the principal ones were the flip-flop, the gate coincidence circuit and the magnetic core memory. Whirlwind I used numbers of 16 binary digits; this length was selected to limit the machine to a practical size.
The Whirlwind I Computer was utilized by such projects as Navy Fire Control, Air Traffic Control, the Cape Cod System, Experimental SAGE Sector, and many others. Whirlwind I spawned two computers, the MTC (memory test computer) and TX O (transistor computer), both developed by ESS Installation Group 63.
The Whirlwind I Computer and its facilities were later leased to the Wolf Research and Development Corporation, West Concord, Massachusetts, under Navy Lease Contract Nonr 2956(00) in 1963. Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith wrote a history of the project, Project Whirlwind: Case History (Bedford, Massachusetts: The MITRE Corporation, 1975).
Provenance:
This collection was donated by the MITRE Corporation, February 1983. The Whirlwind I Computer Project originated at the Servomechanics Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) in 1945. The records were transferred in 1959 to the MITRE Corporation.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
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.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Sally K. Ride Papers, Acc. 2014-0025, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Sally K. Ride Papers, Acc. 2014-0025, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, vol. 32, no. 8, July 1930; vol. 63, no. 7, May 1961; and vol. 64, no. 1, November 1961.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Arthur Raymond Brooks Collection, NASM.1989.0104, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
These records are the official minutes of the Board. They are compiled at the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, who is also secretary to the Board, after
approval by the Regents' Executive Committee and by the Regents themselves. The minutes are edited, not a verbatim account of proceedings. For reasons unknown, there are no
manuscript minutes for the period from 1857 through 1890; and researchers must rely on printed minutes published in the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution instead.
Minutes are transferred regularly from the Secretary's Office to the Archives. Minutes less than 15 years old are closed to researchers. Indexes exist for the period from
1907 to 1946 and can be useful.
Historical Note:
The Smithsonian Institution was created by authority of an Act of Congress approved August 10, 1846. The Act entrusted direction of the Smithsonian to a body called
the Establishment, composed of the President; the Vice President; the Chief Justice of the United States; the secretaries of State, War, Navy, Interior, and Agriculture; the
Attorney General; and the Postmaster General. In fact, however, the Establishment last met in 1877, and control of the Smithsonian has always been exercised by its Board of
Regents. The membership of the Regents consists of the Vice President and the Chief Justice of the United States; three members each of the Senate and House of Representatives;
two citizens of the District of Columbia; and seven citizens of the several states, no two from the same state. (Prior to 1970 the category of Citizen Regents not residents
of Washington consisted of four members). By custom the Chief Justice is Chancellor. The office was at first held by the Vice President. However, when Millard Fillmore succeeded
to the presidency on the death of Zachary Taylor in 1851, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney was chosen in his stead. The office has always been filled by the Chief Justice
since that time.
The Regents of the Smithsonian have included distinguished Americans from many walks of life. Ex officio members (Vice President) have been: Spiro T. Agnew, Chester A.
Arthur, Allen W. Barkley, John C. Breckenridge, George Bush, Schuyler Colfax, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Curtis, George M. Dallas, Charles G. Dawes, Charles W. Fairbanks, Millard
Fillmore, Gerald R. Ford, John N. Garner, Hannibal Hamlin, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret A. Hobart, Hubert H. Humphrey, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, William R. King, Thomas
R. Marshall, Walter F. Mondale, Levi P. Morton, Richard M. Nixon, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Theodore Roosevelt, James S. Sherman, Adlai E. Stevenson, Harry S. Truman, Henry A.
Wallace, William A. Wheeler, Henry Wilson.
Ex officio members (Chief Justice) have been: Roger B. Taney, Salmon P. Chase, Nathan Clifford, Morrison R. Waite, Samuel F. Miller, Melville W. Fuller, Edward D. White,
William Howard Taft, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone, Fred M. Vinson, Earl Warren, Warren E. Burger.
Regents on the part of the Senate have been: Clinton P. Anderson, Newton Booth, Sidney Breese, Lewis Cass, Robert Milledge Charlton, Bennet Champ Clark, Francis M. Cockrell,
Shelby Moore Cullom, Garrett Davis, Jefferson Davis, George Franklin Edmunds, George Evans, Edwin J. Garn, Walter F. George, Barry Goldwater, George Gray, Hannibal Hamlin,
Nathaniel Peter Hill, George Frisbie Hoar, Henry French Hollis, Henry M. Jackson, William Lindsay, Henry Cabot Lodge, Medill McCormick, James Murray Mason, Samuel Bell Maxey,
Robert B. Morgan, Frank E. Moss, Claiborne Pell, George Wharton Pepper, David A. Reed, Leverett Saltonstall, Hugh Scott, Alexander H. Smith, Robert A. Taft, Lyman Trumbull,
Wallace H. White, Jr., Robert Enoch Withers.
Regents on the part of the House of Representatives have included: Edward P. Boland, Frank T. Bow, William Campbell Breckenridge, Overton Brooks, Benjamin Butterworth,
Clarence Cannon, Lucius Cartrell, Hiester Clymer, William Colcock, William P. Cole, Jr., Maurice Connolly, Silvio O. Conte, Edward E. Cox, Edward H. Crump, John Dalzell, Nathaniel
Deering, Hugh A. Dinsmore, William English, John Farnsworth, Scott Ferris, Graham Fitch, James Garfield, Charles L. Gifford, T. Alan Goldsborough, Frank L. Greene, Gerry Hazleton,
Benjamin Hill, Henry Hilliard, Ebenezer Hoar, William Hough, William M. Howard, Albert Johnson, Leroy Johnson, Joseph Johnston, Michael Kirwan, James T. Lloyd, Robert Luce,
Robert McClelland, Samuel K. McConnell, Jr., George H. Mahon, George McCrary, Edward McPherson, James R. Mann, George Perkins Marsh, Norman Y. Mineta, A. J. Monteague, R.
Walton Moore, Walter H. Newton, Robert Dale Owen, James Patterson, William Phelps, Luke Poland, John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn, B. Carroll Reece, Ernest W. Roberts, Otho Robards
Singleton, Frank Thompson, Jr., John M. Vorys, Hiram Warner, Joseph Wheeler.
Citizen Regents have been: David C. Acheson, Louis Agassiz, James B. Angell, Anne L. Armstrong, William Backhouse Astor, J. Paul Austin, Alexander Dallas Bache, George
Edmund Badger, George Bancroft, Alexander Graham Bell, James Gabriel Berrett, John McPherson Berrien, Robert W. Bingham, Sayles Jenks Bowen, William G. Bowen, Robert S. Brookings,
John Nicholas Brown, William A. M. Burden, Vannevar Bush, Charles F. Choate, Jr., Rufus Choate, Arthur H. Compton, Henry David Cooke, Henry Coppee, Samuel Sullivan Cox, Edward
H. Crump, James Dwight Dana, Harvey N. Davis, William Lewis Dayton, Everette Lee Degolyer, Richard Delafield, Frederic A. Delano, Charles Devens, Matthew Gault Emery, Cornelius
Conway Felton, Robert V. Fleming, Murray Gell-Mann, Robert F. Goheen, Asa Gray, George Gray, Crawford Hallock Greenwalt, Nancy Hanks, Caryl Parker Haskins, Gideon Hawley,
John B. Henderson, John B. Henderson, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., Gardner Greene Hubbard, Charles Evans Hughes, Carlisle H. Humelsine, Jerome C. Hunsaker, William Preston
Johnston, Irwin B. Laughlin, Walter Lenox, Augustus P. Loring, John Maclean, William Beans Magruder, John Walker Maury, Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, John C. Merriam, R. Walton
Moore, Roland S. Morris, Dwight W. Morrow, Richard Olney, Peter Parker, Noah Porter, William Campbell Preston, Owen Josephus Roberts, Richard Rush, William Winston Seaton,
Alexander Roby Shepherd, William Tecumseh Sherman, Otho Robards Singleton, Joseph Gilbert Totten, John Thomas Towers, Frederic C. Walcott, Richard Wallach, Thomas J. Watson,
Jr., James E. Webb, James Clarke Welling, Andrew Dickson White, Henry White, Theodore Dwight Woolsey.
[Technical reports on the CHARM system, air traffic control and air defense integration, high-altitude air traffic control, targeting systems, and radar]
Analysis and recommendations for scientific computing and collections information management of free-standing museums of natural history and botanical gardens / Glenn P. Cooley, Michael B. Harrington, Larry M. Lawrence
Paper presented at the New York Academy of the Sciences and American Society of Mechanical Engineers Sesquicentennial Forum on Transportation Engineering, August 29, 1967, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, N.Y. [Abstract] "The Problem of end-on transportation for trunk airline passengers is becoming acute. Any number of solutions to carry the passengers closer to their destination have been offered. It appears, however, that VTOL aircraft provided the most practical door to door transportation available today. The Pan Am building Heliport is a striking example of what can be accomplished in this direction."
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Folder 10 MITRE Corporation, 1969-1977. Concerns involvement with Computer History Project and the Whirlwind Computer exhibit.
Collection Creator::
National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics Search this
Container:
Box 7 of 24
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 332, National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Curatorial Records
Folder 23 E, 1971-1973. Correspondents include Joseph J. Eachus of Honeywell Information Systems, Incorporated; Robert D. Elbourn of the Information Processing Technology Division, United States Chamber of Commerce; Rev. John W. Ellison; David Evans; R...
Collection Creator::
National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics Search this
Container:
Box 20 of 24
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 332, National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Curatorial Records
Folder 6 R, 1971-1973. Correspondents include Irving N. Rabinowitz; H. G. Reid of the National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce; Rex Rice of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation; Edwin S. Rich of MITRE Corporation; Gordo...
Collection Creator::
National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics Search this
Container:
Box 23 of 24
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 332, National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Curatorial Records
Folder 21 MITRE Corporation, 1970, 1972. Pertains to MITRE documentation of the Whirlwind Project and other related matters on the Whirlwind computer: summary reports, meeting of those involved with the exhibit, and computation notebooks.
Collection Creator::
National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics Search this
Container:
Box 22 of 24
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 332, National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Curatorial Records
Folder 14 Whirlwind Computer Project, 1970. Includes draft referring to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MITRE Corporation archival holdings on the Whirlwind Computer.
Collection Creator::
National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics Search this
Container:
Box 24 of 24
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 332, National Museum of American History. Division of Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Curatorial Records
This collection consists of approximately 8.86 cubic feet of records relating to Edward Lee Tilton, III's career in the aerospace field. The bulk of the material pertains to Tilton's time at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), although Tilton's time at GE and the MITRE Corporation are represented as well. Types of material in this collection include correspondence; press releases; technical reports; biographical and personnel information; publications; news clippings; meeting agendas and presentations; notebooks; photographs; and Apollo program flight plans. Topics represented in the collection include the Apollo program; Skylab; remote sensing; National Space Policy; NASA operations and management; Space Station; commercial development of space; the Space Shuttle program; civil space issues; the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN); the Earth Resources Laboratory; and the future of space exploration.
Biographical / Historical:
Edward Lee Tilton, III began his career with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1964 at Johnson Space Center. Tilton supervised the development and utilization of dynamic simulation facilities and the manned space flight guidance and instrument control components for the Apollo and Skylab programs, including lead technical responsibility for the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit. In the 1970s, Tilton moved to work on developing remote sensing techniques from aircraft and space systems at the Earth Resources Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, becoming Deputy Director in 1977. During the 1980s, Tilton relocated to NASA headquarters working first with the Defense Intelligence Agency and later he became the first Chairman of Program Planning for the newly formed Space Station Task Force. Tilton worked on many projects during his time at NASA headquarters including helping to form the Space Station Utilization Division; serving as Manager of Civil Needs for the National Space Transportation and Support Division; being appointed to the NASA Senior Executive Service; serving on a team to rewrite the President's National Space Policy; and directing the development of the Commercially Developed Space Facility (CDSF). In 1988, Tilton returned to Stennis Space Center as the Director of Science and Technology with responsibilities that included testing, information and sensor system development, commercialization of space, and chairing the steering committee for Higher Education at the Center. Tilton retired from NASA in 1990 and joined GE Government Services working to develop civil space strategies and new initiatives in the Space and Aeronautics Services Division. Tilton joined the MITRE Corporation in 1991 where he held a variety of positions dealing with civil space issues, research and development, and supporting various government contracts. Tilton now serves as the Director of Engineering for Brimtek, Inc.
Provenance:
Lee Tilton, Gift, 2013
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
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