This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland.
A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Garden Club of America was established in 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Garden Club of Philadelphia and eleven other garden clubs met to create a national garden club. Its purpose is to foster the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and gardening and conservation efforts. The GCA was incorporated in Delaware in 1923, with its headquarters established in New York City. Today, local clubs are organized under twelve regional zones. The GCA continues its tradition of hosting flower shows and publishing material related to gardening in the United States.
The GCA's glass lantern slides were used by The GCA for presentations and lectures about notable gardens throughout the United States dating back to colonial times. An effort was made in the late 1980s, in preparation of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of America's founding, to collect the disbursed slides. These slides were to eventually form the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens. The informational value of this collection is extensive since a number of images of the more than 4,500 gardens represented show garden designs that have changed over time or no longer exist. While the majority of images document a range of designed upper and upper-middle class gardens throughout the U.S., the scope of the collection is expanding as volunteers photograph and document contemporary gardens including community and vernacular gardens.
The gardens illustrate the design work of dozens of landscape architects including Marian Coffin, Beatrix Farrand, Lawrence Halprin, Hare & Hare, Umberto Innocenti, Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, Warren Manning, the Olmsted Brothers, Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Fletcher Steele. Because of their proximity to the gardens, works of notable architects and sculptors may also be featured in the images.
Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Personal papers of Dr. Kranzberg from his undergraduate years at Amherst College through his professional career. Collection documents his involvement with development of the new field of history of technology and his role as principal founder of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT); work as consultant and advisor to domestic and international agencies, colleges, and universities; personal affiliations, lectureships, publications; and teaching and administrative activities for more than 40 years as a college professor.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 140 cubic feet of material divided into nine series and housed in 359 document boxes. Several subseries remain organized in the original order as they were received. There has been no attempt by the archivist to rearrange them. Some folders did not have folder titles. The archivist has provided titles in those instances, and these folder titles have been put in brackets [] in the Container List.
Melvin Kranzberg's personal activities from 1934 through 1968 are arranged chronologically in Series 4: PERSONAL ACTIVITIES, including his early education. Series 8: TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATION is divided into two subseries and is comprised of teaching and administrative files compiled by Dr. Kranzberg during his forty years as a college professor.
Series 2: Correspondence between Kranzberg and numerous colleagues in the U.S. and abroad, 1949-1988. He was actively involved with technically oriented societies, U.S. government agencies, and SHOT. Since he also wrote a textbook and several encyclopedia articles, subjects range from business to academic to personal.
Kranzberg's role as a consultant and advisor is located in Series 1: CONSULTATION AND ADVISEMENT. This series is further divided into nine alphabetically arranged subseries. Kranzberg's many professional affiliations are arranged in Series 5: PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS. This series is comprised of eight alphabetically arranged subseries. Series 2: CORRESPONDENCE is also arranged alphabetically and contains much of Dr. Kranzberg's correspondence during the years 1949 to 1988. He was actively involved with a number of technically oriented societies, United States government agencies, and the Society for the History of Technology. Since he also wrote a textbook and several encyclopedia articles, the subjects represented range from business to academic to personal.
Series 7: RESEARCH SUBJECT FILES is arranged alphabetically and documents nearly forty years of research by Kranzberg on hundreds of diverse topics. The results of some of this research is available in Series 6: PUBLICATIONS, which is divided into eleven subseries and contains manuscripts, research, correspondence, outlines, and reprints of various Kranzberg essays and books. In addition, much of Kranzberg's research results were delivered in a verbal format. Series 3: LECTURESHIPS is divided into three subseries, and not only details lectures and speeches delivered by Melvin Kranzberg, but also those given by his colleagues, and those delivered at the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars for Professional Journalists, which he organized.
Series 9: SPECIAL PROJECTS consists of materials relative to a number of projects of varying importance and duration, such as engineering and human values and ethics in an age of pervasive technology.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into nine series.
Series 1: Consultation and advisement, 1958-1987
Series 2: Correspondence, 1949-1988
Series 3: Lectureships and speeches, 1951-1988
Series 4: Biographical, 1934-1963
Series 5: Professional affiliations, 1961-1988
Series 6: Publications, 1942-1968
Series 7: Research subject files, 1940-1978
Series 8: Teaching and administration, 1947-1988
Series 9: Special projects, 1951-1980
Historical:
Kranzberg's Six Laws
As reported in the July 1986 Issue of Technology and Culture, Volume 27, Number 3, pages 544-561, Kranzberg's Six Laws are listed as follows in the SHOT Presidential Address.
"These are not laws in the sense of commandments but rather a series of truisms deriving from a longtime immersion in the study of the development of technology and its interactions with sociocultural change."
1.. Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.(p.545); 2. Invention is the mother of necessity, (p.548)
3. Technology comes in packages, big and small, (p. 549); 4. Although technology might be a prime element in many public issues, nontechnical factors take precedence in technology-policy decisions, (p. 550); 5. All history is relevant, but the history of technology is the most relevant, (p. 553); 6. Technology is a very human activity—and so is the history of technology, (p. 557); 7."But if ours is truly a man-made world, I claim that mankind can re-make it. And in that remaking process, the history of technology can play a very important role in enabling us to meet the challenges besetting mankind now and in the future."
Biographical:
Melvin Kranzberg (born St. Louis, Mo.) received his A.B. from Amherst College (1938), and his M.A. (1939) and Ph.D. (1942) in modern European history from Harvard University. When World War II commenced, Dr. Kranzberg went, with an Amherst professor, Charles W. Cole, to work at the Office of Price Administration in Washington, D. C. At that same time, he enlisted in the Signal Corps Reserve. Since he was regarded as "educable," he was sent for electronics training at Catholic University, and then to Johns Hopkins for a three-year course in electrical engineering that was crammed into sixteen weeks. Instead of receiving a commission, he was sent to Philco Radio Laboratories in Philadelphia for another three-month crash course, this one in radar.
By the end of his course of study, however, the Signal Corps no longer needed officers and he was put in the infantry. After basic training, he was assigned to the Army's Specialized Training Program. His language skills enabled him to engage in an intensive three-month study of Turkish. Since invasion of Turkey was not likely, he then entered a language program in German. This led to appointment in Military Intelligence, where he was charged with interrogating German POWs, often on the front lines. That assignment lasted from about September 1944 through the Battle of the Bulge, until the German surrender. He received three Battle Stars, a Combat Infantry Badge, and a Bronze Star. He was awarded honorary doctorates of letters (Litt. D.) by New Jersey Institute of Technology and Northern Michigan University, doctorates of engineering (D. Eng.) by Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Colorado School of Mines, and doctorates of humane letters (L.H.D.) by Denison University and Amherst College.
Dr. Kranzberg's major professional contribution has been the establishment of a new field of history: the history of technology. He was the principal founder of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), founding editor (1959-81) of its quarterly journal, Technology and Culture, and served as SHOT Secretary (1959-74) and President (1983-84).
A cofounder of ICOHTEC (International Committee for the History of Technology, a Scientific Section of the International Union for the History Science [UNESCO], he served as its vice-president from its inception in 1968. When he retired from that post at ICOHTEC'S 17th International Symposium (Hamburg, 1989), he was elected honorary president for life.
In 1979-1980 Dr. Kranzberg was national president of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (120,000 active members in 500 chapters and clubs). Over the years, he has been a Sigma Xi National Lecturer and has served on various committees of the honorary organization.
He was Chairman (1966, 1979) of Section L (History and Philosophy of Science) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Chairman (1978-81) of the AAAS Committee on Science Engineering, and Public Policy. From 1977-1980, he chaired the Advisory Committees of the Policy Research and Analysis (PRA) and Science Resources Studies (SRS) Divisions of the National Science Foundation (NSF). An original member (1964) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's History Advisory Committee (Chairman, 1966-71, 1984-87), he also served on NASA's National Advisory Council (1984-87).
In 1989, Dr. Kranzberg was elected to the newly founded Board of the National Association for Science, Technology, and Society (NASTS), an "umbrella organization for educators, scientists, engineers, public policy analysts, public interest groups, media, and individuals interested in the impact of scientific and technological development on society." At its 1992 Annual Technological Literacy Conference, Kranzberg was honored by being the initial recipient of a NASTS Honorary Lifetime Membership.
Other activities include: Vice-President, AAAS (1966); Chairman (1957-58), Humanistic-Social Division, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEEO; Vice-President (1959), Society for French Historical Studies; Trustee (1979-), Charles Babbage Foundation; and Chairman (1972-73), U.S. National Committee of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. He has served on the Technology Assessment Panel of the National Academy of Sciences and the NAS Committee on the Survey of Materials Science and Engineering, The National Research Council's Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer, and various advisory committees of the National Academy of Engineering.
Kranzberg has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of the following journals: Engineering Education; Science, Technology & Human Values; Knowledge in Society; History and Technology; and Research in Philosophy and Technology; and the "Inside Technology" book series of the MIT Press. In 1980, he coordinated the Course-by-Newspaper on "Energy and the Way We Live" with 400 newspapers and was awarded a $10,000 prize by the Academy for Educational Development. He was a TV commentator on the PBS "Connections" series and lectured throughout the world, including USIA tours to India, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
He has written or edited: The Siege of Paris, 1870-1871 (1950; reprinted 1970); 1848: A Turning Point? (1959, 14 printings); the two-volume
Technology in Western Civilization (1967; Japanese, 1976; Spanish, 1980); Technology and Culture: an Anthology (1972; Arabic, 1976; Spanish 1980); By the Sweat of Thy Brow: Work in the Western World (1975 [an alternate selection of the Fortune Book Club]; Italian, 1976); Technological Innovation: A Critical Review of Current Knowledge (1978); Energy and the Way We Live (1980); Ethics in an Age of Pervasive Technology (1980); Bridge to the Future: A Centennial Celebration of the Brooklyn Bridge (1984); Technological Education/Technological Style (1986); and Innovation at the Crossroads Between Science and Technology (1989). He is also the author of over 150 articles in encyclopedias, learned journals, and scholarly collections on topics in European history, engineering education, history of technology, science-technology policy, and science-technology-society interactions.
Dr. Kranzberg taught at Harvard, Stevens Institute of Technology, Amherst College, and Case Western Reserve University, where he established the first graduate program in the history of technology at an American university. From 1972 to 1988, he was Callaway Professor of the History of Technology at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). He is a member of the honorary societies Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Epsilon Pi Tau, and Phi Kappa Phi. His awards include: Leonardo da Vinci Medal, Society for the History of Technology (1968); Apollo Achievement Award, NASA (1969); Special Research Day Citation, Case Western Reserve University (1970); Special Recognition Award, American Industrial Arts Association (1978); and the Roe Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1980). Dr. Kranzberg was one of 100 Americans presented the State of Israel's Jabotinsky Centennial Medal (1980) for eminence in the sciences and letters, and was elected (1985) an Honorary Foreign Member of the Czechoslovak Society for the History of Science and Technology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1991, the Liberal Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education presented him its Olmsted Award for "outstanding contributions to engineering education by bringing the humanities and technology together for the mutual benefit of both." In November 1991, the Society for Social Studies of Science (SSSS) and the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) presented him the Bernal Award for "outstanding contributions to the social studies of science." At its 1994 meeting in Zaragoza, Spain, the prestigious International Academy of the History of Science elected Dr. Kranzberg to its membership.
The January-September 1976 issue (Vol. 12, Nos. 1-3) of Lex et Scientia (The International Journal of Law and Science) was devoted to Kranzberg's 1975 Mellon Lectures at Lehigh University, and the French Centre de Recherche sur la Culture Technique dedicated its June 1983 (No. 10) issue of Culture Technique to him. In 1985 The Society for the History of Technology and the MIT Press co-published John M. Staudenmaier's, Technology's Storytellers: Reweaving the Human Fabric as a "tribute" to him, and Lehigh University Press published (1989) Stephen H. Cutcliffe and Robert C. Post's, In Context; History and the History of Technology — Essays in Honor of Melvin Kranzbergr containing articles by major historians of technology.
When Dr. Kranzberg became emeritus in June 1988, the Georgia Tech Foundation established the Melvin Kranzberg Professorship in the History of Technology. The first occupant of this chair was Dr. Bruce Sinclair, former head of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto and a former student of Dr. Kranzberg. Dr. Melvin Kranzberg married tLouise Lester Clark.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Georgia Institute of Technology, through Dr. Melvin Kranzberg, August 24, 1988.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Collection stored off-site. Contact repository for details.
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:
Technology -- Societies, etc. -- 1930-1990 Search this
30 Cubic feet (2718 photographs: black and white; 448 glass lantern slides; 41 glass negatives; color records; plant patents; publications. )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Black-and-white photographs
Lantern slides
Photographs
Place:
Pennsylvania -- Harrisburg
Breeze Hill (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)
Date:
1899-1974
Summary:
The J. Horace McFarland Collection includes over 3,100 photographic images of private and public gardens throughout the United States, as well as some from foreign countries, dating from 1899 to 1963. Many of these images, generated for Mount Pleasant Press (later the J. Horace McFarland Company), were used to illustrate trade catalogs published by the firm as well as journal and newspaper articles. The collection also contains color records that were used as reference aids during the printing process, plant patents, and various publications of the McFarland Company.
Scope and Contents note:
The J. Horace McFarland Collection includes over 2,700 black and white mounted photographs, 448 glass lantern slides, and 41 glass plate negatives of gardens throughout the United States dating from 1899 to 1963. A small number of images show gardens in Austria, Canada, England, Mexico, Scotland and Wales. Many of the images, which were generated and used by the J. Horace McFarland Company to illustrate trade catalogs and journal and newspaper articles, indicate the publication(s) in which they appeared. A series of portraits of rosarians, many of them featured in Modern Roses 6, rounds out the image collection. The McFarland Collection also includes color records, plants patents, and miscellaneous publications. Color records are plant 'portraits' that were painted by McFarland Company staff artists in watercolor. They were referenced by the printing department in order to render illustrations of plants in colors as close to the originals as possible. The plant patents are patents for plants issued by the United States Patent Office. They include the plant name, source, filing and patent dates, patent number, and growth characteristics. Most are accompanied by a colored image of the plant identified in the patent. The miscellaneous publications are various pamphlets and booklets published by the J. Horace McFarland Company.
Dr. J. Horace McFarland (1859-1948) was an influential civic leader, author, publisher, horticulturist, and authority on roses. His printing company, Mount Pleasant Press (later the J. Horace McFarland Company), was based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It published many of the seed and nursery trade catalogs in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century and was one of the first to apply color processes to commercial print applications. J. Horace McFarland Company staffers photographed thousands of different gardens and plant specimens throughout the United States. These images were used to illustrate numerous nursery and seed catalogs, journals and books. Among its many services, the firm sold various themed lectures illustrated by sets of hand-colored glass lantern slides.
McFarland wrote over 200 articles in popular journals as well as a dozen books on roses and gardening. He served as the first president of the American Civic Association from 1904-1924 and led several local and national campaigns to protect communities and scenic areas from urban blight and overdevelopment including the city of Harrisburg and Niagara Falls. McFarland, who served as the president of the American Rose Society (1930-1932) and helped establish a standardized rose identification and registration method, used the gardens on his own 2.5 acre property in Harrisburg, "Breeze Hill," to test hundreds of varieties of roses and plant cultivars. "Breeze Hill" was used as the backdrop for many photographs taken by McFarland's firm.
Related Materials:
The Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania includes the J. Horace McFarland Company Records (Manuscript Group 453) and the J. Horace McFarland Papers (Manuscript Group 85).
The Historical Society of Dauphin County in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania includes the J. Horace McFarland Collection (MG 229).
Separated Materials note:
The Smithsonian Institution's Botany and Horticulture Library includes seed and nursery trade catalogs, books, and published materials from the J. Horace McFarland Company.
The United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland has various photographic images, nursery catalogs, publications and miscellaneous records from the J. Horace McFarland Company in its J. Horace McFarland Collection.
Provenance:
Donated in 1992 by James W. Walsh, who purchased the J. Horace McFarland Company from its founder's heirs. (The business was later renamed the Roebuck Printing Company.)
Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Rights:
For information or study purposes only. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
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:
Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: The First Transcontinental Flight Collection, NASM.2007.0004, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
