National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mathematics Search this
Extent:
0.6 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Dissertations
Notebooks
Proceedings
Publications
Promotional literature
Technical notes
Theses
Date:
1946-1959
Scope and Contents:
Dr. Worsley's papers include handwritten notebooks, loose notes, memoranda, reprints from her articles in professional journals, and copies of her theses written in fulfillment of the master's and doctor's degree, from MIT and the University of Cambridge, respectively. All of these papers deal with technical and theoretical problems of computer design. Also included are numerous manuals and descriptive materials about them--current models of computers manufactured by IBM and other producers; and proceedings of several conferences of computer specialists.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 2 series
Series 1: Notes/meeting announcements, 1946-1959
Series 2: Publications, 1947-1955
Biographical / Historical:
It represents personal papers of Dr. Beatrice H. Worsley and other documents. All are concerned with early development of automatic digital computers, circa 1946-1959.
Provenance:
Collection donated by The Department of Computing and Information Service, Queen's University, through Dr. Beatrice H. Worsley, 1971.
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.
Papers and photographs of Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) computer and Naval pioneer.
Scope and Contents:
The material includes technical notes, operating instructions and descriptions relating to projects which Hopper participated in at Harvard during and after World War II and later in the private sector. These projects involved the creation of the Navy's Mark I, II and III "mechanical calculators" (the fore runners of today's computers) and the UNIVAC and ENIAC civilian models. The photographs document both equipment and Hopper with her colleagues at work and on social occasions. There are numerous published articles and memoranda by Hopper and others on various technical aspects of computers. Clippings of newspaper and magazine articles relating to computers and their development are also included, as well as periodicals and brochures. A "humor file" contains jokes and anecdotes collected by Hopper.
Much of the material is annotated by Hopper, primarily through notations on 3 x 5 white slips of paper. Some of the annotations by Elizabeth Luebbert, who served as a summer research assistant in the Museum's Computer History Project.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into eleven series.
Series 1: Technical Documents, 1944-1949
Series 2: Photographs of Mark II, 1948
Series 3: Photographs at Harvard, 1944-1945
Series 4: Reports and Articles, 1946-1948
Series 5: Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, 1949-1965
Series 6: Compiling Routines, 1952-1954
Series 7: Press Clippings, 1944-1953
Series 8: Periodicals and Brochures, 1950-1953
Series 9: Humor file, 1944-1953
Series 10: Machine Tape, undated
Series 11: Audiovisual Materials, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) obtained her Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale University in 1934. She was an associate professor of mathematics at Vassar College
when she joined the Women's Reserve of the United States Navy, Women Accepted
for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in 1944 and was assigned to the computing project at Harvard University. She served under Commander Howard H. Aiken as a Wave until 1946, and remained at Harvard's Computation Laboratory as a research fellow until 1949. In that year she joined the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation as a senior mathematician. When Eckert-Mauchly became a division of Remington Rand, Hopper remained as senior programmer, a title she retained until 1959. Subsequently, she served as systems engineer and director of automatic programming development (1959-1964) and staff scientist in systems programming (1964-1971) for the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand Corporation. Hopper retired from UNIVAC in 1972, having returned to active service in the U.S. Navy from which she eventually retired with the rank of Rear Admiral.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center
Computer Oral History Collection (AC0196)
This collection contains five oral history interviews with Grace Murray Hopper conducted on: July 1, 1968;
November 1, 1968; January 7, 1969; February 4, 1969; and July 5, 1972.
Provenance:
Grace Murray Hopper donated her materials to the National Museum of American History, Section of Mathematics in 1967 and 1968. The majority of the collection was donated through the Museum's Computer Oral History Project in 1972.
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.
