The collection documents Elliott's work in developing the SpectraSpan Spectrometer and related technologies including the use of echelle gratings and argon plasmas with the spectrometer. It also documents his companies, SpectraMetrics, and Elliott Laboratories. The collection contains correspondence; photographs, including lantern slides; business and financial records; writings; laboratory notes; internal company reports; user's manuals; patents and patent-related papers; and publications and printed materials.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
William G. Elliott was an engineer who, in 1966, founded SpectraMetrics, which developed and marketed the SpectraSpan echelle spectrometer. He later sold SpectraMetrics, and founded Elliott Laboratories in 1972.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Mark Elliott.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
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 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 filmMeteor. 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.
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.
Papers documenting William R. Stone's involvement in the invention and development of the microwave for industrial and home use. The collection includes biographical information; patents, and other invention related papers; photographs; design drawings; internal company papers and memoranda; Stone's research and reports, especially on the subject of microwave safety; and trade literature relating to products for both industrial and home use.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Stone was an engineer for Raytheon. He was involved in the invention and development of microwave ovens for industrial uses, such as for ink drying, rubber vulcanization, and later for home use.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2014 by Robin Hoffman, William Stone's daughter.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
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 Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project is the result of a two-year effort supported in part by a gift from Philip Morris, Inc. Sixty oral history interviews and a variety of television commercials, print advertising, promotional materials, packaging, and industry publications were gathered to document Marlboro cigarette advertising. The bulk of the collection focuses on the period between 1954 and 1986, and examines the "Marlboro man", "Settle Back" and "Marlboro Country" campaigns. The collection is a rich source of information for researchers interested in advertising and marketing history, issues of smoking and health, and the export of both tobacco and American cultural symbols abroad.
The core of the collection is a series of interviews conducted during 1985-1987 by Dr. Scott Ellsworth, an independent scholar and oral historian. The broad range of interviewees included executives of Philip Morris, advertising agency personnel from Leo Burnett, photographers, production staff, sales and marketing personnel, and Marlboro cowboys.
Twenty-seven interviews were conducted overseas, in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and West Germany. Conducted primarily with Marlboro licensee and affiliate staff, the interviews focus on the marketing and advertising history of Marlboro in the six nations. These interviews and others conducted with executives of Philip Morris International in New York City also address the history of Marlboro advertising in Africa, the Middle East, China, Eastern Europe and elsewhere in Europe and Latin America.
The interviews cover events from the 1930s through the 1980s. They focus on the theory and development of Marlboro advertising, its content and creation, and its modifications over the years. The foreign interviews also discuss the structure of the local cigarette marketplace, marketing and advertising techniques, and the use and modification of Marlboro advertising for different cultures.
Finding aids to the oral histories include abstracts of each interview indicating the major topic discussed, a cumulative index to personal names and topics in the interviews, and brief biographical and scope notes.
Arrangement:
Dthe collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Research Files, 1943-1987
Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1986
Series 3; Oral History Interviews, 1986
Series 4: Advertising Materials, 1926-1986
Series 5: Promotional items and packaging, 1926-1986
Series 6: Publications and Research Material, 1960-1988
Series 7: Travel Slides Generated by Project Team, 1926-1986
Biographical / Historical:
The history of Marlboro cigarettes offers insight into one of the great advertising and marketing success stories of the 20th century. Marlboro cigarettes were marketed from the Victorian era through the first half of this century as a women's cigarette, with tag-lines that aimed to appeal to female smokers, such as "Marlboro - Mild As May." In 1955, two transformations occurred which would affect both profitability and brand recognition: the addition of an integrated filter and the re-invention of the market through the debut of the "Marlboro Man" advertising campaign. The original Marlboro Man campaign featured close-up images of all kinds of men using the product -- the cowboy was one, along with lifeguards, sailors, drill sergeants, construction workers, gamblers and other types suggestive of a masculine spirit and rugged independence. By 1963, the "Marlboro Country" campaign began. This campaign focused on the cowboy and his symbolic canon: boots, hats, horses, and western landscapes. By the mid-1980s, Marlboro was the best-selling brand in the United States and the world, and the Marlboro cowboy was among the most widely recognized of American cultural symbols. Sold in over 180 nations, both the cigarettes and the ad campaign had become a global phenomena.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Philip Morris, Inc. in 1986.
Restrictions:
The materials in the Marlboro Collection are made available for research according to the established practices and principles of the Archives Center and the National Museum of American History.
Rights:
In making these materials available for research, the Smithsonian Institution makes no claims of ownership of the copyrights or related rights. All responsibility for infringement of legal authorship rights and or copyright is assumed by the user of the materials. In addition, the user indemnifies and holds harmless the Smithsonian Institution for all claims, actions, damages, judgments and expenses that may result from use of these materials.
In addition, the donor has imposed restrictions on reproduction or broadcast of collection materials by third parties. The reproduction or broadcast of print ads and television commercials in the collection is subject to prior written consent from: Nancy Lund, Vice President, Marketing,Philip Morris International, 120 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017;(917) 663-5000
Papers relating to the development of the flexible drinking straw, Friedman's manufacturing company, and Friedman's other inventions, such as an ice cream scoop, fountain pens, and household appliances.
Scope and Contents:
Papers relating to the development of the flexible drinking straw, Friedman's manufacturing company, and Friedman's other inventions, such as an ice cream scoop, fountain pens, and household appliances. Includes company ledgers, preliminary sketches, blueprints, correspondence, a video cassette, and photographs.
The Joseph B. Friedman Papers encompass the years 1915-2000, with the bulk of the material ranging between 1925 and 1965. This collection is a near complete source for the understanding inventive process of an American entrepreneur. In the case of the flexible straw, the evolution of the invention can be traced from early concept drawings through its manufacture and production, to the development of advertising and marketing materials. Records of necessary design modifications in the flexible straw and legal issues concerning Friedman's invention through its various stages are present here. In addition to providing a detailed linear account of the flexible straw, these papers reflect the varied interests and additional accomplishments of Friedman's invention career. The collection is arranged in three series to reflect the subjects of the material, namely personal papers, invention materials, and corporate records. Materials within each series are arranged by topic and type, and then chronologically.
Series 1: Personal Records (c.1920s-1940) contains family photographs, personal correspondence, education and employment records. Friedman's education records are in Subseries A, while the records of his careers in optometry, insurance and real estate are contained in Subseries B. Subseries C contains personal financial records, including bank statements and income tax returns. Correspondence, photographs, family history items and death certificate are located in Subseries D.
Series 2: Invention & Patent Materials (1915-1967) consists of invention records that include original concept drawings, legal records and patents, marketing correspondence, and the business records of Friedman's sole proprietorship invention business, the Commercial Research Company. It is important for researchers to note that information on the assignment of straw patents and their machinery, all associated legal records to those specific issues, as well as patent defense case research, and straw advertising and marketing after 1938 may be found in Series 3. Series 2 is divided into several subseries. Subseries A - I are patented inventions arranged chronologically by patent issue date, and include research and development, legal records and correspondence, and advertising and marketing materials. Subseries J - M contain unpatented inventions and business records, as well as multiple concept drawings and invention lists that refer to both patented and unpatented inventions. Researchers interested in the conceptual development of the straw should review the information contained not only in Subseries E: Drinking Tube and Subseries H: Flexible Straw, but also in Subseries L: Invention Lists & Drawings for straw ideas that were drawn on lists or sketches with other concepts. Additionally, researchers interested in the manufacturing device for the straw should review Subseries I: Apparatus & Method for Forming Corrugations in Tubing, as well as Subseries K: Unpatented Inventions, for the Flexible Straw & Method of Forming Same information.
Series 3: Flex-Straw Corporate Records (1938 - 1967) includes correspondence relating to the company and its formation, financial statements, tax returns, legal documents, patent assignments, royalty information, patent defense case research and records, and documents pertaining to the advertising and marketing of the flexible straw. Researchers should note that all conceptual and developmental details relating to the straw and its manufacture, as well as the original patents and their specifically associated legal correspondence can be found in Series 2. Series 3 is divided into several topically arranged subseries. Subseries A consists of the organizational materials for the company, including the minutes, by-laws and limited employee records. This subseries also contains two day books belonging to Joseph B. Friedman recording his appointments and personal notes from 1947 and 1950. Subseries B includes company related correspondence, organized by the correspondent. It begins with general correspondence, from 1939 - 1963, and continues with the letters of Bert Klein (1945 - 1950), David Light & Harry Zavin (1938 - 1962), and Betty Friedman (1940 - 1954). Much of the operational information on the company may be found in the letters Betty Friedman wrote and received from her brother. Subseries C holds the financial records of the company, including financial statements, ledgers, bank statements, check books, tax returns and royalty statements. Subseries D consists of legal records and correspondence, including such topics as changes in entity type, patent assignments, fair trade agreements and patent defense. Subseries E contains the advertising and marketing records of the company. This includes published material relating to the Flex-Straw specifically, as well as some advertising for flexible straws in general. Pencil concept drawings of Flex-Straw packaging and advertising art are drawn on the reverse of Pette calendar pages, and international advertising materials for the product are also present. Product testimonials, distributor bulletins, and corporate letterhead that traces the progression of company locations can also be found here.
Arrangement:
The collection is ivided into three series.
Series 1: Personal Records, circa 1920s-1940
Series 2: Invention and Patent Materials, 1915-1967
Series 3: Flex-Straw Corporate Records, 1938-1969
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph B. Friedman (1900 - 1982) was an independent American inventor with a broad range of interests and ideas. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 9, 1900, Joseph was a first generation American and the fifth of eight children for Jacob Friedman and Antoinette Grauer Friedman. By the age of fourteen, he had conceptualized his first invention, the "pencilite" lighted pencil, and was attempting to market his idea. Over the course of his inventing career, he would experiment with ideas ranging from writing implements to engine improvements, and household products to sound and optic experiments. He was issued nine U.S. patents and held patents in Great Britain, Australia and Canada. His first patent was issued for improvements to the fountain pen on April 18, 1922, (U.S. patent #1,412,930). This was also the first invention that he successfully sold, to Sheaffer Pen Company in the mid 1930s. In the 1920s, Friedman began his education in real estate and optometry. He would use both of these careers at different points in his life to supplement his income while improving his invention concepts. Although he was working as a realtor in San Francisco, California, the 1930s proved to be his most prolific patenting period, with six of his nine U.S. patents being issued then. One of these patents would prove to be his most successful invention - the flexible drinking straw.
While sitting in his younger brother Albert's fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw. He took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations. After removing the screw, the altered paper straw would bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages. U.S. patent #2,094,268 was issued for this new invention under the title Drinking Tube, on September 28, 1937. Friedman would later file and be issued two additional U.S. patents and three foreign patents in the 1950s relating to its formation and construction. Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself.
The Flexible Straw Corporation was incorporated on April 24, 1939 in California. However, World War II interrupted Friedman's efforts to construct his straw manufacturing machine. During the war, he managed the optometry practice of Arthur Euler, O.D., in Capwells' Department Store in Oakland, California, and continued to sell real estate and insurance to support his growing family. Joseph obtained financial backing for his flexible straw machine from two of his brothers-in-law, Harry Zavin and David Light, as well as from Bert Klein, a family associate. With their financial assistance, and the business advice of his sister Betty, Friedman completed the first flexible straw manufacturing machine in the late 1940s. Although his original concept had come from the observation of his daughter, the flexible straw was initially marketed to hospitals, with the first sale made in 1947.
Betty Friedman played a crucial role in the development of the Flexible Straw Corporation. While still living in Cleveland and working at the Tarbonis Company, she corresponded regularly with her brother and directed all of the sales and distribution of the straw. In 1950 Friedman moved his family and company to Santa Monica, California. Now doing business as the Flex-Straw Co., sales continued to increase and the marketing direction expanded to focus more strongly on the home and child markets. Betty moved west in 1954 to assume her formal leadership role in the corporation. Additional partners and investors were added over time, including Art Shapiro, who was initially solicited as a potential buyer of the patent. On June 20, 1969, the Flexible Straw Corporation sold its United States and foreign patents, United States and Canadian trademarks, and licensing agreements to the Maryland Cup Corporation. The Flexible Straw Corporation dissolved on August 19, 1969.
Dr. Joseph Bernard Friedman died on June 21, 1982. He was survived by his wife of over 50 years, Marjorie Lewis Friedman, his four children Judith, Linda, Pamela and Robert, and seven grandchildren
Separated Materials:
"Straw samples and an original dispensing device (ice cream disher) are located in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).
A mandrel prototype from the original flexible straw manufacturing machine is held by the Division of Work and Industry."
Provenance:
Daughters Judith B. Rosen, Linda A. Reiss and Pamela B. Leeds, and son Robert A. Friedman donated this collection and its related artifacts to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History on May 1, 2001.
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.
Watson, Paul Gristock, 1900-1966 (naval officer) Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sales catalogs
Technical literature
Correspondence
Photographs
Date:
1960-1965
Summary:
The collection documents the early development of radio apparatus.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of five loose leaf binders labeled Historical Notes Concerning the Invention and Early Development of the Electron Tube. The binders contain articles reproduced by Watson from the diaries and publications of several radio developers as well as chapters written by Watson himself. Concentrating most heavily on Lee de Forest's invention of the "audion" electrolytic receiver and amplifier between 1902 and 1907, Watson narrates the story of the electron vacuum tube. The three-electrode tube patented by de Forest combined all of the technology of Edison and Marconi into an extremely efficient and high-frequency-producing radio device. After 1915 transmissions through the air from Arlington, Virginia to both San Francisco and the Eiffel Tower, the age of the electron vacuum tube had arrived. Several companies sought rights to its development, and Watson's combination of personal insight and original material brings order to these early days of wireless communication.
The collection also includes a one-volume book on the Arlington, Virginia radio transmitter; a five volume study of the electron tube's development; and a folder of miscellaneous materials. The single volume is a 1965 work which tells the story of the National Electric Signaling Company (NESCO) and Naval involvement at the Arlington short wave radio transmission station. Built in 1909 by NESCO, this station was originally equipped with a huge 100 kilowatt spark transmitter in an effort to concentrate all Atlantic Naval communication and to provide a means of directly signaling the West Coast. A more effective and compact kilowatt arc or "continuous wave" transmitter was added in 1913, and in 1924 several vacuum tube transmitters superseded both former types. This work is the story of that transition.
The five volume set contains an overview of wireless development throughout the twenties and beginning with the vacuum tube development. The first volume discusses de Forest's life's work, the manufacture of his "audions", General Electric radio-receiving tube progress, and selected quotes from de Forest's letters to Watson. The second volume narrates Watson's experience with amateur radio, radio in the U.S. Navy, early radio organizations, and General Electric and Westinghouse developments. The third volume provides a list of brand names and manufacturers of electron tubes and a series of photographs of Watson's personal tube collection. The fourth volume develops de Forest's pre-"audion" days and discusses his company's line of radio equipment. The fifth and final volume contains a catalogue of Marconi brand equipment and several illustrated chapters on naval radio in World War I, including the 1915 Arlington experiments. The miscellaneous materials consists of one folder of advertisements for various radio vacuum tube manufacturers and complete photographs of Watson's private tube collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Watson (1900-1966) was a retired naval commander and collector of electron tubes and material documenting them.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
George H. Clark Collection of Radioana (AC0055)
Materials at the National Museum of American History
Electron tubes related to Watson are in the Division of Work and Industry.
Provenance:
No acquisition paperwork is extant.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.
The collection consists of photocopied American, Japanese, German, and French patents; photocopied articles, advertisements, news releases, user manuals, buyer's guides, company analyses, technical references, and an oversize timeline documenting the history and development of cellular phones and related wireless devices.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of photocopied American, Japanese, German, and French patents; photocopied articles, advertisements, news releases, user manuals, buyer's guides, company analyses, technical references, and an oversize timeline. The collection provides documentation for 79 artifacts—including telephone answering machines, cellular phones, and related wireless devices—which Henderson donated to the museum's Electrical Collections holdings. Compiled by Henderson to accompany the artifacts, the materials document the history and development of cellular phones and related wireless devices. The materials are arranged into twelve series and reflect the original order in which Henderson created them. Henderson assembled books/binders of material with numeric dividers. There is no index nor is there a key to the four-letter alphabetical acronyms used in books four, eight and nine.
Series 1, Book One, 1977-1994; Series 2, Book Two, 1978-1995; and Series 3, Book Three, 1978-1995, contain photocopied American patents.
Series 4, Book Four, 1992-2002, is comprised of photocopied American patents divided into two separate arrangements: numerically from 300 to 363, and by four-letter code from DDTQ-DDUE.
Series 5, Book Five, 1979-2002, is comprised of photocopied American, French, German, and Japanese photocopied patents.
Series 6, Book Six, 1990-1995, consists of photocopied materials that include a Magic Cap catalog, a General Magic information pamphlet, English and Japanese articles, advertisements, press releases, buyer's guides, Telecomworldwire news releases, Telocator Network Paging Protocall (October 20, 1993), and Telocator Data Protocall (June 12, 1993).
Series 7, Book Seven, 1992-1995, includes a Telocator Alphanumeric Protocall (July 21, 1994), several technical references, articles, user's manuals, advertisements, Telecomworldwire news releases, and technical references.
Series 8, Book Eight, 1981-2002, is divided into sections according to four-letter codes. In the attached container listing, the files are arranged and listed according to Henderson's original order. Materials include photocopied articles, news releases, advertisements, and user manuals.
Series 9, Book Nine, 1991-2002, is divided into sections according to four-letter codes. In the attached container listing, the files are arranged and listed according to Henderson's original order, followed by unlabeled materials. The first two folders have coded labels; the last three do not. Records in Book Nine are comprised of photocopied articles, news releases, and buyer's guides, in addition to company analyses for WORLDCOM and Sprint.
Series 10, Book Ten, 1991-2002, is comprised of unlabeled materials including articles, advertisements, and news releases, in addition to a photocopy of US patent # 3,727,003.
Series 11, Book I-II, 1968-2002, is divided into sections according to four-letter codes which are dated and arranged chronologically. In the attached container listing, the files are arranged and listed according to Henderson's original order. Materials are comprised of color computer prints of significant people and devices; and photocopies of patents, articles, and advertisements. CD-ROM 875.3 contains some of the articles in PDF format.
Series 12, Timeline, 1968-2002, consists of the Converged Wireless Communications / Computing Device Development timeline which traces the chronological development of portable electronic devices. The oversized chart measures 90" by 50" and begins with the first answering machine and ends with "Smart Phones." The timeline includes scanned images of inventors, patents, advertisements, devices, and textual information. Copies of the time line in PDF format are available on CD ROMS 875.1-2.
Information from the above historical note came primarily from the PhoneTel Communications website located at http://www.phonetel.com.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into twelve series.
Series 1, Book One, 1977-1994
Series 2, Book Two, 1978-1995
Series 3, Book Three, 1978-1995
Series 4, Book Four, 1992-2002
Series 5, Book Five, 1979-2002
Series 6, Book Six, 1990-1995
Series 7, Book Seven, 1992-1995
Series 8, Book Eight, 1981-2002
Series 9, Book Nine, 1991-2002
Series 10, Book Ten, 1991-2002
Series 11, Book I-II, 1968-2002
Series 12, Timeline materials, 1968-2002
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Kazuo Hashimoto, widely recognized as the father of the modern answering machine, was an inspired technologist who developed thousands of advancements in the field of telephony. Hashimoto registered over 1000 patents throughout the world, over 800 of which are related to the telephone answering device. In 1993, inventor Daniel Henderson became an apprentice of Hashimoto and worked with him on licensing, management issues, and infringement analysis. After Hashimoto's death in August 1995, Henderson turned his attention to ensuring that Hashimoto's work would be respected in the telecommunications and computer industries. In 1996, Henderson and Hashimoto's widow co-founded PhoneTel Communications, a company dedicated to protecting the patent portfolios of inventors including Hashimoto. By successfully licensing with nearly every telecommunications and computer company, Henderson made sure Hashimoto's work was respected and rewarded.
Henderson has broad experience in the creation, management, and licensing of intellectual property. He also holds numerous patents in telephony and communications. Henderson was formerly with IBM Corporation and received the "Distinguished Alumnus Award" from Southern Oregon University. Henderson worked with Jack Kilby, who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000 for the invention of the world's first integrated circuit (IC) chip. At the time this collection was donated, Henderson presided over several companies including PhoneTel Patent Services, PhoneTel Communications, and Pinpoint Incorporated. Henderson's many ties to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) include establishing the PhoneTel IE Inventions and Patents Fund, the PhoneTel Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund, and involvement in creating a new course entitled "Inventions and Patents." He was the commencement speaker when NJIT first presented the Hashimoto Prize in 1998.
Separated Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry (formerly the Division of Information, Technology and Society) holds artifacts, such as telephone answering machines, cell phones and related wireless devices related to this collection. See accession # 2003.0095.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by Daniel Henderson on April 25, 2003.
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.
Topic:
Telephone answering and recording equipment industry Search this
The records of Safko International, Inc., document an assistive computer technology company created by Lon S. Safko to produce and sell the environmental control systems he invented for the physically disabled, specifically quadriplegics. Through the use of a computer and alternative input devices, the physically disabled were able to overcome physical barriers which inhibited them from attaining an autonomous lifestyle.
Scope and Contents:
Spanning 1984 to 1998, the Safko International, Inc. Records are divided into seven series and consist of approximately 12.6 cubic feet. Collectively these series document the routine affairs of Safko International, Inc., a company created for the production and distribution of the assistive technology inventions of Lon S. Safko from its formation in 1986 to its dissolution in 1995. During the lifespan of this company there was a growing awareness of and sensitivity towards disability issues within American society. Two significant events associated with this change in American society, were the American with Disabilities Act, 1993, and Christopher Reeve's riding accident in 1995, documented within this collection. In addition to documenting the intersection of American society with the assistive technology field, this collection documents how one man's vision of society and that of his company, in conjunction with perseverance and sacrifices, can transform the lives of individuals such as Franklin Halwood and Liz Jimenez. Lastly, this collection documents the evolution of assistive technology devices to provide for the specific needs of the physically and cognitively disabled.
Executive Records, 1986-1998, is approximately 3.6 cubic feet of documents, the majority of which are correspondence and reports. Other documents include: business cards, faxes, form letters, printed emails, brochures, check stubs, invoices, photocopied newspaper and magazine clippings, blank applications, memoranda, license agreements, scrap paper notes, promotional materials, private placement memoranda, annual reports of other corporations, resumes, receipts, deposit slips, meeting notes, directories, press releases, stock listings, maps, non-disclosure covenants, organizational charts, airline ticket stubs, by-laws, stock certificates, and stock warrants. This series is subdivided into eight subseries, each documenting the operational affairs of Safko International, Inc.
Files within the first subseries, Corporate history and formation, provide background information on the incorporation of Safko International, Inc. and its reformation as Synosure, Inc. in 1996. Other files contain documents listing employees and their positions, biographical sketches, facts about the company and products produced, corporate structuring, and Safko International, Inc.'s by-laws. Files found within the second subseries, Administration, contain operational records, the majority of which deal with the company's relationship with its employees. The third subseries, Correspondence, also deals with operational issues, such as recycling and preparing for conferences. Note that correspondence is found throughout the collection, not just in this subseries. Safko filed most correspondence by names and topics, but correspondence found within this subseries was labeled general correspondence and arranged by year. The next subseries, Business plans, are of drafts and final copies of reports that were revised every two years providing information about officers, legal and financial advisors, descriptions of the SenSei system and its market potential, its business and marketing strategies, foreign business relations, cash flow, distribution, sales history, restructuring strategy, its reseller status of other computer products, and pilot projects. The fifth subseries, Minutes, is comprehensive in coverage except for the period between 1990 and 1992. The most information about company decisions and discussions made at these meetings can be found in the minutes spanning 1992 to 1995.
The next two subseries, Board of Directors and Personnel, are not comprehensive in coverage and contain very few documents. Also, files for some of the employees and Board of Directors are not found within these subseries. Employee files include: Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer (Safko), SenSei Program Director (Martindale), Marketing Assistant (Montgomery), Computer programmer (Hirota), Chief Executive Officer and President after Safko resigned (Schembs), Vice President of Sales and Marketing (Zinn), Vice President of Sales and Marketing (Bowman), and Director of Sales (Owen). Within the two files about Safko is correspondence of a personal nature, his biographical sketch, and curriculum vitae. The final subseries, Business relationships, contains files about individuals and companies whose relationship to Safko International, Inc. was unclear or who had a relationship with the company that covered many areas of business. For instance, although Westinghouse Investment Management Company invested in other businesses, it had a "non-financial" interest in Safko International, Inc. Another example is the Apple Corporation, which provided technical support for Apple Computers that Safko International, Inc. resold, but it also marketed Safko's SenSei System in its Aisle 17 publication.
Financial Records 1987-1998, is approximately 1.3 cubic feet of documents, the majority of which are spreadsheets and reports about the company's financial status and correspondence with companies and individuals about investment opportunities. Other documents include: form letters, faxes, financial charts, resumes, memoranda, confidential summary memoranda, executive summaries, photocopied checks, photocopied newspaper clippings, handwritten notes, financial spreadsheets, stock warrants, agendas, private offering memoranda, confidential summary memoranda, drafts and final copies of financial statements, deposit slips, and business cards. This series is subdivided into four subseries, each documenting the fiscal difficulties that Safko International, Inc. encountered and its strategy for overcoming these difficulties.
The first subseries, Bookkeeping, includes records of liabilities, assets, expenses, inventories, payroll, stock transaction history, plans for preventing bankruptcy, and auditing procedures. The other three subseries deal specifically with the pursuit of Safko International, Inc. for financial assistance. The distinction between the third and fourth subseries is significant. The third subseries, Investors, documents individuals and companies that invested in Safko International, Inc. through loans or purchases of stock. The fourth subseries, includes files of individuals and companies from whom Safko requested financial assistance, but either rejected Safko's plea outright or never responded. It may be that some of these files are of companies and individuals that did in fact invest in Safko International, Inc., but there is no documentation within the files themselves to identify these individuals and companies as investors.
Legal Records, 1986-1997, is approximately 1.5 cubic feet of documents, the bulk of which is correspondence. Other documents in this series include: reports, licenses, payment vouchers, receipts, court summons, memoranda, photocopied newspaper clippings and magazine articles, newsletters, business proposals, faxes, promotional flyers for other products, brochures, meeting minutes, agreements, business cards, thirteen 5.25" computer diskettes, fourteen 3.5" computer disks, and phone messages. This series is divided into five subseries, each documenting the attempts of Safko International, Inc. to protect itself and its product.
The first subseries, Poor mans' patents, are packets of certified mail that Lon S. Safko sent to himself from 1986 to 1994 to provide proof of his status as the inventor of SoftVoice and other assistive technology devices. The second subseries, Legal documents, provide background information about the SenSei trademark and copyright application process. It also includes proof for the status of Safko International, Inc. as a legitimate and registered company having been granted the authority to conduct business. The third subseries, Legal representation and counsel, are files of documents created in the course of business between Safko International, Inc. and its various legal representatives pertaining to specific issues including: advice about copyrights and compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, capitalization, liability insurance program, loan and stock agreements, personal service agreements, pledge agreements, a prospective business venture with the Saudi Amoudi Group, articles of incorporation, and dissolutions. Most of the issues discussed within this subseries are administrative or financial.
The fourth subseries, Disputes, deals with legal battles that do not appear to have reached litigation. Documentation can be found about the contractual relationship with the Austin McDaniel Corporation and its subsequent dissolution, a challenge to the intellectual property copyright to "SenSei," Safko International, Inc.'s payment in arrears to other businesses, and the attempt of a board member to seek financial compensation from the company. The final subseries, Research file, is background research into the legal ramifications of the American with Disabilities Act, possible copyright infringements by other companies, copyright status of companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Motorola and their relationship to Safko International, Inc., information on how to deal with software licenses, and incoming and outgoing correspondence with software creators asking for their permission to incorporate their inventions as a part of the SenSei system.
Research Development, and Production Records, 1984-1996, is approximately one cubic foot of documents. It includes: correspondence, promotional materials, catalogs, drawings, photocopied newspaper clippings and magazine articles, manuals, circuit board diagrams, receipts, newsletter, brochures, six 3.5" computer disks, seventeen 5.25" computer floppy diskettes, invoices, faxes, business cards, agreements, photographs, fact sheets, and labels. This series is divided into five subseries, each documenting the revisions and adaptations of SoftVoice and the SenSei System for marketability purposes.
The first subseries, SoftVoice, consists of seventeen 5.25" computer floppy diskettes and some documents. The only documents found within this subseries are in two files, the majority of which are in the SoftVoice telephone file. In contrast, the second subseries, SenSei, consists mostly of documents and only one 3.5" computer disk. Among this subseries are files providing information on other complimentary products that Safko resold as a part of the SenSei System, instructions for installers and users of the system, adaptations of the system to meet particular needs, and information on suppliers, unit costs and suggested retail prices. As a part of the third subseries are five 3.5" computer disks. The strength of this subseries is its documentation of the Siptroller. The fourth subseries, Proprietary relationships, documents the pursuit of and/or actual relationship between Safko International, Inc. and other companies involved in selling, manufacturing, and/or distributing assistive technology devices. Depending on the individual needs of the client, Safko International, Inc. offered and sometimes sold these hardware devices and software programs as a part of the SenSei System. Ways in which the system was or could have been adapted through proprietary relationships include: establishing fire alarm and medical alert systems, programming languages, graphics, European modifications, word prediction software, iconic keyboards, and alternative input devices. The final subseries, Research concerning product development, is like the aforementioned subseries, but there is no documentation to prove that the companies contained within this subseries ever had a proprietary relationship with Safko International, Inc. In fact, within this subseries are files about companies that competed with Safko International, Inc. in the field of voice recognition and imitation. A third aspect of this subseries is that it contains research on technologies, like virtual reality, which were ways in which the SenSei system could be enhanced. This subseries contains documentation of Safko International, Inc.'s involvement in pilot studies to assess how assistive technology devices and systems like SenSei can make a difference in the work field.
Marketing, Publicity, and Sales Records, 1986-1996, is approximately 3.1 cubic feet of documents, including: correspondence, faxes, memoranda, drafts and final copies of agreements, reports, press releases, advertisements, fact sheets, agendas, photocopied newspaper clippings and magazine articles, transcripts, photographs, award applications, diagrams, annual reports, business cards, presentation outlines, notes, delivery slips, invoices, inventory lists, and diagrams. This series is divided into twelve subseries, each documenting an important part Safko International, Inc's. efforts to sell and create public awareness of their products. Also documented is that Safko International, Inc's. marketing to hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and consultants, nursing homes, insurance companies, government agencies, and individuals through mailings, advertisements, telephone calls, and personal relationships.
The first subseries, Product and company information, contains documents that are similar to those in the first subseries of Executive Records. The main difference is that these files are not the master copies. Also, very few files of this subseries actually focus on company history; the majority are documents created to assist individuals, other businesses, and company employees in providing background information about the product, finding funding to purchase a system, and understanding how the SenSei System works. The second subseries, Sales records, provides information on sales transactions. Some of the delivery slips and invoices within this subseries are also located in client files. The third subseries, Marketing agencies and agents, documents the relationship Safko International, Inc. had with public relations agencies. Of all the subseries, this is the one with the majority of information. It reveals the techniques the company and its public relations agents used in trying to initiate contact with other individuals and companies. For instance, there is detailed information about the construction of promotional materials along with timelines and progress reports assessing the work of the marketing agents in meeting the needs of Safko International, Inc. The fourth subseries, Promotional materials, contain documents whose purpose was to sell the Sensei system and other assistive technology inventions created by Lon S. Safko. Unlike the first subseries, Product and company information, the purpose of these documents was to persuade prospective customers. The fifth subseries, Advertisements and publicity, records publicity garnered through magazines, newspapers, video, television, and radio. The sixth subseries, Awards, documents publicity of a different sort. It documents the recognition Lon S. Safko and his inventions received for benefiting society. Within this subseries, one of the files documents the creation of a museum display at the Arizona Science Center. In addition to creating public awareness of the SenSei System, this series documents the training of sales representatives, sales transactions, and distribution.
The seventh subseries, Sales representatives' materials consist of documents used to assist in training the representatives. The eighth subseries, Sales representatives, is of files organized according to the name of the representative. Besides invoices for sales transactions, these files also contain agreements outlining responsibilities, a listing of who to go to for answers to legal questions, information on conventions, and definitions of pertinent medical terms necessary for a sales representative to know. Note that not all files are comprehensive or provide the same kinds of information. The ninth subseries, Conferences and demonstrations, are of presentations given by Safko International, Inc. to inform others about their products and to build relationships with other companies. Representatives of Safko International, Inc. attended to learn from other companies. One such conference was an Innovative Thinking Conference, in which the attendees were involved in brainstorming new marketing ideas.
The tenth subseries, Distribution, documents the expansion of the SenSei System into domestic and foreign markets. Included is background information about various companies and markets, agreements made with other companies, and the process for buying back equipment that distributors were unable to sell. The eleventh subseries, Prospective clients and business contacts, are files for which there is no definitive relationship built with Safko International, Inc. Within these files are letters to prospective clients asking to give them a demonstration, or letters of appreciation for a demonstration given, but no evidence of a follow-up.
Some of the files are of contacts initiated with marketing agencies or distributors that do not appear to have developed into an actual relationship. The last subseries, clients, is composed mostly of invoices and correspondence pertaining to the purchase or lease of SenSei Systems by school districts, individuals, churches, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities. Information about: who the product was shipped to, the cost, representatives or distribution companies responsible for the sale, notes of adaptations to the system for individual needs, assessments by consultants, brief history of some of the individuals who purchased the systems, installation notes, and problems they encountered are found here. Like other files found elsewhere, this subseries is not comprehensive. Many files only include the invoices, but others include more information.
Photographs and Scrapbooks, 1987-1995, is approximately 0.9 cubic feet. Contained are: photographs, negatives, pins, thank you notes, photocopied newspaper clippings, agendas, programs, calendars, memoranda, correspondence, mailers, exhibitor ribbons, stickers, and newsletters. This series is divided into two subseries, each documenting the routine affairs of Safko International, Inc. and the individuals involved.
The first subseries, Photographs and negatives, is mostly promotional photographs of the products or individuals using the products. The second subseries, Scrapbooks, are mostly photographs, but includes other types of documents, and some artifacts. Most photographs found in the scrapbooks are not found elsewhere, but there is some overlap with the first subseries. Photographs in this subseries document board meetings, employees at work, assembling the mass mailings, wall hangings, inside and outside of Safko International, Inc.'s offices, Austin McDaniel Corporation offices, attorney's offices, meetings with TeleNova and InfoLogics, an investment reception, products Safko International, Inc. sold, system modifications, computer screens, the packaged product, setup for taking promotional photographs, setup for presentations, demonstration in a hospital setting, conferences, television interviews, Franklin Halwood, and unidentified individuals. In both subseries, very few of the photographs are captioned.
The seventh series, Audiovisual Materials, 1986-1996, is approximately one cubic foot of materials, encompassing twenty-nine 1⁄2" VHS tapes and four standard audio cassette tapes. Accordingly this series is divided into two subseries, Audio cassettes and Audio visual tapes, both documenting the marketing of the SenSei System. Additionally the second subseries also documents presentations given by Safko International, Inc. representatives and instruction manuals showing how to use the SoftVoice and SenSei systems.
Arrangement:
This collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Executive Records, 1986-1998
Subseries 1.1: Corporate history and formation, 1986-1997
Subseries 1.2: Administration, 1988-1996
Subseries 1.3: Correspondence, 1988-1995
Subseries 1.4: Business plans, 1989-1996
Subseries 1.5: Minutes, 1987-1997
Subseries 1.6: Board of Directors, 1988-1992
Subseries 1.7: Personnel, 1988-1998
Subseries 1.8: Business relationships, 1986-1998
Sub-subseries 1.8.1: Apple Corporation, 1986-1996
Sub-subseries 1.8.2: Consultants, 1989-1994
Sub-subseries 1.8.3: Professional contacts, 1987-1995
Sub-subseries 1.8.4: National, 1987-1996
Sub-subseries 1.8.5: International, 1988-1998
Series 2: Financial Records, 1986-1998
Subseries 2.1: Bookkeeping, 1986-1996
Subseries 2.2: Bookkeeping, 1988-1996
Subseries 2.3: Investors, 1987-1998
Subseries 2.4: Investors, 1987-1998
Series 3: Legal Records, 1986-1997
Subseries 3.1: Poor man's patents, 1986-1994
Subseries 3.2: Legal documents, 1987-1994
Subseries 3.3: Legal representation and counsel, 1988-1995
Subseries 3.4: Disputes, 1987-1997
Subseries 3.5: Research file, 1986-1995
Series 4: Research, Development and Production Records, 1984-1996
Subseries 59: Conferences and demonstrations, 1987-1995
Subseries 5.10: Distribution, 1986-1996
Subseries 5.11: Prospective clients and business contacts, 1987-1996
Subseries 5.12: Clients, 1986-1996
Series 6: Photographs and Scrapbooks, 1987-1995
Subseries 6.1: Photographs and negatives, 1987-1995
Sub-subseries 6.1.1: Administration, circa 1988-1995
Sub-subseries 6.1.2: Promotional, 1987-1995
Sub-subseries 6.1.3: Demonstrations and trade shows, 1988-1995
Sub-subseries 6.1.4: SoftVoice and SenSei System, 1988-1995
Subseries 6.2: Scrapbooks, 1986-1994
Series 7: Audiovisual Materials, 1986-1996
Subseries 7.1: Audio cassettes, 1991-1994
Subseries 7.2: Audio visual tapes, 1986-1996
Biographical / Historical:
Founded by Lon S. Safko in 1987, Safko International, Inc. was formed in response to the encouragement Safko received from demonstrating SoftVoice, his environmental control system. At first, Safko was merely fulfilling a promise to help a quadriplegic, Herb Smith, regain control of his environment. As Safko encountered the many difficulties of adapting existing voice recognition software to communicate with hardware devices, such as lamps, he understood that the only way to fulfill his promise was to invent his own system. Shortly after his first demonstration, on March 3, 1986, he was so inspired at the success of his invention that he decided to continue his work. In October of that year, Safko was contacted to install a system for Leon Mutch, a man who had lost his will to live after being paralyzed from an automobile accident. After installing the system, Safko heard nothing for a few weeks. Then after being telephoned to retrieve the system, he was surprised to find that Mutch had in fact regained some arm mobility, and more importantly, Mutch had regained the hope that he had lost. Less than six months later, on March 6, 1987, Safko International, Inc. was formally incorporated in Kennewick, Washington, to develop, produce, market, sell, and distribute Safko's inventions, primarily SoftVoice and its successor, the SenSei System.
Although Safko International, Inc. was officially incorporated in 1987, the company did not fully develop until its relocation to Chandler, Arizona, in 1989. During 1987 and 1988, Lon Safko continued to work in the computer retail business and as Senior Systems Engineer for the United States Department of Energy, under Westinghouse Electric Company, to produce an Artificial Intelligence computer system. From August to November, 1987, Lon Safko was repeatedly contacted by Debra Purcel, a physical therapist who wanted to purchase the system for one of her patients, a sixteen year old girl with a spinal tumor whose last request was to communicate her thoughts and feelings to others who were suffering from similar circumstances. Safko was reluctant to sell her the system because the girl was using a respirator and therefore would be unable to speak clearly enough for a computer to recognize her voice. Eventually, Safko realized the solution was to modify his system through the use of alternative input devices. He created HeadMouse, an input device modified from an existing model. He named the modified system SoftVoice II. In August, 1987, Safko's environmental control system was renamed the SenSei System. After modifying the system to provide for the needs of the young girl and its successful demonstration, Safko decided to give the system free of charge to her. Unfortunately when he returned to surprise her, he was too late. Her life support systems had been unplugged two days before.
Shortly thereafter, in March of 1988, Safko returned to Safko International, Inc. with a greater determination to reach those individuals trapped by circumstances beyond their control. Also in 1988, Safko International, Inc. was given office space in which to continue research and development of Safko's assistive computer technology systems through the assistance of Westinghouse Electric Company. As of 1988 Safko was President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Stan Colson was Vice President and on the Product Development team, Bruce Jorgenson was the Secretary and Treasurer in charge of the Finance and Administration division, Bob Hennig was on the Product Development team, and Keith Fischer served as Director of Engineering. The Marketing and Sales division was composed of Roger McDowell and Melanie Strege.
During 1988, Safko International, Inc. began clinical testing at hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. In addition, the company signed a contract with Boyd Fricke of the Austin McDaniel Corporation granting an exclusive international sales and marketing rights to Safko International, Inc.'s products in exchange for financial assistance. Later, Austin McDaniel Corporation attempted to coerce Safko International, Inc. through financial pressure to give up product rights. In 1990 Safko regained sales and marketing rights of the SenSei System. In May of 1988 there was also an attempt to merge with Datex Inc, but the merger did not succeed.
On June 15, 1989, the company officially moved the corporate headquarters, along with the engineering and manufacturing division, to Chandler, Arizona. Also in 1989 the company signed Value Added Reseller agreements with computer companies such as Apple Computer, Inc. and Computerland/ DataPhaz of Phoenix, Arizona.
In the following year, Safko International, Inc. expanded from domestic to international markets. The company built relationships with TeleNova AB, a subsidiary of the Swedish Telecom Group of the Swedish government and InfoLogics, an artificial intelligence computer division. Through the marketing and distribution efforts of TeleNova and its president Tommy Naslund, Safko International, Inc. was able to install SenSei systems in Sweden. In 1990 Lon Safko traveled to Sweden to help InfoLogics translate the SenSei computer system software into Swedish.
In 1991 Safko International, Inc. acquired contracts to construct interfaces which correspond with hospital beds. In particular, the Borg Warner Electronic Hospital Bed interface was created on the behalf of the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Smith and Davis Electronic Hospital Bed interface on the behalf of the Rusk Institute. Additionally, the Environmental PAL was developed in 1991. In regards to corporate structuring Richard L. Bourke became Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and John B. Zinn was Vice President of Marketing.
On February 24, 1992, Safko International, Inc. became an official Arizona corporation. Also during this year, the portable Safko Server and Power Now System were created.
In May 1993, Allen J. Emsley became Secretary and Treasurer of the company and then became Chief Financial Officer from November 1993 until August 1994. In November of 1993 the research and development office was moved from Chandler to Tempe, Arizona.
In January 1994 Safko International, Inc. was acquired by Safko Industries Inc., of Wyoming and Safko Sales International was formed. By 1994 Safko International, Inc. had sales representatives covering Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Washington, Illinois, California, and New York. Reflected in the company's active marketing campaign and its significant increase of personnel, from 1994 to1995 Safko International, Inc. was at its peak in terms of corporate growth.
In 1995 Safko International, Inc. received Veterans Administration and Medicare approval. In the research and development division the company enhanced the SenSei System to be functional for the visually disabled and blind. As of 1995 Sakfo, Bowman, Emsley, Fischer, Honacker, and Hirota remained at the company. New employees included: Teresa Caldwell, Michael Montgomery (Marketing Assistant), Kahn Beal (contract employee), Jill Lund (Secretary), Carl E. McKowan (Vice President Financial), Marjory Bain (Administrative Assistant). Due to financial difficulties, in October of 1995 the entire staff was laid off and only Safko, Bowman, and Fischer continued to work for the company. Conditions only got worse and in November of 1995 Safko, Bowman, and Fischer were forced to leave their office space and work out of their cars and homes.
On May 28, 1996 Lon S. Safko officially resigned from the company and shortly thereafter the company shut down. Immediately following Safko International, Inc.'s closure, Synosure, Inc. was formed and given all rights, copyrights, and trademarks to the Safko International, Inc. products. One of the significant aspects about the company during this time was its attempt to finalize distribution plans with Great Britain, but the momentum was lost. Synosure, Inc. only lasted a year. On June 23, 1997 it dissolved.
Lawrence "Lon" S. Safko was born on August 1, 1955, in Yonkers, New York. He completed his General Equivalency Diploma (G.E.D.) in 1976 and graduated from Westchester College in 1978 with a three year advanced degree in Civil Engineering. Safko also took courses at Mercy College, Pace University and Hofstra University.
In the spring of 1982, Safko began his entrepreneurial career by forming Civil Consultants, a firm to provide the first ever engineering services using computers. The company specialized in surveying, coordinate geometry, earthworks, highway and transportation design, traffic analysis, and hydrologic computations. In 1985, Safko sold Civil Consultants and relocated to the Pacific Northwest. Wanting to work more closely with computers, he became the general sales manager for two Apple Computer, Inc. retail outlets.
That same year, Safko designed a voice activated environmental control system for the disabled called SoftVoice Computer System. On March 6, 1986, Safko founded Safko International, Inc. and began field testing the SoftVoice Computer System. During 1987, Safko designed an artificial intelligence computer system for the United States Department of Energy and the Westinghouse Electric Company, on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, in Washington State. This system compiled thousands of reports developed by the five uranium and plutonium production companies on the nuclear reservation, analyzed this information, and reported to the operator any signs of potentially hazardous patterns that could result in a nuclear disaster. In 1988, Safko began research and development of a Macintosh-based SenSei Computer System for the Disabled.
Safko holds United States Patent # 7,072,949 for a, "System and method for providing paper models over a wide area computer network," and several copyrights and trademarks. Currently, Safko is a professional speaker, trainer, and consultant for Better Homes Seminar and Innovative Thinking, L.L.C. He also is President and founder of Paper Models, Inc., providing corporate specialty advertising and educational paper models.
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA holds several artifacts related to Lon Safko. Accession Lot # X3342.2006 contains:
First RCA TV Sip Controller
First Hospital Bed Nurse Call
Sip Puff IR Controller
Production Version Sip Puff Controller
Smith & Davis Electric Hospital Bed Controller
Sip Puff Modified Mouse
Computer Controlled Telephone
HeadMouse
First SenSei Server (Mac)
Prototype SenSei Server (Mac)
Sip Puff IR Controllers
Sip Puff Accessory Pack
Final SenSei Server Production Model
Final SenSei Server Production Model
SyQuest SenSei Software Back Ups
First CD SenSei Software Back Ups
Separated Materials:
The Division of Information, Technology, and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science) holds 18 artifacts related to this collection as accession number 2005.0291 including:
1 Computer, with detached cord
Apple II cpu/keyboard
External Drive, ""Apple Disk II""
External Drive, ""Distar""
Magnavox computer monitor 80
4 Diskettes, ""SoftVoice""
Super Disk Demo 1
Super Disk Demo 2
SoftVoice Trainer
1 PC Daughter Board, ""Speech Recognition for Apple II""
1 Mouse Emulator, ""Head Master,"" with parts and manual in shipping box made by Prentke Romich Company
1 Trackball, ""Kensington TurboMouse""
1 Siptroller Case, Prototype, ""Safko International Inc.""
1 Puff Stick Base, ""Gravis"" with a hand piece and a chin piece only
1 Production Sensei Server, ""Version 2.0 Safko International Inc.""
This collection was donated by Lon S. Safko, 2006.
Restrictions:
This 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: fees for commercial use.
National Biomedical Research Foundation. Georgetown University Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuals
Patents
Photographs
Design drawings
Correspondence
Articles
Diagrams
Slides (photographs)
Notes
Motion pictures (visual works)
Albums
Date:
1972-1990
Summary:
The Robert Ledley Papers document the development of the first whole-body diagnostic imaging system, the Automatic Computerized Transverse Axial (ACTA) X-ray Scanner by Ledley in 1973. Also included is material relating to Ledley's company, Digital Science Information Corporation (DISCO), as well as the public and medical communities' reactions to the scanner.
Scope and Contents:
The Robert Ledley Papers document the development of the Automatic Computerized Transverse Axial (ACTA) X-ray Scanner, Ledley's company Digital Science Information Corporation (DISCO), as well as the public and medical communities' reactions to the scanner. The collection is arranged into nine series.
Series 1, ACTA Scanner I Schematics, 1973-1975; Series 2, ACTA Scanner I [Computer and Electronics], 1973; and Series 3, ACTA Scanner Tomograph Mechanics, 1973-1974 document the development and design of the ACTA scanner through drawings, notes, memoranda, and product information. More detailed information about these materials is located in the control file. All oversize drawings have been moved to flat storage for preservation concerns.
Series 4, ACTA Scanner Operating Instructions, 1975, is the operating manual created for the scanner used in Ledley's Georgetown lab.
Series 5, ACTA Articles, Clippings, and Press Releases, 1973-1979, is comprised of the aforementioned materials relating to the ACTA Scanner. Newspaper clippings illuminate the public's perception of the scanner, and scientific pieces highlight the medical community's reaction. Ledley's published articles on the scanner and related topics are included.
Series 6, Digital Information Science Corporation (DISCO) material, 1973-1981, documents Ledley's career and his company. A biographical sketch, list of articles, textbooks, and patents highlight Ledley's achievements. Invoices, receipts, contracts, and correspondence illuminate the financial situation at DISCO and the relationship between the company and Pfizer.
Series 7, Computer manuals, 1972-1975, documents the computer systems and software that were used with the ACTA Scanner.
Series 8, Photographic material, 1973-1978, includes an album of photographs depicting the ACTA Scanner and images of the scans it created. This album was disassembled due to preservation concerns. This series also includes a collection of slides featuring the scanner and related equipment in use and images of the scans it created. A detailed description of each photograph and slide is included in the control file.
Series 9, ACTA Scanner film, [1974?], is a 16mm narrated film describing the creation of the scanner, its components, the way they work, the scanner in use, and images of the scans produced.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into nine series.
Series 1, ACTA Scanner I Schematics, 1973-1975
Series 2, ACTA Scanner I [Computer and Electronics], 1973
Series 3, ACTA Scanner Tomograph Mechanics, 1973-1974
Series 4, ACTA Scanner Operating Instructions, 1975
Series 5, ACTA Articles, Clippings, and Press Releases, 1973-1979
Series 6, Digital Information Science Corporation (DISCO) material, 1973-1981, undated
Series 7, Computer manuals, 1972-1975
Series 8, Photographic material 1973-1978
Subseries 1, Photographs, 19731978
Subseries 2, Slides, 1974
Series 9, ACTA Scanner film [1974?]
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Steven Ledley was born in Flushing Meadows, New York in 1926. He received a D.D.S. degree from New York University College in 1948. While attending dental school, he simultaneously studied at Columbia University; he earned a M.A. in Theoretical Physics in 1949. He volunteered for the army and was sent to the U.S. Army Medical Field Service School in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.1 After completing his service, Ledley held a wide variety of research and academic positions in physics, electrical engineering, and medicine.
Ledley was a physicist within the External Control Group of the Electronic Computer Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards from 1953-1954. He was an operations research analyst within the Strategic Division of the Operations Research Office at Johns Hopkins University from 1954-1956. Ledley went on to become an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at The George Washington University from 1956-1960 while also serving as a consultant mathematician at the National Bureau of Standards Data Processing Systems Division, 1957-1960. At this time, Ledley also worked part time at the National Research Council's National Academy of Sciences from 1957-1961. Ledley became the president of the National Biomedical Research Foundation in 1960, a position he still holds today. He was an instructor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1960-1963. He returned to The George Washington University's Department of Electrical Engineering in 1968 where he was a professor until 1970. He then became a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1970. In 1974, Ledley also became a professor in the Radiology Department at the Georgetown University Medical Center. In 1975, he became the director of the Medical Computing and Biophysics Division at Georgetown University Medical Center.
In 1972, the British company Electric and Musical Industries Limited (EMI) released a medical imaging machine for use on smaller areas of the body that were positioned under a water tank. In 1973, Ledley developed the Automatic Computerized Transverse Axial (ACTA) X-ray Scanner (US Patent #3,922,552). This machine was a whole-body diagnostic medical imaging system. He was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health for an engineering equipment project, but the money was never received due to budget cuts. Ledley looked elsewhere for funding. He consulted with Georgetown staff and discovered a neurosurgeon had asked to buy a head scanning machine from EMI. Ledley did not think the images in EMI's brochure appeared clear, and he offered to create a similar machine for half the price. Georgetown agreed to fund this project for $250,000. Ledley secured the services of a machinist at a local machine shop, an electronic engineer, and a programmer/mathematician to assist in the project.2 The ACTA Scanner debuted in February, 1974 and did not require the use of a water tank.
Following the creation of the ACTA Scanner, Ledley organized Digital Information Science Corporation (DISCO) in order to manufacture the system. DISCO began producing scanners as orders were received. Due to financial constraints, DISCO was forced to request $100,000 upon receipt of the order, $100,000 when the scanner was halfway completed, and the final $100,000 payment upon delivery3. In 1975, Pfizer purchased the rights to manufacture the ACTA Scanner from DISCO for $1.5 million.
Ledley is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has earned numerous awards and honors for his work. In 1997, he received the National Medal of Technology from President William Jefferson Clinton for his pioneering work on the whole-body CT diagnostic X-ray scanner. He also founded the Pattern Recognition Society and Computerized Tomography Society.
Sources
1 Ash, J., D. Sittig, and R. Ledley. "The Story Behind the Development of the First Whole-body Computerized Tomography Scanner as Told by Robert S. Ledley." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2006 Sep-Oct (2006), 465-469, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1561796. (accessed June 24, 2009).
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
Separated Materials:
An ACTA Scanner and numerous accessories were donated to the Division of Medicine and Science in 1984.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Robert S. Ledley on September 18, 1984.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
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.
Black-and-white photograph, apparently retouched. "Lowy Adv. Agency, 41, Park Row, New York" on verso.
Local Numbers:
AC1157-0000010.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection 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.
Instruction manual, 32 pp. + cover. Cover has line illustration of woman holding sewing machine on cover.
Local Numbers:
AC1157-0000016.tif (AC Scan No.: cover)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection 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.
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.
The collection contains primarily photographs and postcards relating to firefighting. Many of the photographs are of firefighting vehicles and apparatus, both horse-drawn and gasoline-powered. The cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore are especially well documented, though other cities are represented, including Hamilton, Ohio; Camden, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Portland, Maine; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Newburyport, Massachusetts; and Flemington, New Jersey.
Series 1, Photographs, consists primarily of black-and-white and color, both original and copy prints, illustrations, and postcards depicting images of fire engines, firefighters, fireboats, fire stations, and firemen and fire equipment in parades. The photographs are arranged in numerical order (for example, JR-2) as assigned by Jack Robrecht, who assembled the materials. The other number system included the designation "V 408." This alpha-numeric number was applied by the Cigna Museum which held the materials prior to their donation to the National Museum of American History. Many of the images are heavily annotated by Robrecht, providing specific details about a fire engine, geographic location, and date. There are some membership cards, envelopes, and a Christmas card depicting images of fire equipment. Two inventories for the photographs are available. The inventories provide an object/photograph number, artist/photographer, title/caption, genre/classification, date and dimensions.
Series 2, Research Files, 1852-1983, consists almost exclusively of handwritten and typescript photocopies of fire-related documentation assembled by Robrecht. Included are sheet music, lists of statistics for fire alarms, inventories of equipment in parades, newspaper clippings, and an ink sketch of a fire ladder.
Series 3, Publications, [1859?]-1975, consists of original and photocopies of various fire-related publications. The only non fire-related publication is The Grace Log, a publication of Grace Line.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.
Series 1, Photographs, 1880-1972
Series 2, Research Files, 1852-1983
Series 3, Publications, [1859?]-1975
Biographical / Historical:
Jack Robrecht (1916?-1993) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from St. Joseph's Prep and attended the University of Pennsylvania. Robrecht worked for thirty-one years at the chemical testing laboratory of Atlantic Refinery. He retired in 1978. Robrecht always wanted to be a firefighter, but missed qualifying due to the age limit. Undeterred, Robrecht spent much of his life from 1941-1993 as a volunteer historian for the Philadelphia Fire Department. He was also a collector, author, and photographer of fire-related materials.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Fires and firefighting (series), circa 1821-1955. (AC0060)
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Fires and firefighting: stereographs, ca. 1875-1888. (AC0060)
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Inventions: stereographs, 1880s. (AC0060)
Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, [Fire-fighters working water pump: Active no. 1810. photonegative] 1926. (AC0143)
Frank Seymour Firefighting Ephemera Collection (AC1232)
Materials at the Division of Home and Community Life, National Museum of American History
The Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds fire-related artifacts. See Accession numbers 2005.0233; 2005.0279; 2006.0247; 2007.0160; and 2007.0174.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by CIGNA through Roxanne Korostowski, Director, Relocation Services on August 19, 2005.
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.
2.5 hours of videotape documenting a succession of clock escapements invented by Richard F. Bond in the 19th century. Bond's invention was called isodynamic escapement.
Arrangement:
1 series: 5 items (original videotapes only).
Related Archival Materials:
Two of the three regulators videotaped are located in the Division of the History of Technology collections (now Division of Medicine and Science).
Provenance:
Made for the national Museum of American History, December 17, 1997.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original videos are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some oral histories are restricted Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Papers document Henry Booth's invention, use, and marketing of the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system.
Scope and Contents:
The Henry Booth Collection, 1942-1974, focuses primarily on the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system. It consists of advertisements, brochures, photographs, glass slides, a 16mm film, correspondence, financial records, meeting minutes, an operating manual, scrapbooks, magazines, and a guest register.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into five series.
Series 1: PhotoMetriC Apparatus Materials, 1948-1965
Series 2: PhotoMetriC Advertising and Press Materials, 1942, 1948
Series 3: PhotoMetriC Retail Materials, 1958-1974
Series 4: PhotoMetriC General Business Materials, 1947-1974
Series 5: Hillandale Handweavers, 1960-1962
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Booth was a textile jobber who invented the PhotoMetriC custom tailoring system in the 1940s, an innovation which temporarily revolutionized a small corner of the custom clothing industry.
Henry Booth (1895-1969), son of a Methodist minister, was born in Canada and raised in England where his grandfather, General William Booth, founded the Salvation Army. In 1911, Henry Booth came to the United States from England on the Lusitania. He worked in the textile industry for a few years; specifically as a manager for John B. Ellison jobbing offices in Portland and Seattle. In 1922 he formed his own firm with Harry Kemp and Robert Walker. By 1929, Booth moved east to New York City in order to pursue his career in the textile industry. He formed Amalgamated Textiles Limited with John and Blake Lawrence. In 1938, Booth met Curt Erwin Forstmann and entered into an agreement whereby Amalgamated Textiles Limited became fabric stylists and sole agents for the Forstmann Woolen Companies.
In the early 1940s, Booth came up with the idea for the PhotoMetriC camera system to be used in the custom tailoring industry. The system consisted of a specially-designed arrangement of nine mirrors. Eight mirrors reflected separate views of the customer and one mirror reflected the customer's name and other information. These angled mirrors allowed a photograph to be taken which showed the customer from the front, back, side, and top. A slide of this photographic measurement would be sent, along with the customer's garment order, to the manufacturer. When the order arrived, the tailor would project the customer's image on a special screen which facilitated the taking of certain physical measurements. With the aid of the PhotoMetriC calculator, the tailor translated the measurements into specifications for a customer-specific garment. When finished, the garment would be mailed directly to the customer's home. According to testimonials in the collection, the garments fit perfectly the first time, every time. The PhotoMetriC system both saved the tailor money and relieved the customer of the inconvenience of having to return to the tailor again and again for time-consuming fittings, alterations, and adjustments.
The camera which supported this invention needed to be virtually foolproof, enabling the average shop clerk to reliably collect the necessary data. To this end, Booth took his idea to the Eastman Kodak Company, where he worked with Dr. Kenneth Mees, Director of Research and Fred Waller, a camera expert. Waller designed the camera; the remainder of the system design was done by Booth. The PhotoMetriC system made its debut in two Richard Bennett stores in New York City on May 17, 1948. It was subsequently licensed to other select retailers such as: The Custom Gentleman (Englewood, NJ); Nathan's (Richmond, VA); The Golden Fleece (Point Pleasant Borough, NJ); and Joseph's (Terre Haute, IN).
Hillandale, a Brooklyn, CT farm which Booth purchased about 1940, was later used to produce hand woven wool fabrics. These fabrics were used extensively by various PhotoMetriC retail outlets. Henry Booth's son, Robert (b. 1924), took over farm operations circa 1960 and opened a retail outlet on the premises which featured a PhotoMetriC fitting room which provided custom tailoring until the mid-1970s. Robert Booth, with his wife, Jimmie, operated the Golden Lamb Buttery Restaurant in Brooklyn, Connecticut. It closed in 2017.
Patents of Henry Booth:
United States Patent: #2,037,192/RE #20,366, "Visible inventory and sales recording device, April 14, 1936
United States Patent: #2,547,367, "Method and apparatus for testing fabrics, April 3, 1951
United States Patent: #2,547,368, "Cloth rack," April 3, 1951
United States Patent: #2,563,451, "Photographic fitting method," August 7, 1951
United States Patent: #2,624,943, "Proportionally balancing garments," January 13, 1953
United States Patent: #2,664,784,"Apparatus for measuring objects by photography," January 5, 1954
United States Patent: #2,688,188, "Apparatus for proportionally balancing garments," September 7, 1954
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection, 1936-1998 (AC0729). Jimmie Booth is the wife of Robert Booth and she was a buyer for Lord and Taylor.
Materials in the National Museum of American History
The Division of Work and Industry holds a PhotoMetric camera, stand, and measuring harness in the Photographic History collection.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Henry Booth's son, Robert Booth, in April 2000.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
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.
Original videos documenting Curt I. Civins's discovery of the cell surface protein that makes stem cell selection possible; and interviews with Kenneth Kinsler and Bert Vogelstein.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical/Historical note:
In the 1970s when Civin began stem cell research, little was known about progeniters, the cells of all other blood lineages. Civin thought that stem cells had their own identifying surface proteins. To test this, he immunized mice with leukemia cells, some of which he supposed might have that peculiar protein and then harvested the resulting immunoglobulins and reproduced them as monoclonal antibodies. In 1981, Civin discovered an antibody that bound to 1% of marrow cells.
Related Archival Materials:
Prototype of stem cell selector instrument housed in Division of Science and Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science).
Provenance:
Created by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, 1997.
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 releases in file.
Primarily audiotapes, sheet music, and photographic images. Also: correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, itineraries, awards, and ephemera.,Of particular interest are recordings or photographic images, including the personalities listed below, and President and Mrs. Tubman of Liberia; also, two interviews and three recordings of Cat Anderson as guest with various university and college jazz bands.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Music
Series 2: Original tapes and recordings
Series 3: Photographs
Series 4: Miscellaneous
Biographical/Historical note:
Cat Anderson (Sept 12, 1916 - April 29, 1981) was one of the premier trumpet players of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Known for his effortless high notes, he was a strong section leader and a great soloist whose style exhibited humor and precision. He grew up in Jenkins= Orphanage in Charleston, SC, received basic music training there, and participated in many of their famous student ensembles. He formed and played with the Cotton Pickers, a group of orphanage teens while still a young man. Before joining Ellington in 1944, he played in several big bands, including Claude Hopkins and Lionel Hampton. Anderson left the Ellington organization from 1947 through 1949 again to lead his own group. From 1959 to1961 and after 1971 Anderson free lanced, working with the Ellington orchestra intermittently. He died in 1981 after receiving honors from the US Air Force, the Prix du Disque de Jazz, and the City of Los Angeles.
Related Archival Materials:
Related artifacts include: awards, plaques, mutes, trumpet mouth pieces, and the Jon Williams/Cat Anderson simulator in the Division of Cultural and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life). See accession: 1998.3074.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the National Museum of American History in January 1998, by Dorothy Anderson, Cat Anderson's widow. It was acquired through negotiations with her, her brother, Mr. John Coffey and her nephew, Andrew Brazington. The materials were picked up from Mr. John Coffey of upper N.W. Washington, DC on January 21, 1998.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Master tapes not available to researchers.
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.
Copyright status of items varies. Signed copies of releases on file.
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
Series 6: Reprints from MIT, 1953-1955
Biographical / Historical:
An atomic clock is a cesium-based frequency standard. It operates by exposing cesium atoms to microwaves at one end of their resonant frequencies and then counting their corresponding cycles as a measure of time. In 1955, Louis Essen of Britain's National Physical Laboratory and William Markowitz of the U.S. Naval Observatory collaborated to produce the first measurement of what is now called the atomic second. In 1967, the 13th general Conference of Weights and Measures formally redefined the atomic second as 9,192,631,770. The atomic second became the internationally accepted unit of time. Atomic clocks are the most accurate of all clocks.
The first clock in 1949 was based on the microwave resonances of the ammonia molecule. It was patented by Harold Lyons and Benjamin F. Husten. The first commercial atomic clocks were developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Research Laboratory of Electronics under J.R. Zacharias, a protégé of I.I. Rabi's, circa 1955-1956 and were manufactured by the National Company, Inc. (NATCO) of Malden, Massachussets. NATCO, founded in 1914, was a well-respected company known for producing specialized electronic equipment in short runs. Prototype clocks bore the working name National Atomic Frequency Standard (NAFS). When the first commercial product was unveiled on October 3, 1956, it bore the trade name "Atomichron" and the model number NC-1001. Between 1956 and 1960, fifty Atomichrons were made and sold to military agencies, government agencies, and universities. Nine other models followed with refinements in size, portability and accuracy. The most radical design departure began with the NC3001 when the beam tube was placed in the horizontal position. Prices ranged from $10,000 to $50,000.
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.
