National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Computers, Information and Society Search this
Extent:
43.5 Cubic feet (158 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Interviews
Oral history
Sound recordings
Transcripts
Videotapes
Date:
1969-1973, 1977
Summary:
The Computer Oral History Collection (1969-1973, 1977), was a cooperative project of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) and the Smithsonian Institution. This project began in 1967 with the main objective to collect, document, house, and make available for research source material surrounding the development of the computer.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 43.5 cubic feet of material documenting the development of the computer.
ABC -- Atanasoff-Berry Computer
ACE -- Automatic Computing Engine
ACM -- Association for Computing Machinery
ALGOL -- ALGOLrithmic Language
ALWAC -- Axel Wenner-Gren Automatic Computer
ARPA -- Advanced Research Projects Agency
BACAIC -- Boeing Airplane Company Algebraic Interpretative Computing System
BARK -- Binar Automatisk Rela Kalkylator
BINAC -- Binary Automatic Computer
BIZMAC -- Business Machine
BMEW -- Ballistic Missile Early Warning (System)
BUIC -- Back-up Interceptor Control
CADAC -- Cambridge Digital Automatic Computer
CALDIC -- California Digital Computer
CEC -- Consolidated Electrodynamics Corporation
CEIR -- Council for Economic and Industry Research
COBOL -- Common Business-Oriented Language
CODASYL -- Conference on Data Systems Languages
CONAC -- Continental Automatic Command
COMTRAN -- Commercial Translator
CPC -- Card Programmed Calculator
CRC -- Computer Response Corporation
DARPA -- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Series 4: John Vincent Atanasoff's Materials, 1927-1968
Series 5: Audio Tapes, 1967-1974, 1977
Series 6: Video Tapes, 1968-1972
Biographical / Historical:
The Computer Oral History Collection (1969-1973, 1977), was a cooperative project of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) and the Smithsonian Institution. This project began in 1967 with the main objective to collect, document, house, and make available for research source material surrounding the development of the computer. The project collected taped oral interviews with individuals who figured prominently in developing or advancing the computer field and supplemental written documentation--working papers, reports, drawings, and photographs. The AFIPS provided the "seed" money to support the project and to aid the Smithsonian with its expenditures. Interviews were conducted by I.B. Cohen, A. Dettinger, Bonnie Kaplan, Elizabeth Luebbert, William Luebbert, Robina Mapstone, Richard Mertz, Uta Merzbach, and Henry Tropp. In some instances, the audio tapes and/or transcripts are not "formal" interviews, but rather moderated panel discussions/meetings, or lectures delivered by interviewees.
Related Materials:
The Archives Center contains several "computer" related collections:
American National Standards Institute, 1969-1979
Association for Computing Machinery Collection, 1958-1978 (Washington, D.C., Chapter)
N.W. Ayer Advertsing Agency Records, 1889-1972
Paul Armer Collection, 1949-1970
Robert G. Chamberlain Numerical Control Collection, 1954-1984
J. Childs Numerical Control Collection, 1952-1970
Computer Standards Collection, 1958-1978
Computer World Smithsonian Awards Collection, 1989-2001
Data Processing Digest Collection, 1955-1974
Max Holland Machine Tool Industry Collection, circa 1941-1990
Grace Murray Hopper Collection, 1944-1965
Information Age Exhibition Records, 1979-1990
Institute for Advanced Study Computer Project Records, 1950-1957
Instrument Society of America Collection, 1911-1969
Odex I Walking Robot Collection, 1973-1986
Jacob Rabinow Papers, 1910-1917; 1947-1990
Terry M. Sachs Collection, 1965-1969
Scientists and Inventors Portrait File, circa 1950-1980
Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Records, 1956-1992
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, circa 1754-1965
Whirlwind I Computer Collection, 1945-1959
B.H. Worsley Collection, 1946-1959
Within the National Museum of American History there are other related collections that may be found in the Division of Medicine and Science. These collections contain both artifacts and documents. Artifacts include: digital computing machines, automatic digital computers and electronic calculators, logic devices, card and tape processors, slide rules, integrators and integraphs, harmonic analyzers and synthesizers, differential analyzers, other analog computing devices, space measurement and representation, time measurement, and combination space and time measurement. Documentation includes the Electronic Computers History Collection and the Mathematical Devices History Collection. Photographs and video materials can also be found. The Smithsonian Institution Archives contains administrative documentation regarding the Computer History Project.
Provenance:
The Computer Oral History Collection was a cooperative project of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) and the Smithsonian Institution. This project began in 1967 and was concluded in 1973. This collection was transferred to the Archives Center in approximately 1986 from the Division of Information, Technology & Society, formerly known as the Division of Electricity.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but original audio tapes and videotapes are stored off-site. Reference copies do not exist for all of the audiovisual materials. 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.
Computer Oral History Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Online transcripts for select oral history interviews were made possible by the Morton I. Bernstein Fund and the Association for Computing Machinery, the Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD), and the Special Interest Group on Programming Languages (SIGPLAN).
The collection documents computing organizations in which Paul Armer was active.
Scope and Contents:
The collection represents files of the organizations noted above in which Armer was active. It includes minutes of meetings, correspondence (of Armer and others) and memoranda relating to the organizations and their committees. Published papers and rough drafts of articles on a wide range of subjects related to computer uses and applications are also included. Reports and summaries of meetings and symposia cover a variety of issues relating to computers and information processing. All of the material is carefully grouped in folders labeled by subject and in chronological order. Additional material relating to Paul Armer's career is contained in oral histories in NMAH Archives Center Collections.
Arrangement:
The Collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Series 2: National Joint Computer Committee (NJCC)
Series 3: SHARE
Series 4: American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS)
Biographical / Historical:
Paul Armer, an employee of the Rand Corporation, was a pioneer in computer development on the West Coast in the 1950s and 1960s. He was an officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in the 1950s and served on its National Council in 1958-1960 and 1964-1968. He participated in the ACM National Lectureship Series in 1966 67. He also represented the ACM on the National Joint Computer Committee, (NJCC) in 1958 61 and was vice chair of NJCC during 1959-1960. Armer was president of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) in 1968-1969.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Paul Armer, 1989.
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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Computers, Information and Society Search this
Extent:
5 Cubic feet (14 boxes
)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Punched cards
Reports
Date:
1964-1970
Scope and Contents:
Correspondence, abstracts and reports of computer programs, punch cards, Numerical Analysis project reviews, meeting notes, and research papers.
Arrangement:
The collection is dividedinto four series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1964-1970
Series 2: SHARE General Program Library, 1964-1967
Series 3: Numerical Analysis Project, 1964-1970
Series 4: Research Papers, 1968-1969
Biographical / Historical:
SHARE (Society to Help Avoid Redundant Effort) was formed in 1955, when users of International Business Machines (IBM) 701 computers in Los Angeles were anticipating the delivery of the IBM 704 computer. At this time, IBM relied on its computer customers to program the machines they purchased. "The only software that came with the hardware were copies of the user's manual, a crude assembler, a loader (non-linking), and a few utility routines" (Armer, 122). Both the manufacturer and the customers needed a library of mathematical programs, called subroutines, for the computers to perform their intended tasks. To produce them individually was prohibitively expensive; the cost of developing a system to use a machine, "and a set of routines to go with that system, was usually in excess of a year's rental for the equipment" (Armer, 124). SHARE's organizers felt that this could be accomplished most efficiently through cooperation among IBM users.
The primary purpose of SHARE, according to a 1968 SHARE conference program, was "to promote the free interchange of information for advancing the effectiveness of use of [IBM System/360 or IBM 7000-series computers]. A further aim is to reduce redundant effort among system users in the preparation of computer programs for general use." SHARE sought to standardize machine language and certain machine practices, eliminate redundant effort connected with computers, promote inter-installation communication, and develop effective communication between users and the manufacturer. By mid-1956, forty-seven "installations" or organizations with an IBM computer were SHARE members, and 300 machine-checked 704 programs were placed in an IBM ¬maintained library for member use (Bashe, 349). SHARE members later wrote and evaluated programs for the IBM System/360 machines, a product line announced in 1964.
SHARE groups called "projects" organized, evaluated, and transmitted the information; all participation was on a voluntary basis. SHARE held two general meetings a year, at which all active projects held one or more meetings. The expansion from a focus on program creation to evaluation represented a more mature phase for the organization.
The Numerical Analysis Project was one of those groups. During the SHARE general meeting in March 1964, members participating in the Numerical Analysis Project of the SHARE applications division decided to organize and carry out an extensive project to evaluate numerical-mathematical type SHARE programs, which had to be highly accurate in order not to waste expensive computer time. Programs were selected from the SHARE-3000 series, the SSP (Scientific Subroutine Package), and the CPL (Contributed Program Library). The¬ co-chairmen of the evaluation committee assigned review tasks to participating members, who could accept or refuse assignments. Their review time was to be three to four months, and authors mailed their reviews to the co-chair. The chair of the Numerical Analysis Project's Program Evaluation Committee from 1965 to 1968 was Hirondo Kuki at the University of Chicago's Computing Center. After he resigned the chairmanship in 1968, Robert E. Funderlic and Joseph S. Crowell of the Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, became co-chairs; Funderlic resigned from his position later that year.
Each program was reviewed twice. Programs were evaluated extensively for reliability and accuracy, as well as timing, size, features, design, and documentation provided by the program's author. Reviewers submitted written reviews with documentation of their testing and review process.
SHARE was the first computer user group in the United States, and became a model for a number of other user groups, including GUIDE (formed in 1956) and USE (formed in 1955). Before groups like SHARE, most programmers did very little sharing of programs of general applicability. The idiosyncratic manner of machines accounted for this in part. Inoperability was a factor as well; a program written for one machine would require tedious re-coding to operate on another (Bashe, 348).
Although computer technology has changed considerably since its inception, SHARE still exists (www.share.org), and has offices in downtown Chicago. It has a full-time staff and more than 2,000 member companies that include international corporations, representative government agencies and educational institutions.
References
Armer, Paul. "SHARE--A Eulogy to Cooperative Effort." Annals in the History of Computing 2, no. 2 (April 1980): 122-129.
Charles Babbage Institute. "SHARE Marks 40th Anniversary." Charles Babbage Institute Newsletter 17, no. 3.
Bashe, Charles J., Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, and Emerson W. Pugh. IBM's Early Computers. (MIT Press Series in the History of Computing.) Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1986.
Provenance:
Collection donated by University of North Dakota Computing Center, through C. P. Dietz,1972.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Computers, Information and Society Search this
Extent:
145 Cubic feet (341 document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Software
Questionnaires
Photographs
Interviews
Essays
Date:
1989-2000
Summary:
Collection documents an awards program established in 1989 as a partnership between Computerworld Magazine and the Smithsonian Institution. The Computer World Smithsonian Awards (CWSA) brought together the Chairmen of Chief Executive Officers of the world's foremost information technology companies with the world's leading universities, libraries and research institutions to document a revolution in progress—the global information technology revolution. The program identified men, women, organizations and institutions leading the technology revolution and asked them to contribute case studies. Collection consists of case studies which include questionnaires, essays, oral histories, conference proceedings, publications, video tapes, photographs, slides, software, and product samples about each project.
Scope and Contents:
An important part of the award process was that nominees actively created the permanent record of their work, for inclusion in the permanent CWSA archives at the Smithsonian. Strict guidelines were set up to ensure that a complete record was created. Each nomination had to be in the form of a packet of primary source materials about the project. Nominees were instructed on the types of materials to include and were required to answer a standard questionnaire and write an essay about the significance of the project. As a result, each case study includes a wealth of information about the project, including oral histories, conference proceedings, publications, video tapes, photographs and slides, software, examples of the product generated, and other records, as well as the standardized information required by the program. The collection is arranged into thirteen series chronologically.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into thirteen series.
Series 1, General
Series 2, 1989
Series, 3, 1990
Series 4, 1991
Series 5, 1992
Series 6, 1993
Series 7, 1994
Series 8, 1995
Series 9, 1996
Series 10, 1997
Series 11, 1998
Series 12, 1999
Series 13, 2000
Biographical / Historical:
Established in 1989 as a partnership between Computerworld Magazine and the Smithsonian Institution, the Computer World Smithsonian Awards (CWSA) Program brought together the Chairmen or Chief Executive Officers of the world's foremost information technology companies with the world's leading universities, libraries and research institutions to document a revolution in progress: the global information technology revolution.
The awards program was dedicated to identifying the men and women, organizations and institutions, that were leading this revolution and to recording the impact of their achievements on society. The first awards were presented in 1991 during a ceremony at NMAH. According to that year's press release, the CWSA awards were created to "recognize heroes of technological innovation, to demystify public perceptions of technology and to clearly identify the benefits technology brings to the lives of the general public."
Over the course of each year, members of the Chairmen's Committee would identify those organizations whose use of information technology had been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision, and the significance of its benefit to society. Those organizations were asked to contribute a case study regarding their project to the CWSA collection, which was to be housed at the Smithsonian's NMAH. Nominated projects were sorted into ten categories and winners were selected by a panel of distinguished representatives in each specialty. The first year's categories were: business and related services; education and academia; environment, education and agriculture; finance, insurance and real estate; government and non-profit organizations; manufacturing; media, arts and entertainment; medicine and health care; and transportation. The categories changed slightly over the years as the process was refined.
In 2001, the Smithsonian decided to sever its affiliation with the CWSA program. The program continued under the sole auspices of Computerworld magazine, without any Smithsonian connection. New case studies now "become part of the broader, worldwide collection, archived on the world wide web and also presented, in a variety of formats, to archives, museums, universities and libraries in each of the more than 40 countries on six continents represented by the award winners," according to their website (http://www.cwheroes.org/home.asp).
Related Materials:
The Division Information, Technology and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science) holds significant artifacts included with the nomination packets.
Provenance:
Division of the History of Technology
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:
Copyright held by donor and/or heirs. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use.] .
Collection documents the Electronic Computer Project, 1950-1957 at the Institute for Advanced Study. The goal of the project was to build a computer that would be a general-purpose postwar tool for various branches of scientific research.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes published reports of the staff of the Electronic Computer Project, monthly progress reports, and reports by individual staff members (sometimes in draft form) on particular problems or pieces of equipment. Numerous drawings of computer components are also included, together with 10 glass photo slides in color of equipment and two slides of personnel (unidentified). A special "computer issue" of Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers (published October, 1953) contains 41 papers on technical aspects of computers.
Biographical / Historical:
This material was generated by participants in the IAS Computer Project, 1950-1957. The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, NJ has long been a center of scholarly work in many disciplines of science by noted researchers (e.g. Albert Einstein). The computer project was initiated there in 1946 by John Von Neumann, a mathematician who had been working on ballistics computations during World War II. He used the first version of the Princeton computer to calculate the results of the thermonuclear reaction of the first H bomb in 1950. In the late 1950s, after Von Neumann's death, the project was terminated. A brief summary of the project and Von Neumann's contribution is found in Chapter 5 of Who Got Einstein's Office? by Edward Regis (Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Inc., 1987.)
Provenance:
Collection donated by Leon D. Harmon, March 23, 1982.
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.
Association for Computing Machinery (Washington, D.C. chapter) Collection
Creator:
Association for Computing Machinery. Washington, D.C. chapter. Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Computers, Information and Society Search this
Extent:
0.12 Cubic feet (1 box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Minutes
Microfiche
Newsletters
Financial records
Date:
1958-1978
Summary:
Microfiche copies of the records of the Washington, DC chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (1958-1978).
Scope and Contents note:
Microfiche copies of the records of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, including council minutes, chapter financial records, and the chapter's newsletters, entitled COMPUTOPICS, covering the years 1960-1978.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical/Historical note:
Association, founded in 1947, to advance skills in information technology.
Provenance:
Collection donated by the Association for Computing Machinery (Washington, D.C. chapter) to the NMAH Division of Computers, Information and Society in 1978.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research access on site by appointment.
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.
